A Critique of Empire in Le Clezio'sOnitsha
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Central Departmental of English
Abstract
Onitshais a literary documentation of disintegrating British Empire that focuses on the
oppressive ways of white colonizers over native blacks in West Africa, and the resistance of
native Africans as a natural or inborn instinct of human being to live a free andindependent life.
In one of the incidents of the novel, Black convicts can not tolerate the brutal and most inhuman
treatment of the white Masters and revolt against them. The uprising that begins among the small
group of Black convicts in Gerald Simpson'sproperty spreads as a wild fire throughout West
Africa in no time. It burns down the great castles of British Empire by making native Africans
free from colonial chains. The novel equally focuses upon the historical, mythological and
cultural aspect of colonization. It expresses its sympathy over the great West African indigenous
cultures that get lost when they come in contact with so called superior European culture.