Cultural Dynamism in the Works of Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall
This paper examines the works of three major writers, Chinua Achebe, Toni Morrison, and Paule Marshall, whose novels are representative of the Black diaspora in varying yet decisive ways. Their contributions to the Black diaspora are remarkable because they offer readers a depth of cultural history, traditions, and aesthetics that is simply timeless. Because they collectively understood the need for a strong vision and focus on culture for their time and the future for people of color, each author produced original characters thoroughly impacted by the cultural values and changes in their communities. This essay also seeks to explore unanswered questions the protagonists have about their cultures. Their questions are based on critical views about the limitations and freedoms offered them as they shape their individual identities.
In a general sense, cultural dynamism encompasses the numerous aspects of culture that continue to change and evolve based on major external forces in human life. In his essay “Debating Aspects of Cultural Dynamism” author Alphonse Rutazigwa supports prominent diasporic historian Walter Rodney's belief that culture encompasses the entire way we live our lives (Rutazigwa 2008). From this context, one discerns his or her personal and national identities with any given society through cultural dynamism. Rutazigwa further acknowledges that adaptions of culture should be viewed favorably and protected as one of the most viable frameworks within the social construct (2008).
In a slightly different vein, social anthropologist Michael Fischer emphasizes in his work “Cultural Dynamics: Formal Disciplines of Cultural Processes” that the idea of culture from anthropological perspectives is very challenging to define singularly; however, numerous anthropologists are in agreement that culture is an “emergent phenomena” impacted by separate systems that typically engage with one another (Fischer 2008). He further asserts that conditional changes can be created for new cultural adaptations that transcend material and behavioral contexts, and it is the theme of adaptation and hyper-adaptation that cultures give agency to (2008). More recently, authors Kashima, Bain, and Perfors published “The Psychology of Cultural Dynamics: What It is, What Do We Know, and What is Yet to Be Known?” in the Annual Review of Psychology. Their scholarly work structures the concept of cultural dynamics in three specific parts that are focused on micro-cultural dynamics, micro-macro dynamics, and macro-cultural dynamics (Kashima 499). In each part, the fluidity of cultural information is centrally featured in their concept of culture, and this has direct implications on individuals’ mental and physical behavioral patterns during times of stability and times of change (500).
With these critical perspectives in mind, this essay defines cultural dynamism, from a literary context, as the interchanging of enduring principles and values within protective realms of cultures that enhance cultural legacies while resisting entities that promote confusion and chaos. By applying a critical analysis of cultural dynamism in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease, I intend to highlight attributes that alter the life trajectories of the protagonists Okonkwo and his grandson Obi. Their journeys, although in different historical times, are relevant to our understanding of cultural dynamism, especially through a literary prism of these protagonists’ sense of purpose within Nigerian Ibo culture. Achebe chooses to honor cultural legacies within Nigeria through promotion and a critical view of the culture and society in Nigeria.
I intend to further this analysis, through an examination of Morrison’s works Sula and Song of Solomon because these novels allow readers to fully engage in the act of questioning the significance of culturally based places such as the Bottom in Medallion, Ohio and Shalimar, Virginia especially for unconventional characters such as Sula Peace and Macon Dead Jr. better known as Milkman. These two protagonists see and reject the invariability of culture, and they seek cultural dynamism that speaks to their sense of self and purpose. Similarly, Paule Marshall’s major character such as the unnamed grandchild narrator in the short story “To Da Duh in Memoriam” and the Merle Kinbona in The Chosen Place, The Timeless People depict confidence and resilience unmatched by other characters in each story. For the unnamed child narrator and Kinbona, these personality traits stem from their simultaneous embracing and rejecting of Barbados’ and Bournehills’ cultural norms and the embracement of cultural dynamism that is not necessarily shared by the majority of community members in each story.
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease
What is profoundly striking about Achebe’s works is that both novels show a continuum of culture that is as much dynamic as it is static or vice versa. Okonkwo and Obi struggle with this dichotomy enough to risk personal ruin and tragedy by each novel’s end. However, both protagonists are aware of the risks associated with going against the culture and perhaps they realize too late that the time for culture change as they see will come at its own pace rather than when they wish it to come. For example, in Things Fall Apart, one of the most honored cultural traditions is the Week of Peace. According to the priest Ezeani (Ani), this cultural week was in respect of the great earth goddess who would bless them with successful crops for being at peace with ones’ neighbors. (Achebe 25-26). Eseani believes that any violence during this particular week could result in devastation for the entire community if the earth goddess is insulted (26). From a more practical standpoint, the Week of Peace has further significance by establishing for the Umuofia a time to reflect on their behaviors while promoting a sense of order and stability. When Okonkwo, therefore, violates this embedded tradition by beating his third wife, Ojiugo, he indirectly questions whether the cultural tradition is more powerful than his right to rule over his wives and his home environment. Although he immediately discovers his answer, his measured punishment brings two animals, cloth, and cowries to the shrine of Ani is indicative of cultural dynamism that reshaped Oknokwo’s fate (26-27). Evidence of this is shown when select elders reflect on the mild punishment Okonkwo received. Elder Ezeudu states,
It has not always been so… My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the Week of Peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve. (27)
Ezeudu’s comments highlight a noted culture shift for the community, and they also foreshadow a broader context for cultural dynamics that the Umuofia village will experience in later chapters when the importation of the British culture comes into play (27-30). Certainly, Okonkwo’s wives in this situation should not be marginalized because they play such a significant role in keeping the culture intact. Not only are they providing Okonkwo with children who become the workforce that enables him to have a prosperous family life and favorable image within the community, but they are also instrumental in their roles as teachers of oral history within the culture. Okonkwo’s second wife Ekwefi and his daughter Ezinma are very strong examples of this (85-88). Although the women characters conform to this overbearingly patriarchal system, their participation in promoting cultural norms and celebrations provides them with a limited sense of autonomy amongst themselves.
For example, in chapter ten, the ceremonial judicial case involved a family who rescues their sister from an abusive husband who nearly kills her (80-81). Even though the case is ruled upon in favor of the husband, the incident suggests a cultural dynamism that favors some protection for women who come from stable families before marriage (82). Regardless of the laws imposed by the elders of the village, the actions of Odukwe in protecting his sister (Mgbafo) against her tyrant husband, (Uzowulu) indicative of major challenges within the society about domestic violence. Thus, immediate families will intervene in domestic violence disputes even when cultural norms dictate that they should not.
Achebe devotes the entire chapter ten of Things Fall Apart to the issue of domestic violence and the culture’s rather weak response to it. This is significant because Achebe’s depictions suggest that two major questions should be answered about the village’s participation in family matters cases: First, can women gain more protection that they deserve to have from violent men in the village? Second, how long will a culture remain intact if the mistreatment of women continues to be unresolved? As the warrior-minded protagonist of the novel, Okonkwo faces several cultural dilemmas that shape much of the novel. His most prevalent dilemma is how to behave like the ultimate warrior while struggling with the inner fear of being perceived as weak or as an unaccomplished person by his community.
Each time the protagonist makes a wrong decision in the novel, he is warned prior to his decision by village members who cannot fully convince Okonkwo that his actions can have negative consequences for the entire Umuofia society. Ultimately, the Umuofia elders protect the village against Okonkwo’s transgressions of four additional killings: his foster son Ikemefuna, Ezeudu’s teenage son, the messenger for the British, and himself. The dynamism of culture is strongest in these tragic turn of events, in part, because the culture must adapt to the presence of the British in a way that speaks to their survival (172-173). Ironically, Okonkwo spends so much time defining himself as a “flaming fire” warrior and fighting for the honor of the village and his family only to realize before he takes his life that he would define the village men as cowards for not fighting against the British invaders.
In contrast, the Umuofia villagers view Okonkwo as one who went against the ancestral spirits causing confusion in chaos even as they tried with limited success to negotiate with the British. The villagers’ need to survive as a culture outweighed the indignities they would endure in the transformation of it, and Okonkwo could not come to terms with living in such a traumatic reshaping of the culture. Through Okonkwo’s character, Achebe asks readers to consider the following questions: How sustaining is any culture that gives up its right to exist on its own terms? Does individuality pose a serious threat to communal societies? Does cultural dynamism diminish, over time, the instinctive nature to preserve what truly defines the culture? Achebe also asks readers to remember and to respect the times before colonial powers altered the cultures of African people. Although he presents a tragic ending of Okonkwo’s life, Achebe also reminds readers with so many illustrations in Things Fall Apart that the Umuofian people once lived as a proud people who felt empowered enough to use their greatest warrior to represent them at home and in other lands. Despite their flaws, their ways of living as a culture matter, and the memory of the culture created will remain in place for many generations- as evidenced by the novel No Longer at Ease.
NO LONGER AT EASE
In Achebe’s No Longer at Ease, the premise of the novel is based on cultural dynamism. This is most obvious through the depiction of the Umuofian Progressive Union. As an instrumental part of the Ibo culture, the union holds the collective power to improve or influence the lives of many of its members (Achebe No Longer 5-8). Although Achebe develops major characters whose lives are permanently impacted by the importation of the British culture imposed on the Nigerian society, the Umuofian Progressive Union exists, in part, to provide a measure of protection against this importation. Even though the novel’s setting is indicative of a shift from colonial rule to a form of self-governing, Achebe skillfully shows that this is not going to be without major challenges, especially with the theme of corruption dominating the political and social landscapes of the country.
Another core theme that, in turn, positions cultural dynamism in a more positive light is the theme of education. This theme raises several questions when viewed through the lens of cultural dynamism. Two of the most salient ones are the following: Can one really obtain a sense of fulfillment if his or her dreams are not supported or even considered as an option by the culture the person belongs to? Second, are there any limits to a culture’s interference in the personal life of one of their members? Cultural dynamism brings a heightened level of awareness to these questions, yet for major characters Obi and Clara, the questions remain largely unanswered. What is a certainty for some village elders is that the spirit of Okonkwo lives on in his grandson Obi -not only based on his decisions to go against the expectations of his culture as Okonkwo does but also through his ability to rise above his humble beginnings and gain special privileges from the culture (Achebe No Longer 61-62).
Obi’s rise starts with him producing a stellar performance as a young student. Obi is then rewarded with a scholarship to further his education abroad. This is special because it is a privilege no one else in the village, thus far, has been granted (No Longer 12-13). Although a capable student, Obi is unprepared for the British way of living, and the process of cultural adaptation may have caused him to pursue a degree that went counter to the expectations of the Umuofia Progressive Union. Cultural dynamism is very interesting here because the Union does not believe that Obi’s interests and wishes as a scholar are as important as his mission to return as a lawyer to represent them in land disputes. (No Longer 8). The culture gives Obi the illusion of autonomy by accepting his degree in English rather than alerting him to their anger and disappointment. The U.P.U. willingness to accept Obi’s degree shows a cultural dynamism that is more beneficial to the group rather than the individual, and it takes Obi too long to fully grasp this reality. Even though they forgive Obi for this, the expectation that Obi will conform to their wishes is heightened enough for them to expect him to abide by their guidelines. This is partially why Achebe takes time to briefly comment on the U.P.U.’s work ethic in raising the money for Obi’s education abroad and the gifting of their hard work to celebrate him as their hope for the future. Achebe writes,
The guest then said their farewells to Obi, many of them repeating all the advice that he had already been given. They shook hands with him and as they did so they pressed their presents into his palm, to buy a pencil with, or an exercise book or a loaf of bread for the journey, ….substantial presents in a village where money was so rare, where men and women toiled from year to year to wrest a meager living from an unwilling and exhausted soil. (13)
Of course, this is the essence of cultural dynamism because the culture intends for Obi to use their principles as a protective realm in order to enhance their cultural legacy. They do not expect him to go against their belief or to promote the type of confusion and chaos he brings upon himself as the novel progresses.
Another major way the culture shows a dynamic sense of support for Obi is when he loses his mother and does not return for the funeral (182-187). Although the core plot of Obi’s refusal to give up Clara (an outcast who Obi is forbidden to marry) is at the root of Obi’s disconnection to his family and the Union, this experience is one that suggests that the culture will forgive the individual’s transgressions if it sees value in the efforts made to do so. For instance, near the novel’s end, Obi’s friend Joseph orchestrates a gathering of U.P. U. members at Obi’s place in order for them to share their condolences with him. This included the sharing of beer, current stories, and folktales (184-185). This scene is of extreme importance to the story because it shows that the culture still believes in Obi, even if Obi has lost faith within himself. Now that Clara is no longer in his life, the group believes that he will be able to come to terms with the loss of his mother with their help. The narrator highlights this in detail with the surprise visit of Joseph:
“Before very long a number of Umuofia people began to arrive. Some came in taxis, not singly like Joseph but in teams of three or four, sharing the fare among them. Others came on bicycles. Altogether there were over twenty-five…. Everybody on arrival went to Obi and said ‘Ndo” to him. He answered some with a word and some with a nod of the head. No one dwelt unduly on his sorrow. They told him to take heart and were soon talking about the normal affairs of life. (185)
This particular scene and the initial one, prior to his leave for England, are indicative of the ways that Achebe skillfully develops the essence of cultural dynamism. The Ibo culture that is exemplified through the Umuofia Progressive Union members is empowered enough to help Obi survive the losses of his mother, Clara, and ultimately his freedom. They have, I believe, a sense of responsibility for his successes and failures as a young man who must grapple with an uncertain fate by the novel’s end. As his grandfather’s image was reexamined from a disgraced person in Things Fall Apart to as a great warrior in No Longer at Ease, Obi has the opportunity to do the same and further enhance cultural legacies; however, his culture will certainly be instrumental in guiding his path forward. As Achebe, Toni Morrison asserts a similar message for her major characters in Sula and Song of Solomon.
Sula and Song of Solomon
Morrison’s novels are highly invested in the preservation of culture and community of African American people. Sula and Song of Solomon are two novels that offer remarkable insights into the process of this preservation. Morrison creates communities that evoke a strong presence of cultural dynamism for readers to reflect upon. In both novels, the survival skills needed within families and communities that are mainly segregated, suggest that when dramatic changes occur, the community will rise to the occasion to overcome their struggles. What is very striking about Sula and Song of Solomon is that both novels cover the issue of secrets and traumatic deaths in ways that subtly impact the community. For instance, Sula’s perception in her community as the “pariah” for most of her adult life probably would have been different if she (and Nel) had shared with their families their roles in Chicken Little’s drowning. Keeping his drowning a secret further pushed the community to cope with the confusion that absence and misinformation bring (Morrison 64-66).
Certainly, Morrison uses the community of Medallion (the Bottom) as a way to show both the static nature and the dynamism of Black culture, even in the most dire circumstances. Because the culture focuses on norms of behaving that are against non-conformists, Sula, and Nel’s relationship suffers. The familial trauma Sula is exposed to keeps her functioning in unpredictable ways; therefore, she discovers that the key way to survive is within her mind (143). She is a product of the community and culture of the Bottom, and I believe she is in search of what Macon Dead III discovers about himself and his people by the end of Song of Solomon.
Protagonist Macon Dead’s revelations, in Song of Solomon, about the complicated familial secrets on both his paternal and maternal sides influence him to proactively navigate his own sense of individuality. Unlike Sula, the community embraces him; however, he sees himself as an outsider who must chart his own journey beyond his father’s home. Both novels cover the themes of external and internal wars and the impact of these types of wars on people who are determined to maintain their cultures. For the Medallion community in Sula, it is World War I -in addition to the internal fight to expand their quality of life beyond the boundaries segregation imposes on the community. In the Song of Solomon, the Seven Days is based on community members who suffer psychologically for the physical acts of violence they believe they must commit in order to avenge the murder of black people ( 154-159). The character Guitar Bains most adamantly voices to Macon the necessity of this organization from his stark perspective (160-161). The acts of resistance select characters display to fight the forces of racism, segregation, and violence within each novel suggest a cultural dynamism in both works that should be further examined in the nuanced contexts they deserve. An in-depth examination will, more than likely, reveal the truth that the broader society should have cared more than it did about Macon’s grandfather’s murder in Song of Solomon just as the broader society should have cared more than it did about Chicken Little’s and Plum’s demises in Sula.
Thus, Morrison is able to create dimensional characters such as Sula and Macon whose roles in their communities and families are unconventional out of the necessity of their own survival and their own sense of individual freedom within their communities. In each novel’s conclusion, the Bottom is being razed with signs of integration, and Milkman’s journey to find his ancestral home of Shalimar moves him to an ultimate flight. However, it is cultural dynamism that underscores so many of these characters’ experiences.
The Chosen Place, The Timeless People and “To Da Duh in Memoriam”
Paule Marshall’s novel and short story offer favorable depictions of cultural dynamism based on the lives of her characters. The Chosen Place, The Timeless People’s setting of Bournehills is as timeless as the people and will not change so easily as characters Saul and Harriet Amron and Allen Fuso come to realize. Ironically, Bournehills changes these white characters more than they realize based on the Bournehills’ culture that is personified throughout the novel. In a similar fashion, the adult first-person narrator is able to reflect and discern the memories of her life as a nine-year-old who visits her grandmother in Barbados. The grand-mother and the natural Caribbean setting inspire the unnamed protagonist enough to remember her visit as a way of honoring her family and culture (Marshall105-106). Cultural dynamism is effective in both works because it shows that some characters will not move in the same direction of others even when pressured to do so, and the past, many times, becomes as important as the presence. It is easy of course for characters and places to be static and to give the illusion that progression is not possible, but for the people of Bournehills and the grandmother in Barbados, their lives were changed by the acceptance of their own empowerment and the resistance to ideas and actions that had the potential to harm them and their cultures.
One of the most positive sections of The Chosen Place is the scene of Merle at the cane factory standing up for her people and culture before she decides to reunite with her daughter in Kampala (388-392). She comes to terms with her past in a way that helps her to see a brighter future for herself. Merle is certainly aware that the people of Bournehills is behind her and that they are forever grateful for the land plots she gave to them as a way to have some means to continue their cultural legacy. This is why the reenactment of Cuffee Ned’s story and the culture’s fight for freedom was so important to the community (esp. Merle) during the time of
Carnival (286-287). Working together as a people was the mantra that they lived by, particularly, when the culture was in danger of being exploited by the likes of Harriet and Saul Amron (288-289).
Marshall continues this sense of cultural pride and the protection of it through the grandmother and granddaughter’s relationship in To Da Duh in Memoriam. Ultimately, what is shared between the two is a love for culture and family which the grandmother eventually accepts as a dynamic continuum which she no longer has to be physically a part of (To Da-Duh105-106). Her granddaughter has given her a vision of the future and that is enough for her. Overall, Marshall created very memorable and authentic characters who know who they are and who truly feel connected to their cultures. The cultural dynamism they experience may alter their perspectives about their lives but their love for their culture will never erode as a measure of their identities.
Conclusion
Achebe, Morrison and Marshall were visionaries who promoted cultural dynamism in selected works in order to enhance the cultural legacy of people of color in the following three ways: First, their major characters qualify losses and gains in ways that help them cope with the reality of adapting to different circumstances. In addition, they have created believable characters that critically question their roles in changing societies. Most significant, these authors view culture as the protective force enabling select characters to maintain their sense of integrity. Protagonists Okonkwo and Obi (Achebe) brazen courage, Sula’s and Macon’s desires to live as nonconformists (Morrison), and Merle Kinbona’s journey of self-awareness (Marshall) speak to the dynamic achievements of a people invested in the future from a central rather than a marginal context. Ultimately, these authors allow us to envision cultural transcendence into a Black diasporic world that is not only relevant for current times but also in the mid to late twenty-first century.
Beverly Johnson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Central Connecticut State University.
Works Cited
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---. Things Fall Apart. New York: Knopf, 1992.
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---. “To Da-Duh in Memoriam.” Reena and Other Stories. New York: The Feminist
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Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Plume/Penguin, 1987.
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