The Nefarious Nature of Single Narratives

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Headstrong Historian” both deal with the heavily controversial tellings of the Christian assimilation of Nigeria. The two stories take place in Nigeria and more specifically, the Ibo society. Achebe’s telling of the story involves many people/villages and their own stories, even though their story may not pertain to the main character’s. Adichie’s version focuses mainly on one family and the lasting effects of the encounters with Christianity. Achebe’s novel does fixate on the ideas involved in the means of Christian assimilation. To put it another way, Achebe talks more about the approaches the missionaries take in order to convert

When the Christian religion is introduced, preaching universal acceptance, many members of the clan who are dissatisfied with the Ibo religion are drawn toward it. Some of the title-less men described as 'women' in the tribe are immediately drawn to it. Nwoye, who dislikes the practice

Thus, it is no surprise that the Christian missionaries captivate Nwoye upon their arrival. As the missionaries sing a hymn, Nwoye reflects that “it was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. He did not understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his soul—the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed.” (Achebe 147). Nwoye’s reaction to the missionaries’ hymn reflects his hidden love for art that he shares with his grandfather, Unoka, who Okonkwo despises as a lazy degenerate. Nwoye’s passion is entirely incompatible with Okonkwo’s belief that songs are a waste of time and sign of weakness and with Ibo culture, which values aggression and physical prowess, not peacefulness and creativity. The missionaries offer something Nwoye has unknowingly hoped for since childhood: a way to escape this restrictive life. Okonkwo’s violent reaction upon learning that Nwoye has been watching the missionaries is the breaking

Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures-national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there is a cultural collision that takes the form of the missionaries coming to Umuofia and forcing their religion upon the people. Different people react differently to this clash of cultures, ranging from simply conforming to going as far as killing somebody.

Religion is a very prominent theme in the “Purple Hibiscus”. The author, Adichie, uses a variety of characters to explore different ways of expressing one’s faith. She explores the ways in which three very different characters express their religion of the Catholic faith, as well as looking into the traditional Nigerian beliefs of Papa Nnukwu. By illustrating some very contrasting religious beliefs and methods of religious expression in her characters, she encourages readers to consider their own views on religion and helps them understand some valuable lessons on the subject.

-After Nwoye is lured into the Christian religion and abandons his culture and family, Okonkwo is ashamed and states, "you have all see the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people" (172). Nwoye's father disowns him only because he chooses a path untraditional to his culture. The serious, frustrated, and unhappy mood that is created in Okonkwo's statement gives the reader an idea of how much the Ibo culture values tradition, choice, and family.

The relationship between Kambili and Aunt Ifeoma and her family, also develops her relationship with Papa Nnukwu – Eugene’s non-Catholic father. All her life, she has been taught by her

In the story, the protagonist’s oldest son, Nwoye, was among the first to be converted to Christianity. Why was it so easy for him to convert though? Through the witnessing of tragic events due to cultural practices, Nwoye responds with an open mind once Christianity was

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is mainly known for his trilogy that investigates, using fiction, the history of Nigeria. The trilogy begins with Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease and ended with Arrow of God. Furthermore, in this critically analytical essay, through a feminist perspective, a chapter of his second novel, No Longer at Ease, published in 1960, will be discussed. The setting of the novel is Lagos, Nigeria and Umuofia, Nigeria during the 1950s, before Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. The novel, No Longer at Ease begins with Obi Okonkwo on trial, charged for accepting a bribe. However, using flashback, the author takes us back to the point before Obi’s departure

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,

Due to the christians’ arrival, igbo society is disunified and weakened. This weakness provides a ripe opportunity for the colonialits to rise to power sharply. An illustration of this scnario can be found in Nwoye, Okonkow’s son, who is greatly displeased by the culture surrounding him. Nwoye’s dissatisfaction motivates him to look towards the missionaries for an alternative route. Obierika is another example of an Igbo person who doubts his own culture.

“The purpose of religion is to control yourself; not criticize others.” These devout words of Dalai Lama perfectly relate to “Things Fall Apart”. In this novel, an African man named Okonkwo who appears to be secure, powerful, strong on the outside, eventually falls to pieces. Along with the protagonist, the Igbo culture crumbles within due to the arrival of Christian missionaries who set up government within his village, Umofia. Okonkwo is most afraid of becoming his father, Unoka, a lazy and irresponsible man, falling into debt and bringing shame upon his family. He is known as a coward among the Igbo tribe. Okonkwo is an honorable warrior in his village, and carries various titles, which allows him to be a powerful man. One day, following a funeral, Okonkwo inadvertently shoots his foster son so he wouldn’t seem weak. The only way for he can be forgiven, according to traditions, is if Okonkwo and his family are exiled for seven years. As they are told to do so, they leave, when they are accepted back they see

Furthermore, the Igbo society parallels agrarian societies of a lesser developed world before colonialism unlike British’s religion that has developed into a society of education through urbanization. The novel shows how the Igbo peoples are uneducated on the common understanding of humanity. For example, in Things fall Apart Umuofians believes that the killing of children, specifically twins is ethically right, believing that twins are a work of the devil. When the white man comes they learn the basis of fifth commandment which teaches that God is the decider of who lives and who dies. For this reason, a pregnant woman named Nneka had watched her twin children get killed multiple times. Her family had made her feel as if she has failed to fulfill her womanly duty so she converted to Christianity and found an accepting family. As Achebe states, “Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and childbirths. But each time she had borne twins, and they had been immediately thrown away. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians.” (Chinua Achebe 1958) This example really show how their religion could be deemed as uneducated because their society killed innocent children due to the fact that they were twins whereas in a Christian society they were

Religion is a universal, ongoing theme that has been presented in various literary works. Despite the fact that everyone tends to identify with some form of religion, conflicts often ensue as individuals act on their disagreement with others’ religious identification. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart explores an unfortunate extreme instance of this, in which the Ibo tribe in Africa experiences their first contact with European Christian missionaries. Though primarily focused on the Ibo culture, Things Fall Apart supplies readers with meaningful insights into the traditional African culture, and the manner in which this deep-seated culture was affected by the Christian religion that the missionaries and colonists brought with them. In this novel, Christianity is presented as an extension of colonialism and an external religion that leads to the disintegration of a traditional culture. Furthermore, it serves as a stark contrast to the Ibo religion.

Both readings highlight how the Igbo people’s insistence on sorcery and ancestral spirits leads to conflict between the Europeans and the Igbo people. The first instance of conflict that arises in the novel, is when a missionary to convert a village woman to Christianity, and accidentally kills an ancestral spirit. This leads to the villagers burning the missionary’s huts. The