1. Based on your reading on “Things Fall Apart” what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over.
In my opinion, the main aspects of the Igbo culture that allow the British to take over is their belief. In Igbo culture, they practiced sacrificial ceremony to cleanse their land and as an offering to their God. For example, the killing of Ikemefuna who was sacrificed in order to bring peace after the war. Besides that, the scarifies of the twins who was considered as an abomination. This indirectly has caused many people who silently disagree with the culture. However, because they were forced to abide by their belief, they cannot rebel against it. However, when Christianity came to their village, they began to see hope in it and thus voluntarily join it. This can be seen when those who have been alienated from the Igbo actually accept the Christianity brought by the British. They have seen hope and opportunity to live a better life in Christianity. Thus, the conversion of the Igbo society to Christianity has indirectly made the British to take over the belief of the Igbo society.
2. Since Sarawak also has undergone colonization, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society? (Muhammad Nazmi Bin Rosli)
Colonialism, I believe, is a practice by which a powerful country controls another country or other countries. Here, Sarawak, my birthplace, also used to be colonized. It was probably in the time of our great, great grandparents. Luckily, they managed to give birth to my grandparents during the dark time. This happened a lot of time throughout the centuries in many countries. And this had affected the native culture. It also happened in Sarawakian’s culture. But what is culture? It is the custom and beliefs, art, way life and social organization of a particular group. What can I observed is that, colonialism really has affected the aspects of culture in Sarawakian society. It brought many changes, for example, most of them now received education where if you can see, those grandpas able to speak English fluently. This will decrease the usage of their native language in their daily life. Since the colonialism, people were converted to Christianity by European missionaries. Absolutely, it had affected their original culture and taboo. Lastly, people were united. Overall, I can see that the coming of the colonist to Sarawak which began the 18th century until the 19th century, basically it is intended to monopolize the wealth of the land here, the British especially.
One of the effect of the colonization towards the culture is the 'Penubuhan Gagasan Malaysia' by the Tunku Abdul Rahman. This helps the Sarawakian to avoid the accomodation of the Communist inside the culture of Sarawak people. During the time, the influence of the Kalimantan Communist Party that brought Karl Marx ideology was spread everywhere. But the colonization help Sarawakian emerge and build Malaysia so that the ideology doesn't assimilate with the culture.
One of the effect of the colonization towards the culture is the 'Penubuhan Gagasan Malaysia' by the Tunku Abdul Rahman. This helps the Sarawakian to avoid the accomodation of the Communist inside the culture of Sarawak people. During the time, the influence of the Kalimantan Communist Party that brought Karl Marx ideology was spread everywhere. But the colonization help Sarawakian emerge and build Malaysia so that the ideology doesn't assimilate with the culture.
3. Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?
My answer is, YES. This is because the British has brought a lot of changes in the lives of tribes in Africa as well as in Sarawak. In the novel Things Fall Apart itself, we can see how the British colonist has changed the African lives. The British builds the school for the African whereas they can attend it for free without any fees. They even bring the teachers who are actually paid by the British government itself. All that the African have to do are spending their time in this school. The British also create the law system in this society. Things that were allowed before in the Africa society such as killing the twin is no longer permitted. According to the British law, this is considered to be a very serious crime. They build the Magistrate which they can use to judge and identify the suitable punishment for the one who committed crime. Aside from this, they also influences the Sarawak Language. For example, the words like "Frying Pan" is used in the local language and other like "Go eastern". These shows that the British influences Sarawak in many aspects.
While for the tribes in Sarawak, there were quite changes happened to be there. But unlike the Africa, Sarawak’s school is not build by the British government. Basically, it was the idea of the Sarawakian itself. The scholar and the leader contribute their own ideas and effort in order to give a suitable education to their people. Because of this, each person got an equal chances to learn in school. At this stage, they focused more towards the children and the teenagers. British didn’t want them to be educated and united because they want to keep a hold of the land. While for the law, the tribes in Sarawak already have their own society rules and regulation. However, whenever the British came, they begun to change the law according to their own ways. So overall, the British has brought changes towards the indigenous tribes of Africa and Sarawak.
