Using your knowledge of the contexts in which Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Disgrace by John Maxwell Coetzee were set, and the reaction of the reader over time, to evaluate how is power and control changes throughout the novels.
Over the course of this essay, I will discuss the overwhelming presence of power and control in both novels and how it affects the main protagonists in the narratives. For the entirety of both Disgrace and Things Fall Apart power and control are presented extensively through certain characters as well as prominent themes such as race and gender. Coetzee explores the idea of changing power roles within a 20th century South African society. These changing power structures affect various characters and that is prevalent within the entirety of the novel. Set in a post-apartheid South Africa the principal character, David Lurie, is white man, who in a country which had recently experienced apartheid had been a key and powerful figure within society however by the end of the novel he is left with no power or influence. Disgrace contains many conflicting ideas and themes related to race, gender and sexuality but as a whole these themes lead back to the overarching idea of power and control. This theme is presented differently in Things Fall Apart where Achebe portrays to the reader a small village in southern Nigeria called Umuofia which has been subjected to colonialism in the ‘Scramble for Africa’. The power struggle of the main protagonist Okonkwo is evident and is very similar to that of David Lurie’s in Disgrace. He once was an influential member in his tribe however due to colonialism he struggles to keep this power and ultimately loses it entirely to white missionaries. The missionaries’ power is implemented through means such as religion and education and Achebe presents to the reader the Nigerian traditions that were lost and misrepresented by western literature and colonialism to the world.
In both novels but more so in Things Fall Apart the main protagonists’ attitudes towards what they believe in do not change easily. When David and Lucy are attacked in Disgrace but more importantly when Lucy is raped David’s opinion really begins to change. Before this happens, he is firmly holding onto his attitude which he pertained: ‘his mind has become a refuge for old thoughts… he does not care to chase them out or does not care enough’ (72) He just does not see the point of doing something because it is good or the right things to do. In the novel he says to his daughter Lucy that sometimes ‘after a while you itch to go off and do some raping and pillaging’ (73). He is only able to change how he feels because he and his daughter are attacked. Lurie’s mindset is what gave him power over so many people in the novel. He thought that it was alright to choose one of his students as a victim however facing the consequences, he lost a significant amount of his power, but he did not change how he felt which is the last bit of power that Lurie had. Using rape as a plot device the novel presents the reader with a complex narrative. Although, it is the main reason that David loses his power and control. The control that David possesses over his mind and opinion was only changed due to the rape of Lucy and he finally realises who he is through sympathising with Lucy and relating himself to the attackers. Through realising this David becomes the complete opposite to how he was at the beginning of the novel. He has changed from being a man with complete control over everything to a confused man who has lost power but still has the opinion he started off with. By the end of the novel he becomes sympathetic and he realises who he really his because of the rape of his Daughter. In a way David regains control of his life and has a certain degree of power back but most importantly he is control of his mind as well his life and relationships.
In the 19th century the British Empire colonized a numerous amount of nations in Africa. The most prolific of the two were Nigeria and South Africa. The main aim of colonizing these countries was to ‘seizing of ‘foreign’ lands for government and settlement was in part motivated by the desire to create and control markets abroad for Western goods, as well as securing the natural resources and labour-power of different lands and peoples at the lowest possible cost’ . Okonkwo was a significant member of society within Umuofia before colonialists invaded into the country. He had control of his life and control of most people who were involved in his life. He has three wives that he provides for as well has children with all of his wives. ‘Okonkwo is seen as a celebrated, ambitious, and active participant in the community whose progress is suddenly marred by tragedy’ . We see throughout the novel that his power is originally driven from not wanting to be like his father who was seen as ‘a failure’, ‘a loafer’ and ‘people laughed at him’. This brought great shame to Okonkwo and he became obsessed in proving people that he was not like his father. He did this trough the fear of being seen to not have power and not being control of his on fear and weakness. When Ikemefuna was announced to be killed he pounced on the opportunity to raise his manchette even though he was ‘dazed with fear’ he was petrified of being seen as weak and not having power and control within the community. Male power is fundamental in the Igbo patriarchal structures where ‘Power is usually cited as the most important factor used by men to construct their own identities as the engendered representatives of humanity’ . This power is on a societal level not just a physical level and this is evident through Okonkwo’s paranoia in being seen as weak and out of control like his father was.
In the beginning part of Things Fall Apart and Disgrace Okonkwo and David Lurie are in complete control of their lives. Within in each of their society’s they have power over many people and are succeeding at what they do. Both protagonists believe that they are in control of their lives when in reality it is the complete opposite. David believes he is in complete control when choosing to have an affair with a student of his and when he thinks he has control of this situation he loses his power and grip on it. Okonkwo thinks that he has control and power when he is murdering the clansman but like Lurie he is exiled from his community and he loses all the control and power that he thought was so present in his life. The time both characters spend away from their original towns is where they change in different ways. They both are subject to huge change in their lives and not for the best in some cases. For David, Lucy’s rape changes him into realising that he wants to become a father. He changes in a way where he wants to regain control of his life but in a different way than how it was before. David once didn’t care for the feelings of others he just wanted to feel in control of the situations that he was in and when this was taken away from him, he felt lost. However, the rape caused him to see that he wanted control in a different way. Instead he tried to take power and control of the more important thing which was his family. Before having to move away from his life of education and teaching he had no real relationship with Lucy and he had no control or power over his family life but by the end of the novel he realises that he is lost without any control and he as a person needs power and control in his life in some way or another. So, he takes back control of his relationship with his daughter and tires mend a relationship which was so broken at one point. ‘The truth is, he has never had much of an eye for rural life, despite all his reading in Wordsworth. Not much of an eye for anything, except pretty girls; and where has that got him? Is it too late to educate the eye?’ However, the reader is unable to know whether or not Lurie really changes his lifestyle to stay with Lucy, but we see that David suffers living without power or control over a situation, so we see him try to take an element of this back.
Okonkwo’s control and power never ends up back in his hands at the end of the novel. He has to experience a huge amount of change within his community which strips him of the power he had. ‘He changes from being a power and aggressive man into someone who feels that there is nothing left worth living for. ‘ It is truly an ironic end, signifying the conflict of a man who stood inflexible, believing he was defending a heritage, while even his last act in defence of a system proves an abomination’ (!) In the novel, we see that Okonkwo views war as worthwhile task because he is able to show his masculinity again and display the power that he believes is the only things standing between him and who his father was. When he finds out that the decision is not to go to war to himself, he believes he has failed so he takes his own life which is a complete loss of control and power contrasting significantly to the beginning of the novel.
By the end of the novels the have both surrendered. What is remarkable is that they both start off being portrayed as powerful and unbreakable men with purpose and agency in life, but they turn into weak and powerless men that they would never have imagined themselves becoming. They sacrifice the beliefs that they hold so strongly and sacrifice their beliefs to live a life of despair and death. David decides to carry on struggling and grasp back any control in his life that can be achieved but Okonkwo gives up through suicide and let’s go of all control that could have ever been achieved. In the novel Achebe uses an omniscient narrator to show how far Okonkwo’s power goes, recapturing what was lost through his father, e.g. honour and success. Okonkwo had great power, but he did not use the power that he had to effective use. One of the reasons for his failure is the blindness that he experiences through the honour of patriarchy and trying to do what he wanted for the tribe rather than what he thought was best.
‘Umuofia had indeed changed during the seven years Okonkwo had been in exile. The church had come and led many astray. Not only the low-born and the outcast but sometimes a worthy man had joined it. Such a man was Ogbuefi Ugonna, who had taken two titles, and who like a madman had a cut the anklet of his titles and cast it away to join the Christians’ (127). The power of Umuofia changing is not recognised by Okonkwo and through this his inevitable downfall happens and he finally commits suicide after coming back from his seven-year exile.
One of the main themes throughout the novel is power and the meta theme is the individual’s attempt to control their lives within the uncontrollable and shifting socio-political African landscape. Ultimately both of these characters find themselves victims of the rapidly changing African continent and no matter how hard they try, they are unable to control the shifting social and political factors that make up their new society. What we might learn from this is that it is impossible for the individual to control anything other than their own view of the world (which needs to be fluid and open to change). Because David and Okonkwo are unable to see this, they come to a rather sad, unpleasant end.