The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the impact of colonialism and how it erodes unity among people.
Chinua Achebe's quote encapsulates the subtle yet devastating effects of colonial influence on indigenous communities. It highlights how the arrival of the white man, initially seen as harmless and even amusing, led to a fracture in the community's cohesion as new beliefs and influences were adopted, ultimately undermining their traditional bonds and unity. This metaphorical 'knife' signifies the deep cuts into the fabric of their society caused by foreign intervention, resulting in lasting fragmentation.
In practice
In a speech about cultural heritage, this quote can illustrate the loss of identity.
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to feel that the story that I was told about this religion wasn't perhaps completely whole, that something was left out.
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!
Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.
It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world.
An angry man is always a stupid man.
To say that I'm healed, uh, would be to imply that there's an endpoint. And I think healing is something that we all do, that we'll all continually do, for the rest of our lives.
Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.
You're living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution _x000D_ A time where there's got to be a change. People in power have misused it _x000D_ And now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built _x000D_ And the only way is going to be built is with extreme methods _x000D_ And I for one will join with anyone, don't care what color you are _x000D_ As long as you want change this miserable condition that exists on this earth
I think that to acknowledge a new generation is to acknowledge some degree of obsolescence in yourself, and that is very hard to do and often comes with undeniable anger.
So easy to fall into a rut, isn't it? Why should ruts be so comfortable and so unpopular?
We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass love. It's not enough just to change the system. We need to change ourselves.
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