Preface to “Colonialism, Law, and Religion in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”The next essay was written for an IDS or Interdisciplinary 300-level course entitled “The Empire Writes Back.” Taught by Dr. Roy, the class examined various texts from a postcolonialist perspective. Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, and Pride and Prejudice were just a few of the texts covered in this course. It was a challenging course for me because I was intimidated by the professor and I struggled to see and understand some of my favorite novels (Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice) through a post-colonial lens. However, after reading Things Fall Apart, I became very interested in the clash of Igbo culture and imperial law. Achebe’s writing fascinates me still, and this essay reflects my interest in the intersection of religion, Western law, and colonialism. There were several prompts given for this assignment. However, Dr. Roy also gave the class the choice to create a different topic altogether, one that aligned with our favorite text from the course. I knew I wanted to analyze religious beliefs in Things Fall Apart because I was very disconcerted and unsettled by the missionary figure, Mr. Brown. Having grown up in a very strict Protestant church, I felt the depiction of Mr. Brown was incredibly accurate and frankly quite troubling. In my analysis, I examine the laws that were in place at the peak of the British Empire. I use these laws to contrast with the religious customs of the Igbo and their very separate, distinct legal system, which is overthrown by the white missionaries and British officials. I received positive feedback on this essay, and only had to make a few adjustments to the content. Colonialism, Law, and Religion in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the Igbo are bound to Western law and Western ideas of justice – this is demonstrated when the District Commissioner fines the Igbo men for burning Mr. Brown’s church – yet the Igbo are also regarded as outsiders to the Western world and therefore not under the full protection of the Western law. This contradictory attitude to the law is how the imperialist European world forced its standards upon other counties; any country that did not abide by the Western standards of law and justice was thought to be uncivilized and therefore in need of Western domination. The Western law system became a means of acquisition for the imperial powers. By exposing the clash between Western law and customary law, Achebe exposes the British view of the Igbo as lesser creatures. In this way, Achebe’s novel challenges the Western law system, which claims to bring civilization and order, but instead brings destruction and violence. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe contrasts the customary law of the Igbo with Western law to show the destructive effects of colonization and imperial international law. Furthermore, Achebe critiques the western justice system, based on Christian values, because Christianity destroys the Igbo culture instead of furthering it. At the peak of British imperialism and the development of the British colonies in the nineteenth century, the European world’s belief in naturalism, which claims that all European and non-European peoples are ruled by a “basic, natural law,” was abandoned in favor of positivism (Anghie 743). While naturalism argues for the accountability of “all states to a higher universal law,” positivism claims that there are very specific cultural and racial conditions that determine whether or not a state can be considered “civilized” and consequently sovereign (Anghie 745). Under the terms of positivism, only the sovereign state can create and enforce law, but the sovereign state “cannot be bound by any law unless it has consented to it” (Anghie 745). Britain and other European imperial powers sought to impose their own Western laws onto the conquered lands with an attitude of positivism and superiority. This desire to establish a universal European law is also an attempt to bring “order” and Western ideas of justice to the non-European world, which has been perceived as chaotic, barbaric, and unjust. Because the people of these conquered lands did not fit the racial and cultural European standard, their land was not sovereign; therefore, by positivist logic, these people could not be considered civilized or capable of upholding their own system of law. In order to establish a Western law system in the colonies, the colonizers had to first determine the humanity of the natives. Western law can only be applied to human subjects. Because the colonized people were thought to be bestial and, in many cases, sub-human, the colonizers could easily justify a law system that would privilege the white majority and place the natives at a disadvantage. The law was an essential part of the imperial powers’ belief in their right to civilize the inhuman world. The “classical concept of sovereignty,” based on the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, stated that “all sovereigns are equal and… sovereign states have absolute power over their own territory” (Anghie 740). This principle was used to justify a colonizing country’s right to rule over their colony and to introduce Western law as a means of civilizing the “barbaric” world. Once the colonizers arrived in their colonies, a Western law system was established as part of the indoctrination. Of course, if the native members of the colonies failed to adhere to the Western law system, they were deemed primitive and worthy of defeat (Anghie 745). Thus the non-European world’s inability to uphold the Western standard of law was interpreted as a chance for the European world to bestow a sort of judicial salvation to the undeserving, dark places of the globe. Although the “sovereignty doctrine” dismisses the non-European world as illegitimate, it also justifies the very imperialism that made it possible for the non-European world to be subject to Western law (Anghie 741). The most obvious example of the sovereignty doctrine at work in Things Fall Apart is the haughty District Commissioner’s decision to fine and arrest Okonkwo and his men. Under the guise of a “peaceful administration,” the Commissioner announces that the white men have come “so that you [the Igbo] may be happy” (Achebe 194). He continues to tell the men that “We have a court of law where we judge cases and administer justice,” as if to imply that the Western definition of justice is superior to any laws that the Igbo have already established in their community (Achebe 194). Not only is the District Commissioner ignorant of and insensitive to any concept of law other than that of his home country, he also implies that Western law should make the Igbo “happy” – which presumes that they were unhappy with their own traditions in the first place. In a condescending tone, as if he were speaking to a small child, the District Commissioner addresses the Igbo men as inferiors, and speaks of the queen of England: “I have brought you here because you joined together to molest others, to burn people’s houses and their place of worship. That must not happen in the dominion of our queen, the most powerful ruler in the world” (Achebe 194). The concept of positivism is heavily instilled in the Commissioner’s mind, and the queen symbolizes the sovereign state. Her power as a monarch overrides any existing barbaric system in the non-European countries. The queen is the personification of civilization, the embodiment of nineteenth century English government. As Antony Anghie argues, the “distinction between the civilized and the uncivilized, the animating distinction of imperialism, is crucial to the formation of sovereignty doctrine” (742). The establishment of a queen with absolute dominion is essential to the concept of positivism because it justifies the subversion of the native culture and it fuels British imperialism, neatly disguising it as a mission to bring justice and judicial order to the “dangerous” and “primeval” areas of the world. According to John L. Comaroff, a scholar of African Studies and Anthropology at Harvard University, law was used by nineteenth century British imperialists – and is still used by imperial powers today – as a weapon against other cultures (306). Comaroff defines the use of law as a weapon, or what he terms “lawfare,” as “the effort to conquer and control indigenous peoples by the coercive use of legal means” (306). For the sake of “universal progress,” imperial nations were intent on spreading European law in the name of “civilization” (Comaroff 306). Because non-Europeans are often criminalized by the imperial nations, the imperial nation’s laws become an expression of dominance and power used to justify the rule of non-European spaces. Achebe incorporates this concept of “lawfare” into his novel and uses it to highlight the power struggle prompted by the British imposing their laws onto the Igbos without justification. Achebe spends the majority of his novel developing the customs and traditions of the Igbo so that when the white missionaries and government officials impose their laws at the end of the novel, the reader cannot possibly understand why this is allowed. The Igbos clearly have their own established traditions, such as the breaking of the kola nut and the egwugwu gods, which serve the needs of their lifestyle. By detailing these rituals and traditions, Achebe demonstrates that the Igbo conception of law is very different from Western law, but that does not make it inferior. Western law is simply not pracitcal for the Igbos. The Igbos participate in a sort of “village self-government” in which there is no specific monarchy or system (Manji 641). When Okonkwo expresses his anxiety about the white man’s government, he claims that the District Commissioner “judged cases in ignorance” (Achebe 174). Further emphasizing the point, Achebe highlights the injustice of the District Commissioner’s punishment for the leaders of Umuofia: “I have decided that you will pay a fine of two hundred cowries. You will be released as soon as you agree to this…” (Achebe 194). The rationale for this very specific punishment with an exact fine is not made clear to the reader. It is clear, however, that the Igbos are criminalized by Western law precisely because they are viewed as lesser creatures that need a rigid system of rules to govern their “barbaric” lifestyle. Achebe purposely makes the passage confusing and irrational. The District Commissioner does not provide any sort of rationale for this harsh punishment, making it impossible for the reader to side with the white man’s law and the ignorant judgment of the District Commissioner. Here, Achebe is not critiquing Western law itself; rather, he is critiquing the enforcement of Western law in a preexisting system that simply does not support Western ideas of justice. The District Commissioner is an extremely important figure in Achebe’s novel because this character represents an imperial official who enforces European law in a non-European environment. Okonkwo repeatedly refers to the District Commissioner’s judicial system as “the white man’s law” and it is under the District Commissioner’s rule that the prisoners who break the white man’s law are beaten and made to fetch wood and clean the government compound (Achebe 175). Not only does the District Commissioner use European law as a tool for unfounded authority, he also uses a web of laws to manipulate the Igbo men and lie to them. Initially, he acts as if he respects the Igbo and he expresses a desire to discuss the church burning with Okonkwo and the other men “like friends” (Achebe 194). However, the District Commissioner ultimately has the men handcuffed and imprisoned (Achebe 194). He claims to know all about the Igbo customs and then dehumanizes and criminalizes them. This display of power justified by legal means is the colonizer’s attempt to “conceal their weaknesses, to invest themselves with an aura of power” (Comaroff 309). The District Commissioner’s enforcement of the law is manipulative and only serves to further criminalize the Igbos. While the Western law system is indeed used as a vehicle for control and power, it is also linked to religion and issues of cultural tradition. Four times in Achebe’s novel, the white man’s government and the white man’s religion are mentioned together. As Mr. Brown states, “The head of my church… is in England” (Achebe 180). The interpreter clarifies “They have a queen” (Achebe 180). English government and religion are united. This indicates Achebe’s awareness of the complete indoctrination that had to occur in order for the colonizers to establish their law system. In the late nineteenth century, an “international legal scholar” claimed that “International Comity, like International Law, can only exist in the lowest degree among independent States; in its next degree among Independent Civilized States, and in its highest degree among Independent Christian States” (Sylvest 407). Thus the idea of ethical progress and the notion of furthering “God’s kingdom” are linked to the issue of civilizing the barbaric through legal means. Christianity was seen as a sign of civilization, sophistication, and prosperity. And Christian European society was viewed as “a symbol of the best way of organizing human life at the national and international level” (Sylvest 407). Because the Western legal system is based on Christian values and Christian ideas of justice (i.e. “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” Deuteronomy 19:21), the British colonizers were often accompanied by missionaries to indoctrinate the colonized people. Whether or not these missionaries were genuinely set on getting converts is up for debate. The point, however, is that the imperial powers established a Western church along with a Western legal system in an effort to completely subvert the native religious tradition and culture. The white missionaries set up a church in Things Fall Apart which ultimately destroys the Igbo culture instead of furthering it. The Christians disturb the social order of Igbo culture and causes a rift in the tribe. For example, the osu, the social outcasts, are welcomed into the white man’s church. Instead of remaining in exclusion, these outcasts are taught that they can cut their hair and become part of this new religion. This disruption of the Igbo social order is in part what interferes with the culture. Furthermore, the older generation of Igbos notices a shift in the attitudes of the younger generation, and they believe this shift is due to Christianity: “But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father and his brothers…” (Achebe 167) The loss of traditional values is attributed to the white man’s arrival, and along with his arrival, his religion and government. As Okonkwo tells Obierika, “[the white man] says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs bad” (Achebe 155). Eventually, this creates a rift in the culture that is extremely difficult to overcome without violence. Insults are exchanged, beatings occur, and the church is burned down. Christianity, the very system that promised to bring “civilization” and “peace” and “order,” ultimately brings destruction and violence to the Igbos. This failure to create a Christian civilization amongst the Igbos is a critique of the way the European legal system is forced onto the Igbos. This Western justice system, mired in Judeo-Christian values, is very different from the established Igbo tradition. Christianity is depicted as a very narrow and confining faith for the Igbos to embrace. In contrast with the many Igbo gods, who are associated with the ancestors and with nature, Christianity has only one god. This Christian god seems distant and irrelevant to the lives the of the Igbo people. Achebe’s description of Christianity portrays it as a vengeful and unforgiving way of life. Mr. Smith especially is very harsh and militant in getting converts. He “saw things as black and white. And black was evil” and he is filled with wrath (Achebe 185). The typical “fire and brimstone” preacher, Mr. Smith firmly believes his religion is the only path to salvation. Instead of speaking with the Igbo about their religion, like Mr. Brown attempts before him, Mr. Smith is disrespectful of Igbo custom. He uses his position in the church to give himself a position of authority among a people that he does not know, or desire to know. In this way, Mr. Smith claims possession over the Igbos, as if it is only a matter of time before they all convert to Christianity. Eventually, Umuofia is divided by this intruding religion. Because the white missionaries’ Christianity separates the Igbos and causes serious conflict and violence, Achebe is writing back to the white missionaries who claimed that their legal system and, consequently, their god, would civilize Nigeria. Achebe’s biting critique of the Western world’s legal system and religion highlights the complexities of Igbo customs: weddings, funerals, harvest and planting seasons, and other events that each have a particular ritual. These traditions are not accidental or “uncivilized” simply because they are not founded on Western law or Christianity values. The effects of positivism, imperialism, and the Britishers’ general air of superiority are destructive to the detailed and customary aspects of Igbo culture. Achebe’s novel presents the arrival of the white man as the sole reason for the ruin of Umoufia’s customs. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print. Anghie, Antony. “The Evolution of International Law: Colonial and Postcolonial Realities.” Third World Quarterly 27.5 (2006): 739 – 753. Web. 26 May 2014. Comaroff, John L. “Symposium Introduction: Colonialism, Culture, and the Law: A Foreward.” Law and Social Inquiry 26.2 (2001): 305 – 314. Web. 29 May 2014. Manji, Ambreena. “‘Like a Mask Dancing’: Law and Colonialism in Chinua Achebe’s “Arrow of God.”” Journal of Law and Society 27.4 (2000): 626 – 642. Web. 29 May 2014. Sylvest, Casper. “‘Our Passion for Legality’: International Law and Imperialism in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain.” Review of International Studies 34.3 (2008): 403 – 423. Web. 29 May 2014.