Things Fall Apart Analytical Essay

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe features the character Nwoye, the son of one of the strongest and most powerful men in the village, Okonkwo. Okonkwo is scared of failure because that is what his father became, so he is incredibly harsh on Nwoye. When the western men invade, Nwoye is torn between two worlds: converting to Christianity where he can start a new life, orstaying loyal to his family and village. Nwyoe ultimately makes the choice to go against his father. Due to the arrival of western culture, Nwoye leaves his family, converts to Christianity, and changes his name.

Jesus was the perfect missionary. Jesus went to different places and taught the word of God. Jesus drew people unto him. Jesus told his disciples, that if they follow him, he would make them fishermen of men. Jesus taught anywhere. Jesus delivered the word so profoundly.

No one likes to be told how to live. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, missionaries came to Africa to teach the natives a new way of life, Christianity. The natives had lived one way their entire life, and enacted their beliefs whole-heartedly. European missionaries wanted to convert them from these ways. Each group of people had a difficulties communicating with each other; this caused a type of ignorance towards the other. Joseph Conrad did an adequate job portraying the views of Europeans in his novel Heart of Darkness and why they felt they needed to be in Africa. The traditions and beliefs in these two novels caused a major separation between the natives and whites; could this have caused more damage

The repetition of the word “funkiness” made this particular quote stand out to me, and it forced me to go back and reread the last paragraph to see exactly what this quote signified. The context is given before the quote is referring to the mother of a minor character in the novel, a mother who was raised well and enjoyed a fairly nice life for a colored woman, especially compared to Claudia and Pecola. However, although Geraldine (the mother) was granted this better lifestyle, more was expected out of her, so this must be taken into account before I just assume that her life was automatically better than the main characters’. The narrator states that Geraldine was taught “the careful development of thrift, patience, high morals, and good manners” throughout her schooling (Morrison 83).

In chapter 13 of part 1, Okonkwo gets exiled from the village because he accidentally kills Ezeudu's sixteen years old son. Therefore, Okonkwo must atone to exile for seven years. During his exiling, two white Christian missionaries come to the village: Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith. Mr. Brown is the first white Christian missionary who appears in Umuofia and Mbanta, and he is an open-minded and understanding person. He makes an effort to respect and understand the Igbo beliefs. Mr. Brown builds a school and a hospital in Umuofia. He thinks that the people who will be the leaders of Igbo in the future should learn how to read and write because strangers would come from other places to rule the people of Igbo if they did not know how to read and write.

In the first chapter of “Christianity Rediscovered” by Vincent J. Donovan he is introducing us to the idea that missionaries now have a poor reputation due to their history. He says “History has offered the opportunity to deflect and distort the meaning of missionary work in every age”. For a long time a missionary was a person spreading the word of God and after years of doing so we have diminished many different beliefs, practices, cultures and history. At the time it was thought to be the right thing, to spread out and share the gospel to help people find meaning and acceptance. In today’s age a missionary is a lot of different things, in many cases it is more focused on the health and physical wellbeing of the people. Many people still share the gospel through missionary work, but in other cases it is more of a material aid. Donovan introduces the book as a voyage of discovery he wants us to put our normal beliefs aside to see his perspective of living a missionaries life and struggling with the fact of if you are helping or hurting.

The Christian religion believes in one God, the God is the father of all children in humanity. Chinua Achebe describes the impact of Christianity towards the Ibos of Umuofia in his historic novel Things Fall Apart. In a land where ancestral spirits hold powers to the Ibos, it settles in section three when Mr.Brown (the father of the Christian church) preaches the Christian faith by using a translator towards the Ibos. An Ibo with title, Okonkwo, builds up anger towards the Christian religion when he views his people of Umuofia changing their ways of the beliefs of ancestral spirits, transitioning those beliefs to the

The accumulation of a congregation was a slow process.  Mr. Kiaga, the interpreter in charge of the congregation, was "firm" and it was this trait that "saved the young church" (157, Ach).  His strong faith and new beliefs were inspirational to those clansmen that had ever questioned the Ibo practices.  Mr. Brown, a white missionary, was characterized as "respected even by the clan" (178, Ach).  Mr. Brown was even offered a gift by one of the neighboring villages, "which was a sign of his dignity and rank" (179, Ach).  He did not simply preach his ideas, but educated himself in the tribe's culture through conversations with the clansmen.  Mr. Brown opened a school and hospital in Umofia.  "And it was not long before the people began to say that the white man's medicine was quick in working.  Mr. Brown's school produced quick results" (181, Ach).  Achebe chooses to characterize a missionary such as Mr. Brown favorably to create for the reader a respectable and exemplary view of the missionary.  This benevolent perception of missionaries is neutralized with Mr. Browns contrast: Reverend James Smith.

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.

In Things Fall Apart there are many cultural collisions created by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture. One example of a cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture is when Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye converts to Christianity. This causes a cultural collision between Okonkwo and Nwoye because Nwoye wants to become a Christian, but Okonkwo doesn’t like the white men or Christianity. This cultural collision is caused by the white men bringing in western ideas to Ibo culture. This collision is very important to the book because it leads to the destruction of Okonkwo and fuels his anger. This collision shapes the meaning of the novel as a whole by symbolizing many things


To be a missionary in early Christian times was a very dangerous and risky thing to do. Before Constantine ordered the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. So to go out and openly preach their faith and even try and turn people away from the worship of their original gods was something that could ultimately end up with you being executed - which is something many early missionaries were (martyred). However, many faithful servants of Jesus (such as the apostles) did it anyway, because they believed that spreading the Word of God was more important than anything else.

Different countries have people that hold many different views and beliefs. In Nigeria the Igbo area is located in the southern area of the country. And within this area is Umuofia, which is where the Ogidi tribe lives. These people have beliefs that rest strongly on religion and faith in god. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe takes a look at the life of an African tribe that has been isolated from the outer more technologically advanced world where science has become a part of religion proving that certain things live sickness are not caused by evil spirits. But the African tribe has no knowledge of this and they live in a society where there traditions, beliefs and there forms of communication differ from are own.

They go into Umuofia where they urge people of the Igbo society of convert. The missionaries lead a new way of kindness that many of Igbo people don't know. The acts of killing twins and refusing “undesirables” is strong fully rejected by the Christian church. And many women and men find comfort and a place within the church. Not all missionaries are similar to Reverend Brown. Mr.Brown is the first missionary to travel to Africa, he is very polite to the Igbo people and respects their culture. He believes that communicating and learning from the Igbo people was the way to start without using any violence or aggression. “...The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. And he told them about his new God, the creator of all the world and all the men and women,”

This quote illustrates the overwhelming experience the Igbo people face when the missionaries settle. It also demonstrates the split of culture and people. This can be seen when it is said that “Mighty tree branches broke away under them” (Achebe, 56), the tree is the Igbo culture and the branches connected are people. The branches breaking represents people accepting the new culture, or like Okonkwo, become consumed by it. When the missionaries do arrive they start to change the culture. They attract followers by offering education and jobs which is seen here, “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; and from Umuofia laborers went forth into the Lord’s vineyard” (Achebe, 181, 182). This quote references the school the missionaries built and how if Umuofians went to the school they could receive jobs and generate an income. These students received an education based on the ideology of the European people and the beliefs of the Christian church. The school worked to help people understand Christianity and the European culture which resulted in greater support for the Europeans and a bigger influence on the Igbo people and culture. This support gave the missionaries the ability to capture and control Okonkwo and the resisting leaders of Umuofia. On page 196 Achebe shows the European power and writes, “‘Unless you pay the

“Tragedy arouses not only pity but also fear” this is a quote from the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. In the novel, Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe, it is filled with drama and action on what is going to happen in the story line and what is currently happening.