History Term Paper

Societies and Cultures of Africa and Japan: A Critical Analysis

Throughout this semester, we have explored many different trends of history. Whether it was the Renaissance, Reformation, or the various resultant social and political revolutions, we have been able to see countless societies rise and fall. In Things Fall Apart, Heart of Darkness, and Learning to Bow,we are able to see how foreign societies interact with indigenous people, and how the indigenous people have responded. In Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart, we saw how European colonialism swooped down on Africa, changing the entire face of African culture. In Learning to Bow, we saw how even today, Japanese people and their culture deal with the same challenge of Westernization. Each book offered a unique perspective, too. Things Fall Apart focused on Okonkwo, an African native of Nigeria who watched in anger as white men changed his world. Heart of Darkness, on the other hand, focused on the white men themselves and their journey to the “dark” part of the world. Learning to Bowwas different from both of these in that it was written by an American but offered both American and Japanese perspectives of Japanese culture. All three indeed offered insightful perspectives of indigenous society, and each novel offered a penetrating analysis of culture conflicts.

While all three books offer three distinct perspectives of indigenous societies, all three books include similar “penetrating analyses of culture conflicts.” In each book, the central culture conflict involves one unique, isolated culture trying to keep its traditions in the face of the all-powerful Western culture. In Things Fall Apart, the reasonable missionary Mr. Brown offers hope to certain lower-caste Igbo people who do not have titles as well as people such as Nwoye who do not understand certain things about his own culture. Okonkwo kills his beloved adopted son Ikemefuna simply because an Oracle demanded that this must happen....