Things Fall Apart
The setting of this book takes place in a small African village called Umofia in the early 1900¹s. The main character is named Okonkwo and he was a deeply respected member of his clan. In this book the author, Chinua Achebe, tries to demonstrate the culture clash between the Africans and the British and what outcomes become of this conflict. This is idea demonstrated by Achebe throughout the book but perhaps an underlying meaning of the book was to stress the progress of imperialism through Africa and what changes among the native cultures had to be made to adapt to the foreign ideas being presented. In the following examples from the book will be used to try and support both ideas. Throughout the book there was a culture clash occurring between the British and the Africans, but before you can understand this occurrence you must first realize that in his book Achebe was specifically writing to the British to show them that his culture may have been viewed as primitive but it was authentic and was without need of ³salvation² from a foreign nation. When the British had come into Umofia there were many differences in customs and ideas between the Africans and the British. One major c
onflict in cultures was the great difference in religion. The British thought the gods of the Africans were just pieces of stone and wood and there was only one true god and he was ³. . .the Creator of all the world and all the men and women (Achebe, pg. 125).² In this quote the missionary was stating that his god was the true and only creator of all the world. They said that people who worshiped these false gods were heathens and were thrown into hell on judgment day. When the Africans heard this they all laughed at the ³British fools² and believed that the true gods would show them their real power and would kill the missionaries and destroy their church. Very few villagers converted to this strange, new religion and believed that those who did would be dealt with by the great gods. The British also pushed their religion upon the Africans in hopes of taking over the nation. They thought that if the majority of the native people were members of the Christian church that they would be easily influenced in becoming a part of the British empire. Often times the British missionaries would openly state that the native gods were not real and they were only pieces of wood and stone. After hearing this the villagers believed the gods would take vengeance for such blaspheme but when nothing happened to the missionaries many people joined the Christian church. This is one the main reasons how the British were gaining power in Africa; they would convert the natives and gain influential power over the nation¹s affairs. Sometimes great disputes occurred between the two religions. Once a member of the Christian church, Okoli, was thought to have killed and eaten the royal python of Mbanta. Since there was no set punishment for such a crime the head rulers of the village decided to let the gods make the punishment but also to ban the Christian converts from the life and privileges of the village. At one point someone said, ³If a man kills the sacred python in the secrecy of his hut, the matter lies betwe
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Approximate Word count = 1364
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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