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Themes in things fall apart by chinua achebe
Themes in things fall apart by chinua achebe
Themes in things fall apart by chinua achebe
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Humans can never be absolutely objective in any matter that is somehow related to themselves. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the last decade or so of Okonkwo's life is told in three parts in which the final part is about the missionaries and white men in Umuofia as well as the clan and Okonkwo. In the conflict between the missionaries and the clan, the author Chinua Achebe is neutral but may be biased towards individuals within these groups.
Achebe portrays the missionaries in a way that they are both principled and disagreeable. When the egwugwu were talking to Okeke and Reverend Smith before the church was burned, the egwugwu said, ¨We liked his brother [, Mr. Brown,] who was with us before. He was foolish but we liked him, and for his sake we
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Smith]¨ (Achebe 190). The foolish man they spoke of was Mr. Brown, the first missionary in Umuofia. He was kind, tolerant, and understanding. His desire was to gain converts and to live harmoniously with the clan. His demeanor and actions gained the favor of the clan. In contrast, Reverend Smith - who later replaced Mr. Brown - was intolerant, rude, and racist. He believed that Mr. Brown was foolish and denounced ¨Mr. Brown´s policy of compromise and accommodation. He saw things as black and white. And black was evil. He saw the world as a battlefield in which the children of light were locked in mortal combat with the sons of darkness¨ (Achebe 184). He was the exact opposite of Mr. Brown. He did not seek harmony nor did he seek to understand the people of Umuofia. He was a pious man and who disagreed to Mr. Brown's thoughts about gaining more
When the western missionaries first arrived in his Motherland, he was against their religion and presence in the clan, but his son, Nwoye, decided to ap...
Throughout the book Things Fall Apart, three main topics help Achebe get his argument across to the reader. First, Okonkwo’s rough relationship with his family. Evidence from the book support that Okonkwo did abuse his wives and children. Whether this was acceptable or not at the time, the result of his actions led to major distrust within Okonkwo’s compound. In addition, Ogbuefi Ezeudu cautions Okonkwo about Ikemefuna through his interpretation of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. Ogbuefi Ezeudu talks with Okonkwo the night before he was planning to kill Ikemefuna, explaining that what he is doing is wrong. Yet again, Okonkwo’s paranoia gets the best of him. This event fueled the fire for Nwoye’s distrust for Okonkwo, as well as his wives. Achebe’s third argument conveys that the spread of Christianity throughout the region and Okonkwo’s fear of change led him to hang himself. Nwoye was drawn to the new religion almost as soon as it arrived in the Ibo villages. However, he knew that his father was refusing to accept it. Thus, Nwoye moved back to Umofia to enroll in the Christian school set up by Mr. Kiaga. Okonkwo was also supporting the mob that burned down the first church, in efforts to drive the Christians away from Mbanta. Though proven unsuccessful, Okonkwo shot and killed one of their messengers. This allows the reader to infer
The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe details the account of an African tribal named Okonkwo as his life goes from great to horrible. While this book has many lessons that can be learned, I will be primarily focusing on the effect that Christianity had on the population of the African tribe. While Christianity is a religion of peace, its followers often do not follow this basic tenant. The first missionary, Mr. Brown, practiced compromise and tolerance. His replacement, Mr. Smith, was much more aggressive in his tactics. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows through the characterization of Mr. Smith a shameful and harmful look at the spread of Christianity during the British empirical period.
In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Mr. Brown, the first missionary in Umuofia, was a kind and respectful man. Not to say that Reverend James Smith was not, but his degree of kindness and respect were present in a whole different level. They both wanted to convert the lost, all those in Umuofia that were not in the church. Mr. Brown made friends with the clan and “trod softly on his faith,” (pg.178) while Mr. Smith told them how things were in a harsh voice and tried to force his religion on the people of Umuofia. The impacts the two had on the people and the church were exact opposites.
Though, his actions are good intentioned, he still contributed to the overall negative impact of European interference with Africa. The way missionaries saw themselves were along the lines of messengers of God who come to save the souls of the savage. Mr.Brown respected the people there, he built a hospital and school for them as well. At the same time, he still caused a social change in a way, he had a more white saviour complex. He also had to encourage his flock to accept the indigenous people in the way that he did, displaying how concepts of social Darwinism are common amongst Europeans. This concept in itself is better represented in the ending parts of the story where the intensity of European culture towards other people, really
Enoch thought a war would lead to the end of the Ibo religion forcing people to convert to Christianity. He tried to start that war by “kill[ing] and eat[ing] the sacred python” (178) which went against the Ibo religion and his father, who was the priest of the snake cult. Enoch had a “devotion to the new faith [which was] so much greater than Mr. Brown’s,” (185) and believed that the new religion was better than the old religion. While, Mr. Brown was trying to convert people if they wanted to, Enoch was trying to show the lies of the Ibo religion. Enoch was hidden away for a couple of days but this made him “greatly disappointed” (188) because he wants to be out in Umuofia supporting Christianity by trying to end the Ibo religion.
In the end it is Okonkwo’s inability to recognize change that forces him to commit suicide. It is the white missionaries’ inability to recognize that the Africans did not wish to change which adds to his demise. The missionaries represent the ruthlessness of the white man in Africa. The native Africans were expected to accept the ways of the white culture, for their own benefit, or suffer the consequences. In this light the missionaries can only be seen as brutal, and anything but true Christians, but rather religious zealots who like Okonkwo wish to force their world view upon others.
Abiola Irele states that, Mr. Brown 's school produced quick results. A few months in it were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk. Those who stayed longer became teachers; and from Umuofia, labourers went forth into the Lord 's vineyard. New churches were established in the surrounding villages and a few schools with them. From the very beginning religion and education went hand in hand.” [128] In the Ibo tribe, In addition to the white men disrupting existing cultures and planning to take the land, they even tried to implant their language into schools around the tribes. Mr. Brown a missionary of the tribe despises the fact the Americans are disrupting the school built by him in the Umuofia tribe. He is upset because it sets a bad example for him because he went around the tribe-begging people to send their children to his school. Slaves and lazy people attended, but this was not good because he argues and prophesized that that if they don’t send their children, the leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who learned to read and write. Mr. Brown says in the novel, “If Umuofia failed to send their children to the school, stranger would come from other places…”(186). In a way Mr. Brown foreshadows what is going to happen to the tribes and how the white men are coming and are going to ruin their way of life. Okonkwo left Umuofia for seven years, and when he returned a lot changed. It was changed because when he returned the new system was in people’s eyes, which is negative because the evilness came and destroyed the
Although establishing schools appears to be a good influence, Achebe shows how schools strip a society of its culture. Mr. Brown, the first white missionary in Umuofia, builds a school for the children. He convinces parents to send their children to school by arguing, “If Umuofia failed to send her children to the school, strangers would come from other places to rule them” (156). Mr. Brown’s ironic reasoning displays the negative result of religion. If the Christian missionaries did not intrude in the first place, there would be no need to protect Ibo people from more intruders trying to interfere with their culture. A similar type of irony is mentioned when Mr. Brown’s school start to become popular. The people begin to think, “Mr. Brown’s school produced quick results. A few months in it were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk” (156). Prior to the missionaries’ arrival, Ibo society had no need for schools to give better jobs. When the missionaries bring their government to Umuofia, schools trick people into falling for the new system and forgetting about their old social structure and culture. Achebe uses these ironic occurrences to display how religion may seemingly positively influence a society, but in reality pillages the Ibo people’s original culture.
In the book “Things Fall Apart”, evidence of a social structure was apparent within the Igbo community. This rigid social structure served as a purpose to balance the life of the people within the society, as well as promoting the downfall of the clan. The social structure was important in keeping a centralized society and preventing any sign of corruption within their clan. The social structure had advantages in keeping a balanced and equal society, supporting a division of labor, providing a surplus of food, individual huts, a communal society, and the development of some kind of government. In contrast, this social structure led others to reject to cooperate with the new religion and aided the lack of unity among the people. It also promoted a more patriarchal society, the inferior rank of women, and the lack of strong bonds between family members.
In the book Things Fall Apart, Umuofia’s society is held together by religion. When the Christian missionaries came in trying to convert them all to Christianity, things started to fall apart. “Umuofia had indeed
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Through most of the novel, Okonkwo, his family, and the villagers all experience this struggle. As the missionaries continue to live in the Evil Forest, they repeatedly gain village converts as a result of the Igbo beliefs constantly being proven inaccurate. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, converts because of confusion in what his people believe, and Okonkwo changes drastically as a person because of the missionaries’ arrival and actions.
Mr. Smith is unrelenting and wants to force his ways and religion upon Umuofia. “He was greatly distressed by the ignorance which many of his flock showed” (184). While many people have converted they still remember their old culture, and hang onto it. They cannot completely do away with their previous religion. Chaos has persisted and begun in Umuofia because “he (Mr. Smith) does not understand our (Umuofia’s) customs just as we do not understand his.
Two passages from the story Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, provide the reader with a more profound understanding of Okonkwo, and his son Nwoye. The two do not have a good relationship and it becomes worse as the story progresses. Throughout the book the two become increasingly distant and it is apparent that Okonkwo is very disappointed in his son. After the death of Ikemefuna, Nwoye begins to question many aspects of his life, especially religion. As the Christian missionaries spend more time with the members of the village, Nwoye becomes interested in this new religion. The first passage I have chosen discusses Nwoye’s feelings about Christianity.