Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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“How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Achebe 176). This reference identifies exactly the themes presented in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. It displays the difficulties the Igbo people faced in their interactions with the Christian church. This quote perfectly identifies the internal struggle of the main character, Okonkwo, and many others like him. In fact, it models the struggle that was faced universally during…show more content…
One learns of the villages’ heritage and their unique language from the text through, “Among the Igbo people the art of conversation is regarded highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” (Achebe 5). The reader is then familiarized to the values of Okonkwo and how they align with the culture he has been exposed to, “Okonkwo ruled his house with a heavy hand… Perhaps down in the heart of Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated with fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 12). From this quote, one can see how there is an innate link between the values of Okonkwo and that of his village. Okonkwo admits that he was heavily influenced by his father and that legacy that preceded him. His father passed down the love of fighting and all things masculine to Okonkwo, and as a result forced him to despise anything “feminine.” Similarly, these values of Okonkwo reflect the village’s traditions who based their values on self-improvement and efficacy, and not on systems of class and wealth. This is why there is an internal struggle towards the later part of the book with Okonkwo, because he essentially is asked to turn away from everything he knows; which protrudes later themes that extend far beyond…show more content…
Immediately, because of their cultural differences with the Christians, the villagers felt these “new comers” were a threat, and gave them a section in “evil forest” (148). However, most villages came to accept the Christians, except those like Okonkwo. Okonkwo did not like what the settlers were offering and tried to convince others of their danger. This is seen from the text as, “Let us reason like cowards. If a man comes into my hut and defecates on my floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does” (Achebe 158). Okonkwo persisted in having the Christian settlers driven out, but it was hard to convince people who embraced the settlers. Alternatively, for people like Nwoye and the women with the twins, Christianity was a new found opportunity for them that had not been thought possible. These people found hope of acceptance in Christianity that Okonkwo and others like him could not understand, “These outcasts seeing that new religion welcomed twins and such abominations, thought it was possible that they would also be received” (Achebe 155). This conflict between the Igbo people jeopardized their culture and cause them to split
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