Ezeulu and His response to the Colonizers
Keitha West Instructor Walker March 11, 2004 Ezeulu and His Response to the Colonizers Ezeulu, a man without weakness and fear, tries to maintain a good reputation with the white man and maintain control over his people. ... Although he is a thinker, his response to the change in his village, due to the colonizers arrival, ultimately caused him his destruction. The dichotomy or the opposition between tradition and modernity can be clearly seen in Ezeulu’s response to change and in his purpose for opposing modernity. Ezeulu’s struggle between the two common forces, tradition and modernity, is nothing new to mankind. However, breaking tradition and modernity down into separate parts might give the reader a better understanding of Ezeulu’s struggle. ... For Ezeulu, tradition was his way of life and the Colonizers were modernity, they changed the way he and his people once lived. The Colonizers desired to overcome and bring change into or totally eliminate the values, beliefs, and opinions of Ezeulu’s people, but Ezeulu longed for his tradition to survive or find equilibrium among the traditions of the colonizers. Ezeulu’s desire to hold to his traditional values caused him to do several things. ... In an attempt to find out the white mans beliefs Ezeulu compromises his beliefs and position as Priest among his people. Chris Kwame Awuyah makes a valid point concerning Ezeulu’s compromise: “An intricate and sophisticated man, Ezeulu could not have been unaware that he has compromised his position by urging Oduche to join the white man’s religion and school, whose practices undermine the local tradition.