Things Fall Apart Chapter 16-18 Essay

When the missionaries came to their land, people hated them, but when they started getting people to go their way, the Ibo started to fall apart.

This happened to Nwoye and it resulted in changing his religion. He did not want to follow the Ibo culture anymore. The quote from the novel explains and shows the reader how Nwoye reacted to the new culture that was introduced. Instead of disliking it he became very fond of it. “He went back to the church and told Mr. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write.” (152/4) Nwoye was very influenced by the religion. He loved it so much that he now wants to teach other kids about it too. Nwoye wants to share his love for something with other people.

Due to European colonization, the Ibo society have lost their education system, religion, and the punitive system. Firstly, the Ibo society lost their education system. The novel, Things Fall Apart, states, “One of the great men in that village was called Akunna and he had given one of his sons to be taught the white man's knowledge in Mr. Brown's school” (Achebe 179). Before colonization, the parents taught education in Ibo society. Children learned how to cook, farm, and how they act from their parents. With colonization, children receive education in schools and not from their parents. Secondly, Christianity replaced the Ibo society. The novel, asserts, “One of the greatest crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in public, or

            Achebe even hints at their use of bribery and blackmail in their endeavours. He tells us, ''the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write'' (126). The inference is clearly that the unconverted heathens were not given this opportunity. Yet bearing in mind the orality of Nigerian culture,

    The Ibo culture in Things Fall Apart began to experience colonization, all after Okonkwo was exiled. He was sent away for seven years for killing a clansman. As soon as Okonkwo had left, Umuofia was greeted by Christian missionaries. They were there to convert the villagers to Christianity, to build churches, schools, and hospitals for them. When Okonkwo was exiled, Nwoye snuck off to be among the Christians. He enjoyed being around them and examined their religious views. But, Okonkwo was not happy about Nwoye’s decisions. Okonkwo chokes him by the neck, and demands Nwoye to tell him where he has been. “I don’t know, he is not my father.” (Achebe 137) Being almost killed by his own father really encouraged Nwoye to disassociate himself from his father completely and to head back home to Umuofia. Nwoye was drawn to Christianity because it made him feel welcomed, rather than when he was apart of his native religion.

Close Reading Analysis There could not be a be a more fitting quote in “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe that describes the overall setting of the book than the quote above. While someone who reads “Things Fall Apart” may interpret the title as a reflection of Okonkwo’s downfall from the colonist’s intrusion on his village and clan; the title also is a mirror of the effects the colonists had on the falling apart of traditions and customs of the African people of Okonkwo’s village not just Okonkwo himself. In comparison throughout several other works of African literature a commonality among readings can be seen that the inclusion of colonists into different African tribes led to the loss of several tribal identities. The loss of different tribal customs, traditions, and languages are the losses to

Starting with the first effect of imperialism, the introduction of Christianity in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s fatherland. Four years into Okonkwo’s exile, his good friend Obierika payed him a visit, informing Okonkwo of the arrival of missionaries in Umuofia. The Christian followers had to come to Umuofia to build a church and to convert locals into their anomalous religion. Most importantly, “what moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter’s son, Nwoye, among the missionaries in Umuofia.” (Achebe 143) The introduction of Christianity was one of the many effects set upon the African villages. Locals were becoming

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

The fact that these missionaries have started to really make an impact was unprecedented by the Ibo people; their continuous misunderstandings of one another contribute to make this situation frustrating to both the Ibo clansmen and the Christians that view their religion as superior. Okonkwo returns back to his home village of Umuofia after his exile to Mbanta, and he arrives to see missionaries have overtaken the village, created a government, and many Umuofians have joined the church. As Okonkwo and his friend Obierika are talking, Obierika says of the missionaries and their impact, “He says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?...He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). The white men and missionaries have been successful in coming in and gaining power. They believe the customs to be “bad”, showing their disregard of Ibo culture, and how their motives for infiltrating Ibo life is based off of selfish ideas- only to gain more followers to their religion. Furthermore, by actually being successful in drawing Umuofians into their religion, they have turned

Soon after the missionaries began to teach the tribal people about the Christian faith, their tribal customs began to be questioned. This caused a sense of unrest in the village. The missionaries were trying to bring with them new ways of life, and mostly better ways of life. Mr.Achebe tries to show us that the missionaries showed people who were hurt by

6. How did American political leaders seek to remake Indians and change their way of life?

The Ibo people and their culture are being oppressed by the white missionaries. In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, the author discusses how the missionaries and villagers could have had more respect with less discrimination, to produce a more peaceful outcome, in order to teach the reader the Ibo

Like the lotus insects, the missionaries came slowly at first, to “survey the land”. Their arrival was a mystery to the Ibo, a new excitement in the villages. But suddenly, after gaining the

The Ibo men disagreed with the missionaries because they had different customs than they did. If the efulefu would have never converted into christianity they would have been silenced and would have been a disgrace to the Ibo

They needed to isolate from Judaism and referenced to another confirmation, the new testament as the center of Christianity. Thirdly, christianity keeps on dividing over verbal confrontations on incomplete as well as included heavenly sacred writings, but still accepts Judaism. Christianity customs are a man should have one wife, murder is an abomination, feed the poor and your riches is stored up in heaven. We can see that, there is a obvious difference in the Igbo culture of christianity. Colonization exercise Imperialism in Igbo With respect to the Author, The setting mimics Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad (1898-1899), which signify to Hypocrisy of Imperialism and the result of things falling apart because of imperialism.