Things Fall Apart

A detailed Summary of Things Fall Apart

Conflicts can be aggravated or alleviated depending upon how a situation is approached. There are different ways to approach issues. We can see this every day in family relationships. For example, the teenager who thinks that his parents don't parent reasonably can do either one of two things. The teenager can be belligerent, and make the parents angry, causing them to react in a negative manor. Another way to approach these family issues is respectfully and intellectually. Rather than rebelling against the parents the teenager is more likely to establish a workable compromise, with a positive reaction and have room to build trust on. It may still be hard to produce change, but the success is still better.

This was much like case with the missionaries in Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart. In this story, the character of Mr. Brown helps bridge the gap between Igbo society and European culture and the Christian religion. Mr. Brown uses peaceful means to get his results. In contrast the character of Reverend Smith, who destructs the peaceful and non violent ways of Mr. Brown and expects immediate results. This turns the working culture of Nigeria's indigenous people upside down, causing class structure fall-out at the bottom

Mr. Brown, the first missionary in Umuofia, was a respectful man, making friends with the clan. Mr. Brown was "very firm in restraining his flock from the clan" (Achebe, pg. 178) Unlike Reverend Smith, Brown kept the zealous followers under control. Once he was even "presented with a carved elephant tusk, which was a sign of great dignity and rank" (Achebe, pg.179) by Akunna. With this earned admiration he was able to open not only a town store, but a hospital and a school as well. He pleaded for the clan to send their children and all others who wanted to, to attend his school. Those who attended Mr. Brown's school would not only learn how to read and write, but they would also learn how to fight back against those that would come in and try to conquer them. Mr. Brown's school not only taught them how to speak and read in another tongue, but "from the very beginning religion and education went hand in hand" (Achebe, pg.182). He brought many improvements to the community of Umuofia, and improving life by the standards of European living. Mr. Brown brought reform and change, but always respected the customs, traditions, and culture of the Igbo people.

The arrival of Christianity to the Igbo society through the missionaries acted both as a guide and a destructive force to the native people. Mr. Brown gave respect to the society by building on top of its already established cultural traditions. Doing this he

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Approximate Word count = 955
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English