Things Fall Apart: Impact of Decisions Made by Mr. Brown

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In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the native Ibo people of Umuofia endure seemingly countless trials and tribulations to their faith and culture when Christian missionaries attempt to bring their cultural beliefs to, what they believe, are the savage indigenous people. Despite the initial weariness of the new dispensation, a swelling number of men and women in Umuofia begin to see “something vaguely akin to method in the overwhelming madness” (Achebe 178). This can be attributed to a white missionary by the name of Mr. Brown. His calm and open-minded personality appeals to the locals trust. The various decisions based off of his personal beliefs positively affect the people of Umuofia, namingly the converts, along with his fellow missionaries, however, it can be argued against him in some aspects. Mr. Brown is “very firm in restraining his flock from provoking the wrath of the clan” (178) however one of his members, Enoch, is very difficult to restrain and ends up killing and eating the sacred python of the Ibo people. Such an act is so unheard of to them that, as Achebe affirms, “No punishment was prescribed for a man who killed the python knowingly. Nobody thought such a thing could ever happen” (158). While this blatant disrespect for the Ibo culture is not held directly on Mr. Brown’s head, it is still immensely controversial. Some members of the clan view it as it never happening because nobody witnessed it; the story had risen among the Christians themselves. The narrator emphasizes that the men would rather “ostracize these men. [They] would not be held accountable for their abominations” (159). However many rulers and elders spoke at great length and great fury. Despite this atrocity not being a direct reflec... ... middle of paper ... ...zy children, he begins to beg and insists that “the leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who had learned to read and write. If Umuofia failed to send her children to the school, strangers would come from other places to rule them” (181). When Mr. Brown calls attention to this issue they realize that this is indeed true as they could already see that happening to those in the distant town of Umuru on the bank of the Great River. In the end, his arguments begin to have an effect on the villagers and they arise to come to learn at his school and “not all were young, some were thirty years old or more” (181). By Mr. Brown’s persistent nature, he is able to positively impact the people of Umuofia by educating them not only so they could better protect themselves from invasions, but in a few months his students are educated enough to have a stable job.

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