How Does Nwoye Influence Western Culture

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe it is demonstrated how the Ibo culture slowly deteriorated from their own culture. The Western ideas influenced a different impact on certain characters, this also included characters like Okonwo and his son Nwoye. Many from the Ibo culture were confused by the merge of the European people slowly but subtly trying to enforce and covert their religion upon them. The books ending explained why the book was written in the first place, which was to “break the silence” that existed from the unheard side of the colonized people. The novel explained the impact Nwoye encountered with Western ideas was a clear and positive one. Nwoye felt like he resonated, was wanted, and more suited in the new culture

Chinua Achebe author of Things Fall Apart illustrates a change in Nwoye when the white missionaries arrive in their clan. Nwoye grew up in a strict household with an abusive father, but he would soon find his courage and identity in an unlikely place. But Nwoye soon found courage in the missionaries.

In Things Fall Apart, Nwoye experiences an overall positive experience from the cultural collision by the integration of Western European ideas. Nwoye grew up with a difficult life with a strict father and that was forcing him to be shaped into a man that Ibo society wanted him to be. Nwoye never felt like he belonged in the society he had different views from his father and that what he was doing was going against what he wanted. Western European ideas and culture began to be integrated into the village of Umofia causing a cultural collision.

Nwoye was timid before the upbringing of the Western Ideas into the Ibo culture. “Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. ”(10) Okonkwo

Nwoye was very open and accosted to the coetaneous Western culture. From the beginning, Nwoye was infatuated with the beliefs and concepts of the ‘white men’. However, he still was slightly doubting himself if he should fully engage in the admittance of Christianity. “...Nwoye passed and repassed the little red-earth and thatch building without summoning enough courage to enter.” (112) In the second part of the novel, Nwoye finally sees that he can be his own individual. He discovers that he does not have to live in the world where he was dissatisfied with who he was, and not falter with the idea of being a failure from his father. “He lelt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul.” (110) Nwoye felt the hymn in his soul, which gave him courage to finally have his own eccentricity. During part two of Things Fall Apart, Nwoye finally admits that he is now fully in conjunction with the Western religion and accepts it. When Nwoye subsequently decided to entirely dedicate himself to the ‘white men’s’ religion, it did not come without a price. Okonkwo repudiated his son. He no longer considered Nwoye as his son. “...Nwoye was not worth fighting for. Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son?” (114) Okonkwo was cynical of Nwoye from the inception of the novel, but since Nwoye catenated with the Western religion, it triggered Okonkwo’s lost in all

When two things collide, something is always damaged or sometimes lost. The same was true in the case of Okonkwo and his family in Chinua Achebe’s story Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo’s first born, Nwoye, being impacted in a way that no one else in his family would have thought of. Nwoye was a troubled, sad faced youth, distant from his father. In fear of him, but always stayed.

One of the brothers they lost was the son of a very important hero, Nwoye. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Nwoye is very different than the other characters when responding the cultural collision. Nwoye embraced the cultural collision and wants to spread it. Nwoye's identity, experiences, and decision shapes the overall message of the novel that even though you are raised in a certain culture and religion, you can want different things.

Trying to mix another culture in with yours could cause things to fall apart. Nwoye's sense of identity was challenged with the introduction of western ideas in the ibo culture. Nwoye started off in the novel “Things fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe as lazy and not manly at all, but the cultural collisions of the British colonist and ibo people affected Nwoye to the point of him going against his father and becoming angry. The reasons for Nwoye change in their sense of identity included the death of his brother, Ikemefuna, him not wanting to be

This shows how the arrival of Western ideas were viewed as an improvement to some of the tribe, but an invasion to other parts. Due to the cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western ideas into the Ibo culture, Nwoye builds up the confidence to leave home and join the missionaries. As mentioned above, Okonkwo, Nwoye's father, never felt that Nwoye was manly enough to meet his standards. Okonkwo often mentioned his hopes for Nwoye throughout the book, "He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join his ancestors," (Achebe 57).

When two different cultures come together, the cause this clash. And one character in Things Fall Apart experienced this. That person was Nwoye. Now, his sense of identity was challenged because of Okonkwo. Ever since his birth, Okonkwo wanted Nwoye to be more like him.

Based on this action, Nwoye began to fear the disappointment of his father. In the novel, Achebe writes that, “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…” (53; pt.1; Ch.7). In this section of the chapter, the author describes how Nwoye understands how his father wants him structured, but Nwoye still enjoys the opposite perspective. Based on this fear, it motivates Nwoye to avoid his personal preferences and attempted to gain respect from his father. The book shows this by saying, “ He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father” (149; pt.2; Ch.17).

Culture collisions can have many different effects. It can lead to one's ruination or it could can lead one to do great things in the future. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, The character Nwoye the son of Okonkwo is dramatically changed by the culture collision; the Ibo versus the Western Culture. He goes through a series of events that changed his life and his ways. Ultimately Nwoye's character ends up different then he started before.

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, son of esteemed tribe member of the Umuofia tribe, Nwoye explicates the struggle between conforming to African social norms and his individualistic desire to follow Christianity. Nwoye’s internal conflict between socially imposed notions and personal ideals portrays his struggle to define his individualistic sense of self-identity, as he must respond to his tribe’s “effeminate” notions versus his personal regard to the Christian church. His ultimate response to this cultural collision explicates his ability to overcome societal boundaries, and his ability to define his individualistic sense of self-identity.

Nwoye’s identity is changed when he discovers the westerner’s ideas because he had felt abused until he found Christianity, Achebe is telling the audience that there is always hope because Nwoye found his. Nwoye felt unwanted, out of place,

Nwoye’s betrayal in the novel is the same level of betrayal that Achebe is condemned with in his lifetime. African literary theorists who vie for the purity of African literature for African languages defy Achebe as a European traitor, writing his stories with his back turned to his native homeland. Yet this thesis argues for a reevaluation of that criticism. Achebe does not in fact deny his beliefs, his country, or his heritage. He rather aligns himself in a tragically ironic way with the hero of Things Fall Apart. Achebe writes his own struggle with colonialism into the life and death of Okonkwo. It is interesting to note that Achebe’s father was in many ways very similar to Nwoye. His father, Isaiah Achebe, was orphaned early in life and spent most of his childhood with his uncle, Udoh. Udoh was a man of the land; he prided himself on tradition and leadership. Chinua writes in his essay, “My Dad and Me,” that the differences between Isaiah and Udoh were seen early through the eyes of Chinua, a questioning child who was placed in the middle