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Okonkwo's Cultural Collision

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In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo had a strong negative response to the imperialism of Africa by the Christian missionaries. Okonkwo reacted in such a way that Achebe wrote, “There were many men and women in Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo about the new dispensation” (178). This cultural collision changed aspects of his cultural identity in a variety of ways. His response to this event contributed to Achebe’s statement about culture in the novel. Okonkwo’s response to these events contained many aspects as he did not just feel one thing and come to a simple conclusion about what to do and say about it. First of all, Okonkwo had a strong negative reaction when he found out that Africa, specifically Umuofia, …show more content…

For instance, before Okonkwo was banned from Umuofia and the missionaries arrived, he was the most famous, wealthy, and powerful person in the nine villages of Umuofia. In fact, “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond” (3). However, when the missionaries intruded, that was no longer the case. He knew that he was once a leader, but no longer held the same position in his community. Okonkwo was so powerful prior to the implication of the Christian culture because he worked incredibly hard to be successful and not show any weakness so as to seem masculine and strong because he was very concerned with being the opposite of his father, Unoka, who begged for money without repaying his loans and could not provide for himself and the rest of his family. Therefore, “Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him?” (8). Throughout the entire novel, Okonkwo had to hold back some of his true emotions so that his weaknesses do not become apparent. Even after he felt defeated from the Christian missionaries, Okonkwo had to act tough. He went so far as to not consider Nwoye his son anymore, even though throughout the novel he trained him to be a great man because he cared about him enough to not want him to end up like Unoka. Before all of commotion began, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” (13). After the beginning of the imperialism, Nwoye converted to Christianity, so Okonkwo acted as if he had never known Nwoye as part of his family. It was as if Okonkwo never had a son, even though he worked so diligently on training him to be a good person throughout Nwoye’s childhood. Okonkwo’s reaction and change in identity contributed to Achebe’s overall purpose for writing the

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