I
ENSEIGNEMENT SUPERIEUR ET UNIVERSITAIRE
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR PEDAGOGIQUE ISP/MBUJIMAYI
SECTION : LETTRES ET SCIENCES HUMAINES
DEPARTEMENT : ANGLAIS ET CULTURE AFRICAINE
INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS AS SEEN
IN ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART
Présenté par : Biyou KABEYA MBUYAMBA
Mémoire présenté et défendu en vue de l’obtention du grade de Licencié en Anglais et Culture Africaine
ANNEE ACADEMIQUE 20232024
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ENSEIGNEMENT SUPERIEUR ET UNIVERSITAIRE
INSTITUT SUPERIEUR PEDAGOGIQUE ISP/MBUJIMAYI
SECTION : LETTERS AND HUMAN SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH AND AFRICAN CULTURE
INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS AS SEEN IN
ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART
By Biyou KABEYA MBUYAMBA
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2023-2024
III
DEDICATION
Toyou,myparentsCrispinMBUYAMBAandAgnèsMUJINGA;Idedicate thiswork
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to praise and thank God for having kept me alive until today.
Second, I address special thanks to my dearest parents, Crispin MBUYAMBA and Agnès MUJINGA who motivated me to go for English, studies which they have funded up to the completion of this work.
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Ambroise LUMBALA, for his kind guidance and his expert’s advise throughout all the stages of this dissertation writing process.
My warmest thanks to our English Department for providing excellent working conditions.
I am also grateful to my brothers and sisters for their constant encouragement. I would also wish to acknowledge my fellow students whose challenge and productive critics have provided new ideas to this work.
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS
This list includes conventional and non-conventional abbreviations used in this dissertation.
- TFA : Things Fall Apart
- RET : Rational Emotive Therapy
ABSTRACT
Based on my experiences as a researcher and African citizen, the inferiority complex makes some Africans of black race believe that whatever they have is worse than what white people have. They are more trusting in white people than they are in themselves. Moreover, they are ashamed of their parents, their religions, and their cultures. I have chosen to work on this topic in order to point out the inferiority complex and its negative effects as depicted inThingsFallApart. The sources from which I collected the data are the novel « Things Fall Apart » and other books related to the topic. The method used to analyse the data used in this work is a qualitative method.
After my data analysis, I found that black Africans lacked selfconfidence. They lost their identity, their beliefs, and turned against their customs. It was also found that African women were so inferior to their husbands that they agreed to be beaten for the sake of marriage. Furthermore, this work suggests that black people should have selfconfidence and self-pride. They should also feel themselves as equal as whites.
RESUME
Sur base de mes expériences en tant que chercheur et citoyen africain, le complexe d’infériorité fait croire à certains noirs africains que tout ce qu’ils ont est pire que ce qu’ont les blancs. Ils sont plus confiants aux blancs qu’en eux-mêmes. En plus de ça, ils ont honte de leurs parents, de leurs religions, et de leurs cultures. J’ai choisi de travailler sur ce sujet afin d’identifier le complexe d’infériorité et ses effets négatifs tels que décrits dans le romanThingsFallApart. Les sources desquelles j’ai tiré les données sont le roman « Things Fall Apart » et d’autres livres relatifs au sujet. La méthode utilisée pour analyser les données utilisées dans ce travail est qualitative.
après mon analyse des données, j’ai trouvé que des africains manquaient confiance en soi. Ils ont perdu leur identité, leurs croyances, et ils ont tourné le dos à leurs coutumes. On a aussi trouvé que certaines femmes africaines étaient tellement inférieures à leurs maris qu’elles étaient d’accord d’être frappées pour l’amour du mariage. Par ailleurs, ce travail propose aux africains d’avoir une confiance et une fierté en soi. Ils devraient aussi se sentir aussi égaux que les blancs.
TABLE DES MATIERES
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS
ABSTRACT
RESUME
0.1.
CHAPTER ONE : GENERALITIES ON SOME THEORIES ABOUT THE ANALYSIS OF A WORK OF
2.5.2. Solutions to an Inferiority Complex 19
3.4. The Main Problem Found and how it is Resolved 29
3.5. Characterization and Characters 29
3.5.1. Methods of Characterization 29
3.5.1.1. The Expository or Narrative Method 29
3.5.1.2. Dramatic or Objective Method 30
CHAPTER FOUR : NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND ITS INSTANCES IN THE NOVEL THINGS FALL APART 42
4.1. Lost Identity42
4.3. Dislocation of Communal Spirit 44
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………50
BIBLIOGRAPHY53 WEBLIOGRAPHY 59
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
0.1. Problem definition
It is known that when a society lives in a self underestimation, there always come negative effects in all aspects, which destroys autochthonous values to the benefit of the other ones. This has attracted my attention since longtime. In his novelThingsFallApart, Chinua Achebe has clearly detailed the negative impacts of inferiority complex that black Africans faced because of the introduction of Christianity in Nigeria by white missionaries. He demonstrated how black people abandoned their ancestors, their beliefs and denied their African identity for the Western one.
This work investigates into the negative effects of inferiority complex and its instances as described in the novel « Things Fall Apart. » Moreover, it will be concerned with the themes involving religious beliefs, culture, and also it will discuss the plot devices, describe characters, settings in relation to the negative effects of inferiority complex.
0.2. Choice and Interest of the Topic
I have personally chosen this topic as a result of having been interested in literature. It is a field with which I am more compatible. Moreover, of all the themes depicted in different novels by African writers, I always feel excited while reading literary works dealing with losses undergone by Africans due to the Europeans’ settlement in Africa in the mid 20th century. This work tries to point out the negative effects of inferiority complex and its illustrations as depicted by Chinua Achebe in his novel « Things Fall Apart. »
In fact, after having read « TFA », I have found that it is concerned with inferiority complex which is, to a great degree, approached as one of the main themes and the analyses of it such as characters, characterisation, themes, settings, message, action and plot and figures of speeches.
I have decided to work on this topic in order to know more about inferiority complex, its negative impacts in TFA. As far as the interest of the
study is concerned, this work helps the readers avoid feeling themselves more inferior than other people for whatsoever reason.
0.3. Aims and purposes of the work
This research aims at pointing out the inferiority complex and its negative effects in « Things Fall Apart. » It is intended to demonstrate how some Africans happen to prefer the European religions to those of their ancestors, and how they are ashamed of their parents when they are in the presence of their white skinned friends. This dissertation also shows how the inferiority complex makes Africans lose the control of their land in favour of the Europeans.
The readers will know more about the inferiority complex and negative effects in the novel “TFA”. To achieve this aim, first of all, I will write the generalities on some theories about the analysis of a work of literature. Secondly, I will give a literature review based on inferiority complex. Thirdly, I will analyse the novel « Things Fall Apart ». And then, I will point out the negative effects of inferiority complex to the novel « TFA » through instances.
0.4. Research Methodology
Writing a scientific work requires specific methods and approaches for data collection techniques and data analysis methods. Igbokwe (2009) defines a research methodology as a set of systematic techniques used in research.
This simply means a guide to research and how it is conducted. It describes and analyses methods, throws more light on their limitations and resources, clarifies their pre-suppositions and consequences, relating their potentialities to the twilight zone at the frontiers of knowledge.
In line with the citation above, I resorted to library or documentary research through intrinsic and extrinsic approaches.
0.4.1. Data collection techniques
In a study, an investigator may have a choice of collecting the relevant data themselves or of relying entirely on existing data already collected by someone else. The former is called the Primary Sources while the latter is called the Secondary Sources, Igbokwe (2009).
Based on this view point, I used the Secondary Sources. That is, my dissertation is entirely based on documentary research. To collect data, I first read the novel itselfT’hingsFallApart’ back-to-back for me to know more about it and grasp the message. Then I read other books, former dissertations, and dictionaries; all of them in line with the topic and the field.
0.4.2. Data Analysis methods
As far as data analysis is concerned, I resorted to both intrinsic and extrinsic methods as the framework of my dissertation. By intrinsic method I mean the fact of drawing examples within the novel ‘TFA’ itself. As to the extrinsic method, I had recourse to other materials related to the topic viz handouts, to perceive the themes, characters and plot.
0.5. Work division
This dissertation is divided into four chapters, the general introduction and the general conclusion excluded. In the general introduction I dealt with problem definition, the choice and interest of the topic, the aims and purposes of the work, the research methodology viz data collection techniques, data analysis methods, and the work division.
The first chapter deals with the generalities on some theories about the analysis of a work of literature. It will discuss theories such as formalist theory, structuralist theory, feminist theory, archetypal theory, sociological theory, cultural theory, psychological theory, and reader-response theory.
The second chapter focuses on the literature review of inferiority complex where types of inferiority complex, the psychological understanding, the understanding by the society and some causes of inferiority complex are given. Finally, this chapter also provides the solutions, that is the inferiority complex and its cures.
The third chapter is devoted to the analysis of the novelThingsFall
Apart. That is to say, it treats the subject matter, the action and plot, the characters and characterization, the plot devices, figures of speech and the message.
The fourth chapter highlights the negative effects of inferiority complex and its instances in the novel ‘TFA’ viz lost identity, language of the colonizers, dislocation of communal spirit, self-accusations and selfreproaches, lack of self-confidence and indecision, corrupted mind, loss of beliefs, polygamy and unkind attitudes towards one’s wife.
Finally, the general conclusion which is the last point of this dissertation summarises the findings of the overall work with further studies.
CHAPTER ONE : GENERALITIES ON SOME THEORIES ABOUT THE ANALYSIS OF A WORK OF LITERATURE.
In the General Introduction I announced the negative effects of inferiority complex in Achebe’sThingsFallApart. The present chapter will discuss the generalities on some theories about the analysis of a work of literature.
1.0. Defining a theory
According to Mulamba (2020) and Lumbala (2017), a theory is a general explanation about a specific behaviour or set of events that is based on known principles and serves to organize related events in a meaningful way. To my understanding, a theory is a teaching that helps a person or an animal to successfully use that theory in the practice.
Civuila (2023) says that a literay theory can be understood as the body of ideas and methods used in the practical reading of literature. He goes on explaining that by literary theory one refers not to the meaning of a work of literature but to the theories that reveal what literature can mean.
To sustain it, a literary theory is an approach about pedagogical procedures that are helpful for the understanding of literature in all its aspects.
1.1. Formalistic Theory
The Formalist Theory is an approach used in literature in order to treat generally elements such as grammar, syntax, rhythm, and meter. It has nothing to do with the society, history, nor is it concerned with the authorial context.
According to https://courses.lumenlearning.com (accessed on August 14th, 2023), formalism along with one of its more conspicuous modern iterations, new criticism focuses on a literary text itself, aside from questions concerning its author or the historical and cultural aspects of its creation. So, it keeps a story, poem, or play on its own terms, considering it as a disconnected unit of meaning.
1.2. Structuralist Theory
Bressler (1987) asserts that structuralist theory is a theory of human kind in which all elements of human culture including literature are thought to be parts of a system of signs.
According to https://iep.utm.edu (retrieved on August 14th, 2023),
Structurslist theory relied initially on the ideas of the Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure. Like Plato, Saussure regarded the signifier: words, marks, symbols, as arbitrary and unrelated to the concept, signified, to which it referred.
Based on the quotations above, Structuralism is a scientific theory that treats any text as a structure. That is, all the parts are meaningful when put together and form one unity.
1.3.MarxistTheory
A text is a material product of the society from which it emerged, with a particular attention to socio-economic issues. (Habib, 2011). A text helps human beings solve problems related to the socio-economic aspects. For example, when I want to apply for a job, more often, I write a letter. This is recommended in nowadays societies.
Marx (1952) says that the school of thought contends that history and culture is largely a struggle between economic classes, and literature is often a reflexion of the attitudes and interests of the dominant class.
- 4.FeministTheory
Habib (2011) asserts that feminist critics have displayed a persistent concern with both experience and language. He goes on sustaining it that the significance of language rests ultimately on its expectation of male ways of thinking that goes all the way back to Aristotle : the laws of logic, beginning with the law of identity, as well as the Aristotelian categories divided up the world into strictly demarcated entities. These oppositions are said to be coercive by too many modern theorists.
From the same point of view, Burkett Elinor quoted by Mujinga (2023) refers to feminist theory as the belief in social, economic, and political equality of sexes. This simply means that women and men share the power of equality. Neither man nor woman is more superior than another.
- Archetypal Theory
Archetypical theory is a theory which is concerned with the most important type of theory that happens frequently. Campbell (1949) lays out his theories about the native archetype called hero’sjourney or the monomyth. He sustains that while culture may be separated by time and space, their mythologies all seem to follow the same structure, and in many myths, religious spiritual texts, and literary classics, the hero sets out on a quest, surpasses many obstacles, and finally reaches their goal.
- Sociological Theory
Sociological theory is a literary approach which concerns literature and its role in the society. That is, it is about the relationship between literature and a society in which human beings are living because the literature is written for the audience which is a society.
Ikupasa cited by Mujinga (2023) affirms that the sociological approach is the most interesting thing between the various social groups of the community and concerned by the story. And very often these relationships are affected by conflicts and the critic focuses on the way (s) characters manage these conflictual relationships.
Scott (1989) says it examines literature in the cultural, economic, and political contexts in which it is written or received. He goes on supporting that the sociological approach explores the relationships between the artist and the society, looking at the sociological status of the author to evaluate how profession of the writer in a particular area affected what was written, then it examines the role the audience has in shaping literature.
- Cultural Theory
Cultural criticism is a multidisciplinary movement which consists of extending the range of examined texts beyond the works of literature itself to practices that can be interpreted as representatives of a culture’s beliefs, values, and laws for instance.
The cultural and historical contexts are generally taken into account for the consideration of works of literature. For example, Tshibanda’s « Un Fou Noir aux Pays des Blancs » may be read in terms of black Africans’ visit in Europe.
- Psychological Theory
Lynn (2005) confirms that psychological criticism examines the work in terms of the motivation of the characters and writers who create them. He sustains that the psychological approach analyses the symbolic fictions that arise from inner thoughts and subconscious of the characters or the writers and attempts to explain them in a rational manner.
- Reader-Response Theory
Habib (2011) says that a Reader-Response theory is not only a reaction against the formalism and objectivism of the earlier twentieth century, but also a renewal of a long tradition that had acknowledged the important role of the reader or audience in any literary or rhetorical situation.
CHAPTER TWO : LITERATURE REVIEW ON INFERIORITY COMPLEX
In the preceding chapter, I discussed the generalities on some theories about the analysis of a work of literature. In the present chapter, I will give the literature review about inferiority complex. First, I will define the collocation ‘inferiority complex’. Second, I will discuss the inferiority complex from its psychological understanding and its understanding by the society. Third, I will point out the different types of inferiority complex and study them in “Things Fall Apart”. Fourthly, I will talk about the causes of inferiority feelings and its remedies. Finally, I will close the chapter with a partial conclusion.
2.1. Definitions of inferiority complex
Inferiority complex is an intense and deep feeling of inadequacy that individuals experience in relation to perceiving others as more competent than themselves and not feeling ready to overcome a problem (Adler, 1964). An inferiority complex is the emotion that arises when an individual judges themselves abnormally. It ultimately means that one’s self-esteem is low (Kim, 2005). EUN-MI (2011) supports that an inferiority complex is the expression of a person’s fear of confrontations with problems and also that he/she is unable to solve a problem due to his/her lack of preparation for that problem.
Based on the definitions above, an inferiority complex is a feeling to see oneself as more inferior than others, more incompetent than others, and seeing one’s belongings as less important than those of other people.
2.2. Understanding the inferiority complex
2.2.1. Psychological Understanding
2.2.1.1. Adler’s View
The inferiority complex exists universally to a certain degree within all people. This is because we wish to improve ourselves all the time (Adler). The author cited goes on saying that as people feel an inferiority complex, there is a process of compensation which sterms from that experience ending in self-improvement, and forms harmony with the society.
In line with what is said above, an inferiority complex is found in every human being. Be it Africans, Europeans, Asians, Americans or Oceanians. And its sole raison d’être within us is the self-improvement. For example, as a second licence student, I feel an inferiority complex when I talk to a university professor because he/she has a scientific level for which I am still struggling.
2.2.1.2. Erikson’s View
According to Erikson’s theory of ego-identity (Erikson, 1968), a person forms either positive or negative ego-identity through his life while growing up. He goes on supporting that children who have a negative ego-identity move forward as failures, delinquent and problematic children. He, however, says that the problem is that once a child has established such a negative ego-identity, it is very hard to escape it.
Based on this view, an inferiority complex is developed as a result of growing up with it from our childhood until we are grown up people. A young girl, who grew up in a village, considers herself as inferior to any other girl living in a town. Consequently, even if she is more intelligent than the latter, she will always keep in her mind the feelings of inferiority. Adapted from Yu (2012).
2.2.1.3. Carl. Rogers’s View
Rogers quoted by Van (1980) is of the opinion that the experience of failure or success which we gain from our social lives heavily influences the formation of our self-concept. He goes on saying that when a person’s consciousness is formed, he/she wants to be treated with gentleness, respected, worshipped, shown interest, accommodated and loved by others.
Roger’s psychological understanding of inferiority complex can be explained as follows : Whatever people say about us can heavily influence our self-concept. In other words, if a teacher always appreciates his/her pupil, the latter will develop a sense of pride. But if he/she depreciates a pupil, he/she will develop an inferiority feeling.
So based on Rogers’s view, an adult person needs to be respected and loved in regards to his/her own origin. For example, a white man comes in a society of black people to spend some months in it. He suddenly starts learning the language of those black people, eating their food with appetite and worshipping in their religion. This will give some pride and selfconfidence to those blacks. And they can see themselves as equal to white people.
2.2.1.4. Gary R. Collin’s View
When Collins (1985 ) approached the problem of an inferiority complex, he says that the following three aspects will be dealt with : self-concept, self-image and self-esteem. He supports that self-concept and self-image are both our personal views and they both include our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions aimed at ourselves. Thus, he says that these two terms assess a person’s self-worth, value and aptitude. According to him, if the first two terms are an expression of self, then the final one ‘self-esteem’ is one of self-evaluation. He goes on supporting that these three terms influence the way we think, act and feel. To his understanding, an inferiority complex is influenced by faulty theology, sin, past experience, parent-child relationship, unrealistic expectations, faulty thinking and the community influences.
Based on the point of view above, an inferiority complex is characterized by three features : self-concept, self-image and self-esteem. So we get an inferiority complex from the influence of our communities. That is, if my community people like eating a dog, I will do the same. If in my community people get married at 30 or 40, I will also get married at the same ages.
A sin can influence the inferiority complex after the citation of holy scriptures has proven us wrong. i.e. In their preaching, a pastor says that the offering of an embezzler has no blessing no matter how much he/she gives. This will make the embezzler feel like a worthless person.
The inferiority complex can be influenced by the past experience. For example, I leave my house without any belt. In halfway, my trousers fell off me. The shame I will have will develop within me an unforgettable inferiority complex.
2.2.2. Understanding of Society
The inferiority complex is not only a problem of one individual, but it also appears throughout a society. The traditional phenomenon of running behind a president when he/she appears in public is one of the main examples of this. According to Seligman’s research, a person who has confidence in his appearance will have pride. Dion (1974) writes that beautiful people are able to get more profitable opportunities in a society. Seligman cited above supports that women generally wish to have a beautiful face and slim waist because these two things are more interesting in the attitude of today’s society. According to Dion’s research, more attractive females were perceived to be more competent than those who were not.
Concerning the quotations above, for people to gain love and good opportunities from the other ones, they have to look more beautiful. So our nice look can heavily attract more opportunities to us. From my own experience, students who study well, monopolize their teachers’ love while those who do not may fall into an inferiority complex since they do not gain the teacher’s love or interest.
2.3. Types of Inferiority Complex
2.3.1. Cultural Cringe
Http://www.earthlingcommunication.com (retrieved on February 4th, 2021) states that a cultural cringe is an interesting area of the inferiority complex where people feel inferior due to their culture. He says that it could be because of their genetic appearance or pronunciation of words.
Based on my own experiences, I believe this to be common in Kinshasa where Luba people who are freshly coming from Kasai are perceived as villagers because of their appearance, behaviours, or their way of pronouncing Lingala words.
2.3.2. Napoleon Complex
A part of Adler’s work of the inferiority complex developed the Napoleon Complex which is a specific feeling of inferiority about one’s height. He believes that people with Napoleon Complex ‘make up’ for their inferiority through aggressive behaviours. They have a superficial layer of toughness. They feel handicapped because of their smaller stature and attempt to ‘make up’ for this perceived problem. According to Adler a smaller stature is not necessarily a true handicap as an individual uses one’s creative imagination to feel inferior.
Albert (1969) proposes that diagnosing this type of inferiority lies in having an overcompensation because of perceived inferiority. He goes on saying that you would have the Napoleon Complex and demonstrate overcompensating behaviour when you aim to put down those who are taller than you. You would have extra desire to do better than those who are taller than you.
2.4. Types of Inferiority Complex in Things Fall Apart
As far as the types of inferiority complex are concerned in the novel
ThingsFallApart, only one type is demonstrated throughout the novel. That is, the cultural cringe.
2.4.1. Study of Cultural Cringe in Things Fall Apart
In his novelThingsFallApart, Chinua Achebe has illustrated the inferiority feelings of cultural kind. This section tries to point out all the expressions of inferiority feelings which are found in the novel under study.
1. »Howisyourfather, »Obierikaasked, notknowingwhatelsetosay.
« Idon’tknow.Heisnotmyfather,said Nwoye,unhappily.(TFA,p.144).
2. »Whatdoyouwanthere? »
« Thewhitemanwhosepoweryou know too well has ordered this meetingtostop. »(TFA,p2004).
The quotations above have the expression of inferiority complex of cultural kind. Firstly, Nwoye felt ashamed of accepting Okonkwo as his father simply because he was in the presence of white people. He had no pride of black people. His talking to Obierika seems to be forceful. He would like to pretend not to know him. Secondly, the fact of saying that the white man whose power you know well has ordered the meeting to stop has displayed how much the head messenger elevated the white people above his brothers by black skin.
2.5. Causes of the Inferiority Complex and Its Remedies
2.5.1. Causes of Inferiority Complex
Since every human being is born with inferiority feelings inherited from the fallen Adamic nature, no set of causes can be demonstrated conclusively as producing an inferiority complex. The cause for the structure of the order of rank within the culture of human relationships and social activities varies greatly since almost anything and everything can become the cause of an inferiority complex. Thus, the inferiority complex that people commonly experience can be easily related to everything within our lives (Park, 1998).
2.5.1.1. Different Causes of Inferiority Complex
According to Barney (1949), the causes of inferiority complex can be grouped into three aspects : physical aspects, economic background, and the intellectual ability. Http://healthchonsunmedia.com adds that amongst the content of inferiority complex, the most prominent features are : appearance, education background, and foreign language skills.
Based on the views above, inferiority complexes should be classified into three aspects as follows : economic aspect, physical aspect, and education background.
2.5.1.1.1. Economic Aspect
Different psychologists have found the following as causes of the inferiority complex in line with financial perspectives : economic background and social disadvantages.
2.5.1.1.1.1. Economic Background
Yu (2012) writes that economy being the fundament of survival in modern society, the economic level of a family more or less affects the vague current hierarchy, which impacts the individual. In this case, adolescents in families with lower financial basics will automatically be a weaker society group. The author cited above, through his studies, demonstrates that individuals from the city have less chance of having inferiority complex than children from suburb and rural areas. So when adolescents grow up in poverty, then they would generate an insane desire for wealth. This extreme desire for wealth is a form of inferiority complex because wealth compensates for the poverty they experienced.
2.5.1.1.1.2. Social Disadvantages
Social disadvantages because of family, race or economic status likewise aggregate feelings of inferiority by comparison with others. (Barney, 1949). This implies that a Prime minister’s son gains a better treatment at school compared to other children because the latter came from a low class family, or else; if there is only one bed for one patient in a hospital of Kinshasa, and that there are one Princess and one girl born to a teacher parent, the latter will be refused the bed in favour of the Princess. This will cause an inferiority complex of social disadvantages.
2.5.1.1.2. Physical Aspects
In their research, Lee, Barney, and Brewis, have found inherent causes, physical defects and gender differences as being the main causes of inferiority complex as far as the physical aspects are concerned.
2.5.1.1.2.1. Inherent Causes Lee Son says :
Aninherentcausecomesfrombirth throughaphysicaldefect.Peoplefeel aninferioritycomplexthroughtheir ownphysicaldefectsordeformity. Thereareevensomepeoplewho experience a superiority complex throughthemerefactofbeingaman oralternativelyaninferioritycomplex formerelybeingawoman.Notonly are thingslikeheight,weight,facial profile,eyes,nose,earsandlipsthe causesforaninferioritycomplex,but thingslikehands,breasts,waist,legs, andevenfingersandtoesarefoundto becausestoo.
Psychologists such as Adler point out that not only are outer appearances characteristics a cause for an inferiority complex, but also internal organic deficiencies such as reproduction, digestion, excretion etc. may present a cause for an inferiority complex.
2.5.1.1.2.2. Physical Defects
Barney (1949) says that physical defects such as lameness, disproportional facial features, speech defects and defective vision cause emotional reactions and become connected with previous unpleasant experiences.
A person who stammers like : she she she came came yesterday, he/she will feel inferior to those who do not. A second example, a girl who does not see well will have inferiority feelings to fight for her boyfriend because she is afraid to be hurt by other girls who are not suffering from defective vision. Same for a lame person. They cannot feel so equal as other people simply because they are handicapped.
2.5.1.1.2.3. Gender Differences
Brewis & Bruening (2018) write that social media deliver myriad messages about body shape and facial appearances that impact females more than men on the first stage. Wu (2015) supports that the cultural deficiency of the idea that men are superior to women generates an inferiority.
Based on the quotations above, the insults which girls face while interacting with men on social media when men lack strong arguments push those girls to have an inferiority feeling. Researchers in human sciences have found that girls are more ashamed of being insulted or disrespected by men than the latter are.
2.5.1.1.3. Education Background
Education being defined by Hornby (2015) as a process of teaching, training learning, it is a sine qua non for any achievement in our lives as human beings. Without education, we are blind. And people, who lack it, can experience an inferiority complex. According to some researchers, following are to be considered as causes of inferiority complex due to a lack of education : mental limitation, socialization and self-control, acquired causes, and parental attitude.
2.5.1.1.3.1. Mental Limitations
An insufficient knowledge about something can also make someone feel inferior to a person who knows more.
Barney (1949) supports that a mental limitation brings feelings of inferiority when unfavorable comparisons are made with the superior achievements of others, and when satisfactory performance is expected even though the instructions cannot be comprehended.
This can be better understood when for example we take a situation where there are two students of same grades, but different schools. One of them has a bad Maths teacher. Consequently, he/she cannot solve any problem related to Mathematics while another one has a good teacher and he/she performs well in Mathematics. A comparison between them will make the former feel mentally limited, which causes him the feelings of inferiority. Such a comparison is unfair.
2.5.1.1.3.2. Socialization and Self-control
Wu (2015) says that there are two main causes of impact of generating emotions including inferiority of adolescents : socialization and self-control. As the ages increase, people have to learn adaptation towards the society, the strategies for accommodating emotions of adolescents get fixed and adroit.
To my understanding, self-control and socialization are considered to be causes of inferiority complex since a human being stops acting willingly, but he/she is restrained from expressing his/her feelings freely in the name of socialization.
2.5.1.1.3.3. Acquired Causes
Acquired causes are those which are able to cause one to fall into an inferiority complex during the formative years internally and also via environment. Such causes are the birth background, career or work, moralistic or religious actions, an ideal ego, an estrangement from reality and frustrated desire for recognition (Lee Jin, 1998).
The first acquired cause of inferiority complex to be mentioned here is the background of a person’s birth. That is, people get an inferiority complex related to their birth background. An example of this is when two girls meet in Paris in order to live together. One came from Brussels while another one left Mbujimayi city. The latter will have an inferiority complex even if she is not aggressed by the one from Brussels because the latter is more open-minded than her.
2.5.1.1.3.4. Parental Attitude
Parental attitudes manifested by disapproving negative remarks and evaluations of behaviour emphasizing mistakes and shortcomings determine the attitude of the child before the age of six. In his research of an extensive study of 1,000 parents having children between the ages of one to six, Barney (1949) found that most children are subjected to a constant barrage of critical faultfinding and disparaging remarks.
Based on the quotation above, an inferiority complex resulted from the attitudes of our parents towards us during our childhood. This can be experienced with a child who is constantly being minimized by its mother or father. This child grows up without self-esteem and it sees other children as being more important than it is.
2.5.2. Solutions to an Inferiority Complex
Suggested cures for an inferiority complex are presented from psychological viewpoints according to Adler. Solutions to inferiority feelings include prevention in childhood, remedy in adulthood, lifestyle, overcoming an inferiority complex, the compensation for an inferiority complex, creative ego and rational emotive therapy.
2.5.2.1. Prevention in Childhood
Floyd (1953 ) finds that basic psychological measures to prevent an inferiority complex in childhood are : love for the child, respect for the child as a person, and understanding of the particular needs of the individual child. Practical suggestions for parents are : have a sense of humour, focus of the child’s attention on objective tasks, not on subjective feelings and acceptance of reliabilities and wise victory over them.
I also believe that if there is anything to cure an inferiority complex from early age, it is love towards children. The latter must feel that they are as important as grown up people. Parents are requested to treat their children with kindness, amusement, give them whatever they need if it is for their wellbeing.
Another solution to prevent an inferiority complex from taking place in a child is to agree with child’s opinions and ideas about something. They have also to feel free to do and say what they think, but prove them wrong kindly if necessary.
2.5.2.2. Solutions in Adulthood
Arvid (1958) writes that the basic psychoanalytic cure for an inferiority complex is twofold : raise the repressed complex to the conscious level by analytical technique and encourage the person according to the following three expressions : « Know yourself, accept yourself, and be yourself. » Paul (1939) lists four curative steps : « Recognize your disabilities; overcome your disabilities if possible, if you cannot overcome a handicap, act as if you do not have it; and develop your strong points. »
Following these theories, people with albinism must stop begging for help in the streets and develop their potentialities whereby they can survive independently because being albino does not make them inferior to other people. Adult people have to be proud of their identities, their origins, their own beliefs and accept the way they are created.
2.5.2.3. Lifestyle
Lifestyles of people are unique choices that are made in order to pursue their personal goals in life. People cannot have the very same lifestyles as others. Although they may have the same goal to become superior, one person may grow intellectually, another may develop their artistic abilities while even another will spend their ability for sports (Adler, 1942). He goes on supporting that the methods of achieving one’s goals in life includes an individual’s uniqueness, the goal of their life, selfunderstanding, worth and their attitude.
To solve a problem of inferiority complex, no one can pretend to have a better culture than that of another people, none of the religions are better than the other ones. European languages are not better than the African ones. Respecting one’s lifestyle is the most mature decision of human beings.
2.5.2.4. Overcoming an Inferiority Complex
One of the efforts that humans have been working at from long ago is the intimate relationship with other humans. Tribal origins meant that people would work together with a common goal in mind. This goal made people work in continual collaboration with other people, uniting them. One of the simplest religions of origin is totemism where some tribes worshipped totems of lizards and others worshipped totems of cows or snakes. Those that worshipped the same totems cooperated with one another and lived together, and considered all the constituent members as brothers and sisters. The purpose of these people was to increase the collaboration of humans (Adler, 1942).
To overcome an inferiority complex, the unity is another key solution. People must unite together and live together as one. This will put them aside from the feelings of inferiority.
2.5.2.5. The Compensation for an Inferiority Complex
Alfred Adler cited above says that people try to overcome physical inferiority through training and practice as compensative efforts. Sometimes these efforts bring about success to the individual. As solutions to the inferiority complex, Adler says that people have to make a progressive movement towards improvement and completion.
A black man who was born of a poor family, but he worked so hard that he became an employer of white people. Cannot he feel superior to them ? Definitely, yes ; because he made his efforts to change his poor economic background into richness. Another example of this is the case of football players who were not born naturally more skillful, but the more they train the better they become. From my own experiences as a foreign language learner, the more I practice English language, the better I become. So practice, training and progressive movement can help people compensate the inferiority feelings.
2.5.2.6. Creative Ego
Creative ego begins where the individual makes him/herself. People create their own lifestyles and purpose and contribute to the interest in society. It is because creative power influences memory, imagination, fantasy, and dreams and this is how creative power gives mankind freedom. Adler (1942 : 24-25) says, « It is the creative ego that gives meaning to life because he believes that a person’s lifestyle is developed by a creative power. »
For example, Congolese people have their creative ego which is singing the music. They sing even if they are mourned. You cannot come to them and say that as Chinese are making movies and therefore you must stop music to start producing movies. They are known in the world for music, not movies.
Equally so, Luba women have a creative lifestyle. They like long dresses, and wearing them does not make them less important than other women. I can also demonstrate the creative ego through Rwandans. These people have created a cleanness culture in Africa as their capital city, Kigali is known to be the cleanest city in Africa. en.m.wikipedia.org
2.5.2.7. Rational Emotive Therapy
Rational emotive therapy (RET) is a well-known therapy with applications in the treatment of mental health issues. Joyce, & Marie (2012) say that the therapy employs a variety of techniques to encourage the use of cognitive mediational strategies to guide individuals’ behaviours. The essence of the therapy is to address the underlying causes of emotional disturbances, rather than the events themselves.
Many scientists believe that all the scientific disciplines are dependent one on another. This implies that the current work being in the field of literature, one of its solutions can come from Biology. So people with inferiority complexes can be treated medically with therapy.
2.6. Partial Conclusion
This chapter has tried to give the literature review about inferiority complex. First, it defined the collocation ‘inferiority complex’. Second, it discussed the inferiority complex from its psychological understanding and its understanding by society. Third, it pointed out the different types of inferiority complex and its study in Things Fall Apart. Finally, it detailed the causes of inferiority feelings and its remedies.
The next chapter will be based on the analysis of the novel « Things Fall Apart »
CHAPTER THREE : ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL THINGS FALL APART
3.1. Subject matter
According to Hornby (2015), a subject matter is defined as ideas or information contained in a book, speech, painting etc. To my understanding, a subject matter in a fictional story is about the characters and their behaviour.
It follows that, the subject matter ofThingsFallApart is about Okonkwo, autochthonous of the clan, who stood up to fight white missionaries for the conservation of local culture and religion in opposition to Christianity which the missionaries were implementing in Umuofia and Mbanta.
While Okonkwo was exiled from Umuofia, the white missionaries came and settled in. They built their church, won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages. They gathered many other black people and told them that they were worshipping false gods which they later started to destroy. Okonkwo learned about it through his friend, Obierika.
Soon after Okonkwo returned back to Umuofia, he found that his clansmen, including his own son, Nwoye, have been converted to Christianity. They also inherited from white missionaries the opinion according to which the customs of black people are bad. Besides, the name of Nwoye was changed into Isaac. Here is the most important details about subject matter of TFA :
« Doesthewhitemanunderstandour customsandland? »
« Howcanhewhenhedoesnoteven speakourtongue? »
Buthesaysthatourcustomsarebad; andourownbrotherswhohavetaken uphisreligionalsosaythatour customsarebad.Howdoyouthinkwe canfightwhenourownbrothershave turnedagainstus?Thewhitemanis veryclever.Hecamequietlyand peaceablywithhisreligion.Wewere amused at his foolishness and allowedhimtostay.Nowhehaswon ourbrothers,andourclancanno longeractlikeone.Hehasputaknife onthethingsthatheldustogetherand wehavefallenapart.(TFA,p.176). »
3.2. Setting
Hornby (2015) defines a setting as the place and time at which the action of a play, novel, etc. takes place. Setting is also referred as to the foundation of the story, suggesting the sense of place, time, relationship, the social environment and the occurrence of events. So the setting is the place where or the time when a story takes place.
3.2.1. Setting of Place
It is the place where a story happened. Following are the examples of spatial settings taken from the novel under analysis :
The Commissioner went away, taking three or four of the soldiers with him. In the many years in which he had toiled to bring civilization to different parts of Africa. He had learnt a number of things (TFA, p. 208).
He went back to the church and told Mr. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write. (TFA, p. 152).
The passages above clearly demonstrate that the story ofThings
FallApart happened in Africa, particularly in Iguedo (Nigeria). Iguedo is Okonkwo’s village. (See TFA, p.121). It is a real community which is represented by Umuofia, an imaginative community.
3.2.2. Setting of Time
The story inThingsFallApart happened in the 1890s when the British missionaries were sent to Nigeria in order to introduce their civilization via Christianity. It was during the pre-colonialism period in Nigeria.
3.3. Plot
A plot is a serial arrangement of incidents, ideas or events. According to Staton (1965), the story contains the sequence of the events and every events are connected by simple relationship, one event causes or caused to the other events. Freytag (1863) considered plot as a narrative structure that divides a story into five stages as follows : exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. 3.3.1. Freytag’s Pyramid
3.3.2. Exposition
Every story has its beginning. In the beginning of a story there is an introduction of the characters and spatial setting to the readers. There is also a peaceful atmosphere. According to Irma Yuliana (2014), the exposition is the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience.
1.Okonkwowaswellknownthroughout theninevillagesandevenbeyond.(TFA, p.1).
2.Unokawouldplaywiththem,hisface beamingwithblessednessandpeace. Sometimes another village wouldask Unoka’sbandanddancingegwugwuto comeandstaywiththemandteachthem theirturne.(TFA,p.4).
From the quotations above, the protagonist is introduced along with another character. The spatial setting is also given. Moreover, the author shows how people were living in peace.
3.3.3. Rising Action
The second part of a plot is rising action. In this section, the reader has the opportunity to see where the problem or conflict arises within the story, as well as the tension that is a direct result of the conflict, which includes the motivation as well as obstacles of each of the main characters in the story. Freytag (1863) says that this stage is a moment during which something occurs, and disturbs the stability of the previous situation, creates the trouble, and initiates the conflict. In short, the rising action is the time during which a conflict arises and leads to the higher trouble.
In the novel under analysis, the following passages express the giving birthday of a conflict and disturbance of the peace amongst people in their community.
Thearrivalofthemissionarieshadcaused aconsiderablestirinthevillageofMbanta. Storiesaboutthesestrangemenhad grownsinceoneofthemhadbeenkilledin Abameandhisironhorsetiedtothe sacredsilk-cottontree.Whentheyall gathered,thewhitemanbegantospeakto them.(TFA,p.144).Hetoldthemabout thisnewGod,theCreatoroftheworldand allthemenandwomen.Hetoldthemthat theyworshippedfalsegods,godsofwood andstone.(TFA,p.145).
From the passages above, it is clear that the coming of white missionaries is on the basis of the rising action in the novel Things Fall Apart.
3.3.4. Climax
This is a moment when the tragic hero realizes the errors of their ways, yet it is too late to turn back. Freytag cited above defines climax as a reflection point in a story. The protagonist, at this stage, faces the highest conflict and things he/she is struggling for are getting worse than they were in the rising action.
Based on the facts inThingsFallApart, the climax occurs when people of Igbo tribe are holding their meeting regarding the crimes of the Christians and Okonkwo ends up killing a Christian messenger. At this point, the whole village is fifty-fifty about going to war. But Okonkwo’s brash actions caused his clansmen to let Christians live in peace.
« Whatdoyouwanthere? » »Thewhiteman whosepoweryouknowtoowellhas orderedthismeetingtostop. »Inaflash
Okonkwo drew his machete. The messengercrouchedtoavoidtheblow.It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descendedtwiceandtheman’sheadlay besideuniformedbody.(TFA,p.204).
Okonkwostoodlookingatthedeadman. HeknewUmuofiawouldnotgotowar.He knewbecausetheyhadlettheother messengersescape.(TFA,p.205).
3.3.5. Falling Action
Freytag calls this ‘Falling Action’ in the sense that the loose ends are being tied up. After the climax the falling action begins to wrap up the story by showing the consequences which result from the previous conflicts. In ThingsFallApart, the falling action occurs in the time between Okonkwo’s suicide and the murder of the messenger. As a reader, I am left out to assume that Okonkwo thought about the consequences and decided that he would rather die by his Igbo culture than by Christian culture. Here is an example :
« Whichamongyou,iscalledOkonkwo? »he askedthroughhisinterpreter.
« Heisnothere, »repliedObierika.He becameangryandredintheface.He warnedthementhatunlesstheyproduce Okonkwoforthwithhewouldlockthemall up.
« Wecantakeyouwhereheis,andperhaps yourmenwillhelpus. »(TFA,p.206).
So the white missionaries and their soldiers were looking for Okonkwo to punish him because of his murdering the messenger, without knowing that the murderer has already put an end to his life.
3.3.6. Denouement
The denouement is the final part of a plot. At this point, all the problems that the characters faced throughout the story are worked out and the story is concluded. (Irma, 2014).
The denouement begins when Okonkwo realizes that none of his clansmen support him, and he becomes aware that they will not go to war against the colonial government. It ends when they discovered Okonkwo’s dead body tied up the tree.
Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead. (TFA, p. 204).
This quotation reveals the happenings of denouement in the novel under analysis.
3.4. The Main Problem Found and how it is Resolved
The major conflict in Things Fall Apart is about the traditional society of Umuofia and the new customs brought by the whites, which are in turn adopted by many of the villagers. Onkonkwo struggles to release his people from this psychological yoke, but he ended up hanging up himself.
3.5. Characterization and Characters
3.5.1. Methods of Characterization
This is a way any writer uses to present the characters in a fictional story. According to Mulamba (2020), characterization is the method a writer uses to reveal the personality of a character in a literary work, it may include : what the character says about themselves; what others reveal about the character; and the character’s own actions.
There are two main ways in which the author presents the characters in their novel viz the narrative or expository method, and the dramatic or objective method. (Kalenda, 2022).
3.5.1.1. The Expository or Narrative Method
Ngoie (2022) says that the author has recourse to expository or narrative method when s/he wants to tell or describe what characters are doing, performing. i.e. their intentions or feelings. Let us take this example
from the novelThingsFallApart:
Okonkwowaswellknownthroughoutthe ninevillagesandevenbeyond.Hisfame restedonsolidpersonalachievements.As ayoungmanofeighteenhehadbrought honortohisvillagebythrowingAmalinze theCat.
3.5.1.2. Dramatic or Objective Method
It is a method which consists of making the characters interact themselves. In it, the author gives the floor to the characters and the latter speak to themselves as speakers and addressees. The reader sees like they were attending a play. Sometimes the author intervenes in it just to give reporting verbs. The example below is taken from the novel under analysis :
« IwantOkonkwotoanswerme, »said Uchendu. »Idonotknowtheanswer, » Okonkworeplied. »Youdonotknowthe answer? »Soyouseethatyouareachild. YouhavemanywivesandmanychildrenmorechildrenthanIhave.Youareagreat maninyourclan.Butyouarestillachild, mychild.ListentomeandIshalltellyou. ButthereisnomorequestionIshallask you.Whyisitthatwhenawomandiesshe istakenhometobeburiedwithherown kinsmen?(TFA,p.133).
3.5.2. Characters
Forster (1971) says that a character is a fictional presentation of a person usually but not necessarily.
From my experience as a film watcher, a fictional work reader; and also as a researcher, a character is an imaginative person acting in a play, a fictional story or else in a film as a person, an animal or something else.
3.5.2.1. Kinds of Characters
Rosyidin (2008) explains the following kinds of characters based on the role and personality of the character :
3.5.2.1.1. Major Characters
He defines the character as someone who has the important role in a story.
3.5.2.1.1.1. Okonkwo
Okonkwo was the hardy and ambitious leader of the Igbo community. He is a farmer as well as a wrestler who has earned fame and brought honour to his village by overthrowing Amalinze in a wrestling contest. He has very strong economic and political ties in his village and he is treated with admiration and respect.
3.5.2.1.1.2. Nwoye
Nwoye is Okonkwo’s son from his first wife. He is a sensitive young man who, much to his father’s dismay, joins the Christian missionaries.
3.5.2.1.1.3. Obierika
Obierika was Okonkwo’s close friend. He helps him with the crops during his period of exile, and keeps him informed on the radical changes taking place in the village of Umuofia.
3.5.2.1.1.4. Mr. Brown
Mr. Brown was the Christian missionary who first introduces the tenets of the Christianity to the people to take them away from their superstitious and age-old customs. He is a kind and understanding man who is accommodating towards the Igbo.
3.5.2.1.1.5. Reverend James Smith
He is Mr. Brown’s successor. He openly condemned Mr. Brown’s policy of compromise and accommodation and attempts to efface all aspects of Igbo culture.
3.5.2.2. Minor Characters
According to Rosyidin(2008), minor character is the character that only helps the major character. Minor characters do not play an important role in the story.
The minor characters whom I have found in the novel under analysis are :
3.5.2.2.1. Unoka
He is Okonkwo’s father who, during his lifetime never took a tittle till the death, and has spent his time playing the flute. His failure was the main reason why Okonkwo used to work hard in order to be different from him.
3.5.2.2.2. Maduka
Obierika’s son who participates and wins the wrestling contest.
3.5.2.2.3. Ogbuefi Ezendu
The oldest man in Umuofia who forewarns Okonkwo not to get too close to Ikemefuna, since the Oracle had pronounced his death already and then tells him not to participate in his death.
3.5.2.2.4. Agbala
The Oracle of the Hills and Caves, she dispenses advice and overlooks all aspects of life in the village of Umuofia.
3.5.2.2.5. Ikemefuna
A boy who is bought as hostage from Mbaino, and who lives with Okonkwo for three years. He is a clever and resourceful young man yet comes to unfortunate end.
3.5.2.2.6. Ezinman
Ekwefi and Okonkwo’s daughter. She is born after many miscarriages and is loved and pampered by her mother.She has a special relationship with Chielo, the woman who acts as the voice of Agbala, the Oracle.Okonkwo is fond of her and he even wishes that she were a boy.
3.5.2.3. Adjuvant
An adjuvant is a character that supports the protagonist in a story.
3.5.2.3.1. Obierika
Obierika is Okonkwo’s best friend. He has proven it the time when Okonkwo was exiled from Umuofia. He used to visit him in Mbanta.
3.5.2.3.2. Nwakibie
To get help for his planting, Okonkwo visited Nwakibie, the wealthiest man of Umuofia, symbolized by his three barns, nine wives and thirty children.
3.5.2.4. Round Character
Rosyidin (2008) defines a round character as a complex individual who has many evident qualities, many faceted and capable of changing.
3.5.2.4.1. Nwoye
Nwoye is Okonkwo’s biological son who denied his father because he was with the whites.
3.5.2.4.2. Obierika
Although Obierika lived a long time as Okonkwo’s best friend and helper, he turned against him by appreciating the changing values and foreign culture that infiltrated the Igbo society.
3.5.2.5. Protagonist
The person who leads the story in the novel under study is Okonkwo. It is he who is also considered as a tragic hero. His tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.
3.5.2.6. Antagonists
Hornby (2015)) defines ‘antagonist’ as a person who strongly opposes somebody or something.
In a fictional story like Things Fall Apart, the white missionaries are considered as antagonists because of their negative attitude towards the Igbo tradition.
3.6. Order and Sequence
It involves the sequence of events in a story and how they are arranged in a narrative. (Genette, 1983). The storyteller has, either, to tell the story by chronological order or non-chronological order.
3.6.1. Flashback
Also known as analepsis, it is when the narrative event which happened at an earlier point in a story is recounted when the later events have already happened. (Gholami, 2013).
It is a remembrance of a past event in a story. This can be seen in TFA through the following lines :
ThestorywastoldinUmuofia,ofhowhis father,Unokahadgonetoconsultthe OracleoftheHillsandtheCavestofindout whyhealwayshadamiserableharvest. (TFA,16).
3.6.2. Foreshadowing
Also known as prolepsis and flashforward, it is the fact of recounting a narrative event that has not yet happened. (Genette, 1983; p. 36).
1.Andthatwashowhecametolookafter thedoomedladwhowassacrificedtothe villageofUmuofiabytheirneighborsto avoidwarandbloodshed.Theill-fatedlad wascalledIkemefuna.(TFA,p.8).
2.ThingsFallApart.
the quote above suggests that in the future bad things will happen to Ikemefuna. Moreover, the title of the novel itself is a foreshadowing because before the reading of the novel, the readers are foretold that bad things will happen and the end of the story.
3.7. Message
The novelThingsFallApart conveys the message that the inferiority complex leads to one’s destruction. In fact, Okonkwo’s clansmen found that the white man’s culture and religion were better than theirs. Consequently, they gave up on supporting Okonkwo and the strangers conquered their land.
3.8. Point of Views
SEAN Meyer (2012) defines a point of view as a perspective from which any piece of writing is written.
There exist two types of points of views : omniscient point of view and limited point of view.
3.8.1. Omniscient Point of View
The story is told in a third person (he, she, it, his, her, their) by a narrator who knows everything about characters and events.
(www.delmai.edu)
Things Fall Apart begins with the omniscient point of view, which means that the narrator knows and communicates the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.
– Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. (TFA, p.3).
3.8.2. Limited Point of View
Almost the same as omniscient point of, but a slight difference is that in the limited point of view the author chooses one of the characters to tell the story. Moreover, the author stands out of the story.
« Howcanhewhenhedoesnotevenspeak ourtongue?Buthesaysthatourcustoms arebad,andourbrotherswhohavetaken uphisreligionalsosaythatour customsarebad…(TFA,p.176).
The quote above is used by Obierika who is a character in the novel under analysis.
3.9. Literary Devices
Leech and Short (2007) elaborate that style is the linguistic characteristics of a particular text.
For me, a literary device is a linguistic game of semantics which consists of conveying a meaning by a coded expression which can also demand a mental gymnastics.
3.9.1. Types of Literary Devices
In his bookSoundandSense : An Introduction to Poetry, Perrine classifies twelve kinds of figures of speech into three categories : Figures of speech by comparison, figures of speech by association and figures of speech by contrast.
3.9.1.1. Figures of Speech by Comparison
Based on comparison, there are four kinds of figures of speech : personnification, metaphor, simile and apostrophe.
3.9.1.1.1. Personnification
Kövecses (2010 : 39) says, « In personnification, human qualities are given to non-human entities. So a personification is when a non human creature or object is given human traits. »
One of the the examples of personnification in Things Fall Apart is the description of the yams, which are the stable of the Igbo people.
-Yam,thekingofcropswasavery exactingking,forthreeorfourmoonsit demanded hard work and constant attentionfromcock-crowtillthechickens wentbacktoroost.(TFA,p.33).
Yams are vegetables and can not demand that people work hard.
3.9.1.1.2. Metaphor
It is a comparison which does not use « like » or « as ». According to Leech and Short (2007), metaphor is a kind of analogy or comparison. Here is an example of metaphor in TFA :
-Okonkwo was popularly called ‘Roaring Flame’. As he looked into a log fire. He recalled the name. He was a flaming fire. (TFA, p. 153).
Achebe used the comparison ‘flaming fire’ in the form of metaphor to show how powerful and dangerous Okonkwo was.
3.9.1.1.3. Simile
Kennedy and Gioia (2007) say that simile is indicated by some connective words such as :like,as,than or the verb such asresemble. This definition suits better with the examples below :
1.Okonkwo’sfamehadgrownlikeabushfireintheharmattan.(TFA,p.3).
2.Itwasthefearofhimself,lesthewould befoundtoresemblehisfather.(TFA,p. 13).
3.Therewasnofestivalinalltheseasons oftheyearwhichgaveherasmuch pleasureasthewrestlingmatch.(TFA, p.39).
3.9.1.1.4. Apostrophe
According to Kennedy and Gioia (2007), apostrophe is a direct address to someone or something such as an inanimate object, a dead or an absent person, an abstract thing.
This is illustrated in the following sentence :
« Death, I implore you. » (TFA,p.77).
In this example above, Ekwefi directly addresses Death by naming one of his children Onwumbiko, a name that literarily means, « Death, I implore you. » Unfortunately, the child dies and Ekwefi’s prayers are not answered.
3.9.1.2. Figures of Speech by Association
Based on the association, there are four types of figures of speech, i.e.
metonymy, symbol, synecdoche and allegory.
3.9.1.2.1. Metonymy
Perrine (1969) defines metonymy as a figure of speech which uses something closely related to something closely meant.
Metonymy uses one entity to refer to another one. One example of this kind inThingsFallApart is this one :
– « We cannot leave the matter in his hands because he does not understand our customs, just as we do not understand his. » (TFA, p. 191).
Achebe means the object hand is a ‘responsibility’, while hand is literarily the part of a human body.
3.9.1.2.2. Symbol
Perrine (1969) defines symbol as something which means more than what it is. Kennedy and Gioia (2007) say that a symbol is a person, place or thing in a narrative that suggests meaning beyond its literal sense.
-VeryoftenitwasEzinmawhodecided whatfoodhermothershouldprepare. Ekwefievengavehersuchdelicacieseggs, whichchildrenwererarelyallowedtoeat becausesuchfoodtempetedthemtosteal. (TFA,p.76).
Achebe tells us that in Igbo culture, children are forbidden eggs because it was believed that eating them would lead to become thieves.
3.9.1.2.3. Synecdoche
Kövecses (2010) implicitly states that a synecdoche is another metronomic variant which uses a part of a thing for the whole thing. Following is an illustration of of it in the novel under analysis :
– … anxiety mounted in every heart that heaved on a bamboo bed that night. (TFA, p. 121).
The author used the word’heart’ as a part of a person to represent a whole person.
3.9.1.2.4. Allegory
Kennedy and Gioia (2007) define allegory as a figure of speech in narrative form in verse or prose which the literal events such persons, places and things consistently point to a parallel sequence of symbolic ideas. One of the examples of allegory inThingsFallApart is :
Andthenthelocustscame.Ithadnot happenedformanyalongyear.Theelders saidthelocustscameonceinageneration, andreappearedeveryyearforsevenyears andthendisappearedforanotherlifetime. (TFA,p.53).
Hornby (2015) defines a locust as a large insect which lives in hot countries and flies in groups, destroying all the plants and crops of an area. In line with what is said in the latest quotation above, Achebe is using the insect ‘locusts’ to make a comparison to the colonizers.
3.9.1.3. Figures of Speech by Contrast
As far as the figure of speech by contrast is concerned, there exist four types, i.e. paradox, overstatement/hyperbole, understatement/litotes and irony.
3.9.1.3.1. Paradox
It is a statement that at first seems a self-contradictory but it reveals some deeper sense on reflection. (Kennedy and Gioia).
To my understanding, a paradox is a figure of speech which expresses one idea with two opposite meanings . One of the examples of this kind in TFA is as follows :
– « There is no story that is not true, » said Uchendu. (TFA, p. 141).
3.9.1.3.2. Overstatement / Hyperbole
It is an exaggeration to an extreme degree. Overstatement or hyperbole is an exaggeration that is used to emphasize something. (Kennedy and Gioia, 2007). One of the examples of hyperbole in Things Fall Apart is when the marketplace in Umuike is being described as follows : -There are so many people on it that if one threw up a grain sand it would not find its way to the earth again. (TFA, p.201).
The quote above demonstrates a kind of exaggeration because if any grain of sand is thrown, it will always end up falling down.
3.9.1.3.3. Understatement/Litotes
It is an ironic figure of speech that describes something in a way that is less than the true situation. (Kennedy and Gioia, 2007).
Based on my semantic analyses on some examples aboutlitotes, it is a figure of speech in which double negative is used to bring out a positive meaning. Some of the examples of understatement/litotes inThingsFall Apart is :
1.Herhusbandandhisfamilywerealready becominghighlycriticalofsuchawoman andwerenotundulyperturbedwhenthey foundshehadfledtojointheChristians. (TFA,p.151).
2.Theywouldnotbecaughtunawares. (TFA,p.192).
3.9.1.3.4. Irony
It is a literary device in which a contrast of meaning is covered beneath the surface of the language. ( Kennedy and Gioia cited above).
In the novel under analysis, the irony is used when the District Commissioner, on the very last page of the novel, suggests that the title for his book should beThePacificationofPrimitiveTribesofLowerNiger. (TFA).
The quotation above illustrates an irony because the white missionaries never showed a desire to be familiar to the African customs as the District Commissioner is telling it. The word Pacification is the cover of
Enslavement of which the true meaning is in the surface in regards to the reality of what happened in the novelThingsFallApart.
3.10. Kind of Novel
As far as the kind of novel is concerned,ThingsFallApart is a sociopolitical novel.
CHAPTER FOUR : NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF INFERIORITY COMPLEX AND ITS INSTANCES IN THE NOVEL THINGS FALL APART
The previous chapter was about the analysis of the novel « TFA ». It has given the subject matter and the theme of the novel of which inferiority complex and its negative effects are under study. It has also talked about the settings, plot, and figures of speech. This chapter will deal with the negative effects of inferiority complex and its instances in the novel « Things Fall Apart. »
4.1. Lost Identity
In his book Colonial Subjects in Achebe’s Things Fall, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God, Zahra wrote :
AfterthearrivalofcolonizersinAfricaand thecreationofColonialSubjectsmanyof thesecolonizedpeopletriedtoimitatetheir colonizersindress,speech,behavior,and as a whole in their lifestyle. This phenomenon is called mimicry and reflectscolonizedpeople’sdesiretobe acceptedbythecolonizerandtheshame theyexperiencedconcerningtheirown culture.
Folllowing are some of the illustrations taken from the novel TFA :
1.Nwoyewashappytoleavehisfather.He wouldlaterreturntohismotherandhis brothersandsisterstoconvertthemtothe newfaith.(TFA,p.152).
2.HehadjustsentOkonkwo’sson,Nwoye, whowasnowcalledIsaac.(TFA,p.182).
3. »Doesthewhitemanunderstandour customsandland? »
4. »Howcanhewhenhedoesnoteven speakourtongue? »
Buthesaysthatourcustomsarebad;and ourownbrotherswhohavetakenuphis religionalsosaythatourcustomsarebad. (TFA,p.176).
5.Amancannowleavehisfatherandhis brothers.Hecancursethegodsofhis fatherandhisancestors.Likeahunterdog thatsuddenlygoesmadandturnsonhis master.(TFA,p;167).
The instances above clearly demonstrated the inferiority complex by black people towards the white ones. Those blacks have lost their identity in favour of that of white people.
4.2. The Language of the Colonizers and its Effects on the Culture Zahra (2015) says that :
Thelanguageofthecolonizerwasoften usedasaweaponbyAfricanwritersto make their voice heard. Moreover, EuropeanlanguagesasEnglish,French, Spanish,andPortuguesegaveAfrican literatureauniversaldimension.
Indeed, the novelThingsFallApart has been written in English because Achebe was particularly addressing to an international audience that could not understand Igbo language. So Achebe was aware that his own language was less important to some extent compared to English.
4.3. Dislocation of Communal Spirit
One of the most important things in Okonkwo’s clan is that all the people are aware of their dependence on the kin group. Everybody was loyal to the customs and rituals of the community.
In the case ofThingsFallApart, we claim that the dislocation of communal spirit is a weak point which leads to the destruction of their tradition and figures like Okonkwo. (Zahra, 2015).
Based on the quotation above, people of Umuofia could act, not because of being on the right side, but because of opinion by the majority. Here is an example taken from the novel under study :
-Thewhitemanisveryclever.Hecame quietlyandpeaceablywithhisreligion.We wereamusedathisfoolishnessand allowedhimtostay.Nowhehaswonour brothers,andourclancannolongeract likeone.Hehasputaknifeonthethings thatheldustogetherandwehavefallen apart.(TFA,p.176). »
This quotation is another instance of negative impact caused by inferiority complex. In fact, it illustrated that the communal spirit of black people has been dislocated due to the inferiority feelings on the part of other blacks. So the inferiority complex has given birth to the disunity amongst the autochthonous of Umuofia.
4.4. Self-accusation and Self-reproach Albert (1969) states :
Theindividualwhoissubjecttogreat periodofdepression,especiallydepression concerninghisownwelfare,ratherthanthe welfareofsociety,usuallyresortsto accusationsagainsthimselfofmanykinds ofinferioritycomplexandtakesupon himselftheblameforallthefailuresand errors.
In the case of the novel Things Fall Apart, black people began to accuse themselves of being responsible for the change of culture and beliefs which brought the unity of their villages down. Here are the illustrations :
1.Howdoyouthinkwecanfightwhenour ownbrothershaveturnedagainstus? (TFA,p.176).
2.Andourbrotherswhohavetakenuphis religionalsosaythatourcustomsarebad (TFA,p.176).
3. »Itisalreadytoolate, »saidObierikasadly. « Ourownmenandoursonshavejoinedthe ranksofthestranger.Theyjoinedhis religionandtheyhelptoupholdhis government.Ifweshouldtrytodriveout thewhitemeninUmuofia,weshouldfindit easy.Thereareonlytwoofthem.Butwhat ofourownpeoplewhoarefollowingtheir wayandhavebeengivenpower?They wouldgotoUmuruandbringthesoldiers, andwewouldbelikeAbame.(TFA,p.176).
4.5. Lack of Self-confidence and Indecision The author cited above states :
-Inordertopursueacompletelynonaggressiveattitudetowardsaproblemof life,anindividualiscompelledtowithdraw fromlife’sproblems.Thisapproachresults fromthefearthatisnotcapableoffinding asatisfactorysolutiontoproblemswhich confronthim.
Following are the examples revealing the lack of self-confidence and indecision :
« Therearenoothergods, »saidMr.Brown. « ChukwuistheonlyGodandalltheothers arefalse.Youcarveapieceofwoodlike thatone(hepointedattheraftersfrom whichAkunna’scarvedIkmgahung),and youcallitagod.Butitisstillapieceof wood. »
1. »Yes, »saidAkunna. »Itisindeedapiece ofwood. »(TFA,p.179).
2.Inthisway,Mr.Brownlearnedagood dealaboutthereligionoftheclanandhe cametotheconclusionthatafrontal attackonitwouldnotsucceed.Andsohe builtaschoolandalittlehospitalin Umuofia.Hewentfromfamilytofamily beggingpeopletosendtheirchildrentohis school.Butatfirsttheyonlysenttheir slavesorsometimestheirlazychildren.Mr. Brownbeggedandarguedandprophesied. Hesaidthattheleadersofthelandinthe futurewouldbethemenandwomenwho havelearnttoreadandwrite.IfUmuofia failedtosendherchildrentotheschool, strangerswouldcomefromotherplacesto rulethem.Theycouldalreadyseethat happeningintheNativeCourt,wherethe D.C.weresurroundedbystrangerswho spokehistongue.Mostofthesestrangers camefromthedistanttownofUmuruon thebankoftheGreatRiverwherethewhite manfirstwent.Intheend,Mr.Brown’s argumentsbegantohaveaneffect.More peoplecametolearninhisschoolandhe encouragedthemwithgiftsandsinglets andtowels.(TFA,p.181).
These examples demonstrate two negative effects of inferiority complex in black people. They first lacked a self-confidence. They no longer trusted Christianity more than their own religion. Secondly, the same blacks failed to remain firm on their decision of not going to the school of white missionaries. They let the whites deciding on what to do for their future.
4.6. Corrupted Mind
Another negative effect of inferiority complex on the part of black people in « Things Fall Apart » is a corrupted mind. These people began to believe in whatever white missionaries were telling them. Even if the white insulted their religion, they could only shake heads to agree. Here is the illustration from novel Things Fall Apart :
« Ifweleaveourgodsandfollowyourgod, whowillprotectusfromtheangerofour neglected gods ? » asked another man. »Yourgodsarenotaliveandcannot doyouanyharm,repliedthewhiteman. « Theyarepiecesofwoodandstone. »(TFA, p.146).Buttherewasayoungladwhohad beencaptivated.HisnamewasNwoye. (TFA,p.147).
The quotation above carries the message of corrupted mind by Nwoye. Moreover, despite the fact that the white missionary used a disrespectful language towards Nwoye’s religion, the latter shook up his head to agree with him that his gods are not alive. They were pieces of wood and stone.
4.7. Loss of Beliefs
The last negative impact of inferiority complex is that the autochthonous of Umuofia have lost their beliefs in their own religion in favour of that of white people, which is Christianity. Here is the example taken from « Things Fall Apart » :
ThemissionarieshadcometoUmuofia. Theyhadbuilttheirchurchthere,won handfulofconvertsandwerealready sendingevangeliststothesurrounding townsandvillages.Thatwasasourceof greatsorrowtotheleadersoftheclan. (TFA,143).
This quotation does illustrate the negative effect of inferiority complex through the loss of beliefs by black people. They have accepted to turn against their own religion. Some of them were perceived amongst the evangelists.
4.8. Polygamy and Unkind Attitudes towards one’s Wife
In Things Fall Apart, another negative effect about the inferiority complex is the polygamy and unkind attitudes towards one’s wife. Achebe uses the ill-treatment of Okonkwo towards her wives to show the instances of negative impacts of inferiority complex on the part of women. He demonstrates that a woman is inferior to a man, which gives man the power and courage to treat his wife like a cow. Here are some examples
- There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo’s village who had three huge barns, nine wives, and thirty children.(TFA,p. 28).
- « Who killed this banana tree ? » asked Okonkwo. A hush fell on the compound immediately. « Who killed this tree ? » Or are you all deaf and dumb? » Okonkwo’s second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food, and she said so. Without further further argument, Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. (TFA,p.38).
In the first example above, the author shows us how one man can control too many wives. All this because, women agreed to be inferior to men as seen in the novel « TFA ».
GENERAL CONCLUSION
This dissertation is about the inferiority complex and its negative effects in » Things Fall Apart », a novel by Chinu Achebe. The objective was to point out the inferiority complex and its negative effects in « TFA. »
In this section, I restate the problem and summarise the work along different chapters. I also address the solutions to cure the inferiority complex.
This dissertation was made of four chapters, general introduction and general conclusion excluded. In the general introduction, I stated the problem, I asked the research question, I explained the choice of the topic and interest of the study, I set the objectives to achieve in this work, I addressed the research methodology and outlined the work. To come back to the problem of this piece of research, the readership should remember that innumerable literature stresses the importance of overcompensating the inferiority complex in order to be psychologically independent lest one should be manipulated.
After the date analysis, it was found that African people rejected their religion and converted themselves to the Christianity because it belonged to the white people. They also became ashamed of their parents, their culture and their identity.
The first chapter focused on the generalities on some theories about the analysis of a work of literature. In it, I discussed the literary theories such as formalist theory, structuralist theory, feminist theory, Marxist theory, sociological theory, cultural theory, psychological theory, and reader -response theory.
In the second chapter, this dissertation entirely stressed on the generalities of inferiority complex. It defined the inferiority complex, outlined the different types of it, explained its psychological understanding as well as the understanding of society. Different psychologists’ views on the inferiority complex were given. Then, it pointed out the type of inferiority complex found in « Things Fall Apart » and provided its examples.
The third chapter was about the analysis of novel « Things Fall Apart » whereby the elements of novel such as subject matter, theme, characters, point of view, settings, literary devices and the message were explained.
The fourth chapter was concerned with the negative effects of the inferiority complex and its instances in « Things Fall Apart ». It was found that loss of beliefs, self-accusations, self-reproach, language of colonizers, lost identity, polygamy and unkind attitudes towards one’s wife corrupted mind, lack of self-confidence and indecision were the negative effects of the inferiority complex. Their illustrations from the novel « Things Fall Apart » were provided.
From religious point of view, the introduction of Christianity in Umuofia caused a religious negative impact due to inferiority complex. The blacks started to agree that they were worshiping a dead god, and that the only living one was the one whom the whites had brought in Umuofia. They left a space to an inferiority complex and began to be on the frontline of those who had to evangelise other black people in the surrounding towns and villages in order to win their conversion to Christianity.
From psychological point of view, the research also found that the inferiority complex of African people negatively impacted their state of mind. The blacks became so weak minded that they accepted whatever they were told to do. It was found that they were asserting things without a resistance. The moral corruption made them look like people without wisdom. They looked more inferior than white missionaries to the extent that they believed that if they refused to go to the school which was built by the white people, they would not lead their land.
To cure the inferiority complex in childhood, the second chapter has suggested that the key solutions should be : love for the child, respect for the child as a person, and understanding of the particular needs of the individual child. Practical suggestions for parents are : have a sense of humour, focus of the child’s attention on objective tasks, not on subjective feelings and acceptance of reliabilities and wise victory over them.
As far as the adult people are concerned, the second chapter suggested that they had to be proud of their identities, their origins, their own beliefs and accept the way they are created. They should recognize their disabilities and overcome them. In case it is impossible to overcome a disability, adult people should act as if they do not have it and develop their strong gifts.
Other solutions to overcome the inferiority complex of gender differences are addressed to the men including young boys. They should stop posting myriad messages of women’s body shape. Husbands should stop beating their wives. They should treat them kindly as human beings. I also suggested that women should say no to polygamy because this is the weak point which makes them inferior to the men.
The General conclusion restates the problem and summarises the findings along each chapter. Then, it ends with further studies.
As to further studies, to be sincerely honest, I am not sure that I have covered all the aspects possible to this topic because imperfections and omissions may be found in this work. I leave the remainings to readers and other researchers.
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