things fall apart :: essays research papers fc

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a story that describes the effects of a new Christian religion in a tribal village of Africa, called Umuofia. The novel is set during the late 1800s to early 1900s when the British were expanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, religiously, and politically. The book shows the colonization of Umuofia by the British and the negative and violent changes this brought about in the lives of the tribe members. Along with colonization was the arrival of the missionaries whose main aim was to spread the message of Christianity and to convert people to their religion. The conversion to Christianity of tribal peoples destroyed an intricate and traditional age-old way of life in the village. This is best seen in the rise and fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who could be understood to represent the best and worst of his culture. Eventually, Okonkwo can be seen as the symbol of the disintegration. In the late 1800, Western society did not rest the case of imperialism and colonization solely on conquest. They developed an idea based on Darwinian racial struggle, that it was the responsibility of the more â€Å"civilized† whites to help the more primitive, non-whites. This sort of assistance also included the spread of Christianity- the â€Å"true† religion. So when the white missionaries went to Umuofia, in their own minds they were justified in their cause. Upon their arrival, one of their first victims is Okonkwo’s family. His son, Nwoye is immediately attracted to the new religion (148). In Christianity, Nwoye finds comfort for things that have long disturbed him, but the religion also provides a way to rebel against his father and his ideas of masculinity. Okonkwo believes that a weak man will never be able to survive in the village, and fears his son may turn out to be like his own father. A man who was always in debt and without the proper qualities of a real man. But, for the most part, Okonkwo's idea of manliness is not the clan's. He associates masculinity with aggression and feels that anger is the only emotion that he should display. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 in the midst of the Nigerian renaissance.