Respect and Things Fall Apart

One of the worst parts of censorship in North Korea is the lack of respect by the government for its own citizens. The leaders choose what information they think the citizens should know and don't give them them the opportunity to decide for themselves what is important.  It is reported, Kim Jong-Il "has allegedly decreed that no live matches will be shown on state TV -- only highlights edited in North Korea's favor. If they lose a match, the result will simply be ignored" (FanNation). The leaders do not have enough respect to be straight up with the citizens; they try manipulating them by only publishing good things about the country. This is very much like in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The colonists in Things Fall Apart do not respect the Africans enough to be fair with them and allow them to live how they want. One of the commissioners in the book describes what he does as, "The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger" (Achebe 209). Similarly, the label “primitive” comes across as a patronizing insult that reflects on the commissioner’s ignorance and lack of respect for the Igbo and their complexly ritualized and highly formalized mode of life. Not only is this lack of respect a very unfriendly act, if taken to the extreme, it can cause a disaster.




Works cited


Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.

"North Korea to Censor World Cup Heavily." Fannation. N.p., Dec. 2008. Web. 25 May 2013.