Heads or Tails? Chinua Achebe's Response to Joseph Conrad

A single story of a village in Africa. Warnings of a single story. Warnings coming from a Nigerian woman. How does one untangle the levels of moral and ethical complexity to reach right? Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart may well have been written as a response to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Considering this, it would be logical to conclude that Achebe is combating the single story Conrad developed in his novel; however, Achebe's novel is another single story... regardless how justified it is. As if it weren't difficult enough to reach the truth behind both works, a woman named Chimamanda Adichie delivered a very contemporary and provocative speech regarding the dangers of releasing but a single story. To illustrate her intentions, if foreigners came to the United States and spent their time exclusively at McDonald's restaurants, the epitome of our cultural failure, they may easily assume all Americans look like rejects from obesity programs. Obviously, this is not the case. To begin to address these delicate ideas, it is necessary to delve into Things Fall Apart, but with knowledge of a single story. Thus far, Achebe's story is compelling but it is also a single story, and seemingly scrutinizing several villages in Africa. Not an epic of wide scope that encompasses all issues and weaves it together into a tight, digestible package. With this knowledge, the logical mind would believe Achebe is instead delivering another single story, in response to Conrad, to present both sides of the coin. If not having listened to Adichie's speech, Things Fall Apart would seem appropriate, yet now not quite as adequate as we would initially have been led to believe. From an objective standpoint (it is quite difficult to judge with a clinical mind as Achebe is an artist, a true master of his craft) it would have been more beneficial for African people if the story written on their behalf would have been more all-encompassing. It seems Achebe stooped to Conrad's level to meet him one-on-one and consequently left readers with the choice to choose which side they want to believe; the interpretation of African people as fundamentally the same as anybody else(morally correct), or the more sinister interpretation of African people as infinitely more barbaric. Achebe knows himself to be a talented author with the most profound of insights into African people and culture, and when considering writing a work of literature that would shake foundational beliefs he as a moral obligation to deliver a story shedding the people he is representing in a beautiful light, but not one of tunnel vision. Opinions will continue of this long standing issue will continue to change, develop, and build as we progress through Things Fall Apart. Do not hesitate to offer your own insights into the dangers of a single story, opinions on Things Fall Apart, or reactions to the ideas expressed here.