Colonialism In Things Fall Apart

In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Ibo culture clashes against Christian Missionaries in the middle of the story. Back during the 19th century, Christian Missionaries spread their culture through European Colonialism, which, even though brought modern technologies and ideas, it left native African cultures permanently damaged. This is portrayed with the views of an African native, Okonkwo, who was once famously known. After his seven-year exile, he came back to a changed Umuofia. Since Okonkwo despises western ideas, Nwoye converting to Christianity and other members of Umuofia not doing anything about Christianity, he is the most affected person to this change.
After Okonkwo finds out that Nwoye is a Christian, he ponders around …show more content…
Originally, Okonkwo heard about the missionaries in Umuofia by his uncle, but he could not believe that Nwoye would disrespect him and his family by abandoning their religion. Okonkwo had to examine how he “…have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate?” Okonkwo also thought Nwoye “…resembled his grandfather, Unoka…” (146). Okonkwo had a moment to himself in front of a fire and went into deep thought about the events that converted Nwoye from being a son to a degenerate. Okonkwo’s expectations of Nwoye are non-existent since Nwoye abandoned his old …show more content…
Beginning during his exile, Nwoye converted Christian and made Okonkwo ponder why his son was cursed. When Okonkwo returned, he tried to find a partner for his daughter, when he realized that nobody recognized him anymore. Then, he found that the clash between Christianity and Ibo culture was much worse than anticipated, and he undergone through a major emotional change. After that, everything went downhill, and Okonkwo had no luck. When he was tempted to commit suicide, he knew that there was no way back to old Umuofia. Achebe used Okonkwo to display how he and Ibo culture are a few things that fall