Joseph LizamaHistory 39Prof. PetrocelliMay 19, 2014West African ColonialismIn the novels God's Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembène and No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe both authors illustrate a colonial lifestyle, one from a French rural point of view and the other from a French perspective English education; respectively. West Africa was mainly colonized by the French, however there were still territories owned by the English such as Nigeria, Gold Coast and Sierra Leone. Colonization in Africa – particularly West Africa – aimed to dominate and exploit certain groups of Africans confined within arbitrary borders established by European colonizers. The French and the English had their own means of colonization, which ultimately means two ways of decolonization. On the one hand, the French have always made their presence felt, while on the other, Great Britain has always remained behind the scenes, governing indirectly. In each novel, it is clear that colonialism forces people like Obi Okonkwo and railroad workers to choose between tradition and change, creating consequences that continue to be relevant to this day. The difference in colonial rule between the French and the British is obvious, but they have the same goal and that is to exploit and dominate Africa. In the novel God's Pieces of Wood, French workers in West Africa are planning to go on strike, but Niakoro was against it because she had seen a strike herself and there hadn't been much of a result. “You've never seen a strike! Your 'little father' saw one... The soldiers will come and there will be a shooting" (Sembene 1986, 5). It is evident that the French oppressor does not care about workers' rights as long as they get what they want. As colonizers, the French are only interested in…half of the paper…this does not mean that every African had the same colonial experience. Furthermore, these are only from the perspective of a victim of colonization, so they will be biased and may contain exaggerated or even inaccurate details. Africa would not be what it is today if it were not for colonization. The map wouldn't even be the same because the borders would just be arbitrary and of course wouldn't make any sense to Africans. African principles would still be intact throughout Africa, including beliefs about land ownership. As a result, however, the English language, along with the French language, would not be as ingrained in the culture as it is now. The way Africans live has changed and will not be the same for an indefinite period of time. To date, Africa has yet to recover from the damage caused by the era of colonization and will continue to face the repercussions.