Patriotism--Arrogance at its Worst as seen in Achebe's Things Fall Apart

George Bernard Shaw once stated: “Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it”. Patriotism—has there ever been a more deadly assassin, a more successful killer? How many lives have been claimed in the name of patriotism? Almost every war that has ever been fought in the history of mankind has had countless soldiers that have given up their very lives in the name of this so called “patriotism”; patriotism for their country, for their leader, for their people, for their culture, for their way of life. The very idea that they are fighting people that are fighting for the very same reason seems at the tip of iceberg deeply ironic, but once submerged under the sea level the irony disappears and is replaced by a profound sorrow and sadness. The realization that throughout all of known history the human race has been plagued by this brainless notion of “patriotism” and as a direct result has massacred entire groups of people, lost countless lives, and all in the name of something, that when you get right down to it, the other side is fighting for as well. In fact, the only things really separating the two sides engaged in combat are lines that are arbitrary and ambiguous at best. This raw truth of “patriotism” parallels one of the prevailing themes in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things fall apart in which Achebe demonstrates the utter arrogance and deadliness that this notion of “patriotism” can lead to, and indeed how capricious and arbitrary the lines are that are drawn to separate one “patriotic” group from another.

Patriotism—is it really such a noble ideal? Should anyone be proud to be a “patriot”, especially considering the thousands of years of bloodshed that lay behind that word? The character dynamics portrayed in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and the prevalent theme of how patriotism can lead to arrogance, and arrogance of arbitrary issues no less, issues such as the practices and ideologies that one is born into, and how the dynamics of power and control rapidly come into play, demonstrates the fragility of human nature and its ability to be easily swayed by matters that if even the surface is scratched in the slightest way—the foolishness and inanity shine through with the utmost of clarity. Patriotism—the pathway to war, oppression, and injustice.