Chinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart - 1343 Words

Chinua Achebe was born in Europe in 1930 during the transitional period of colonialism. He attended the University of Ibadan and later became a professor at two different universities, David and Marianna Fisher University and Brown University. To educate and inform the Nigerian people of the Umuofia village, Achebe wrote the novel Things Fall Apart. He wants to demonstrate that the Umuofia people that they were not primitive prior to the arrival of the Europeans. His purpose is to inform the Umuofias that the Europeans did not create the culture of their villages. To convey his message, Achebe used Okonkwo to be the protagonist of the story and to be a representative of the traditional lifestyle of the Ibo people. In the novel,†¦show more content†¦In the Christian belief system, there is only one God who created all things which populate the earth. They believed that once and individual dies they will go to either heaven or hell. They further believed that all peopl e will go before God to be judged and for those that worshiped him will live along side him for all eternity in heaven. As a result, the differences between the European and Ibo religions caused things to fall apart amongst the Ibo natives as some were opposed to changing their ways. The Umuofia village experienced conflict because some of the Ibo people wanted to listen the Europeans and follow their religion while others wanted to maintain their traditional religion. Amongst those that were opposed to the change was Okonkwo but not his son Nwoye. He saw this to be positive because Christianity saw everyone as equals instead of men displaying dominance. Nwoye found a way to separate himself from his father and the rest of the community. Nwoye was not the only one that saw Christianity as a way out of the tradition causing things to fall apart. The Europeans were offering many advantages that took immediate effect. The Umuofias were discovering new trade opportunities with the outside world and the Europeans were buying palm oil and palm-kernel from the Ibo at a very high price. Little did the Ibo know these new customs were slow causing things to fall apart. Mr. Brown, an European missionary, had started a new education