Things fall into darkness

Like a marxist, but concerned with culture rather than class (although domination has a lot to do with it), Achebe believes that art reflects the values of the society.

I would agree but not fully. Yes, art reflects society's values. But it reflects these values because the individual who lives in society is effected by these values, and when he or she makes art, these values are reflected. Social psychology teaches us just how influenced we are by the people around us. Even if a man is curled up on a public sidewalk asking for help, most people pass him by, assuming him to be a beggar and not worthy of help. As much as Americans would hate to admit it, we are a community and we are not free to do whatever we wish because we are inhibited by the social structures that we have all built around ourselves. A passerby may want to help a person in need, but no one else is helping that person, so there must be a reason to keep walking.

I used that tangential rant to show that in all areas, not just art, we are affected by each other. Hence, in terms of Achebe's argument, art is not the only thing that reflects society's values, and also, art does other things besides reflect these values.

If I were to do justice to what art does in a person, you would have to come back to this blog in about five years.

But one thing that is important about Achebe's argument is that it draws our attention to the social facts, the facts about dominance in cultures. I remember reading Things Fall Apart, and Foe, and Paradise, and I remember thinking, "Wow. I really was pretty ignorant." You don't know how ignorant you are until you read other people's writing. Which is one of the very good reasons why you should read other people's writing.