Notes

Thesis:
In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, a moonlit night initially represents a time of liveliness and celebration with children and adults alike out in the open village, yet as the missionaries invade their territory, a moonlit night brings darkness and fear and becomes a consequence of colonization, thus illustrating the sudden impact Christians had on Ibo culture and daily life.

Statement of Intent:
In my image of a moonlight night in the Ibo village, I split the drawing into two sections with a lightning bolt in the middle. The first section includes a soft night and a bright moon, with a few huts emitting a yellow light. This scene represents the time "'when the moon is shining'" where "'cripple becomes hungry for a walk,'" as the old and injured feel the energy and happiness to go outside and enjoy the village night (Achebe 10). The next element of the image is the lightning bolt in which the quote is written. The bright contrast of color mixed with the quick and flash-like properties of lightning, illustrate how sudden the change was in the village after the colonizers came. The Christians blinded the Ibo people of their religion, culture, and customs. The last section of the image is a dark night, that shows "the village ilo where [the children' always gathered for moon-play was empty" (Achebe 196). It represents the impact that the colonizers had on everyday life, how empty and dark life was without their traditions. The moon is shaded over, and more muted, representing the consequences of colonization on Ibo life and how much it was clouded over and subdued.