Western culture is widespread throughout the modern world and has incorporated itself into many cultures. However, during the process of integrating the western culture into other cultures, there have been many cultural collisions. One cultural collision is represented in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In this book, the Western culture clashes with the Igbo culture in Nigeria. Nwoye, the son of the main character in the book, is set up in a way to represent the Western culture while others stay true to the Igbo culture. The Western culture differed greatly from the Igbo culture which some people liked and some people disliked. Nwoye disliked the Igbo culture and the Western culture opened a new path for him to take. Nwoye’s conversion
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The Western culture appealed to Nwoye’s true self more because it was more caring than the Igbo culture. One way the the Western culture was different from the Igbo culture was in religion. Missionaries built their house in a forest which the Igbo people called the Evil Forest. In the book it states, “The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest to build their house” (149). The missionaries did not believe in ‘evil’ things while the Igbo did. The Western culture welcomed people who were outcasts, or osu, to the Igbo culture. It also welcomed those who were ‘evil’ and banished from the Igbo culture. Nwoye liked this more because he saw how they were more accepting of those who did not quite fit in, those like himself. Not only did the Western culture collide in religion, it also collided with the Igbo ‘government’ because the Igbo based power on titles while Western culture had a government more like the current government today. Only men had power in the Igbo culture but in the Western culture, women had power, too, as they had a queen. Nwoye was scared to join the new faith because of the power his father had. As written in the book, “He dared not to go too near the missionaries for fear of his father” (149). After joining the new faith, Nwoye actually seemed to become stronger and more independent than how he was before he joined the new faith. The new faith he joined made Nwoye more sure of himself rather than just doing everything his father told him to do. Other characters were troubled by the Western ways because it challenged their own
The Western culture appealed to Nwoye’s true self more because it was more caring than the Igbo culture. One way the the Western culture was different from the Igbo culture was in religion. Missionaries built their house in a forest which the Igbo people called the Evil Forest. In the book it states, “The next morning the crazy men actually began to clear a part of the forest to build their house” (149). The missionaries did not believe in ‘evil’ things while the Igbo did. The Western culture welcomed people who were outcasts, or osu, to the Igbo culture. It also welcomed those who were ‘evil’ and banished from the Igbo culture. Nwoye liked this more because he saw how they were more accepting of those who did not quite fit in, those like himself. Not only did the Western culture collide in religion, it also collided with the Igbo ‘government’ because the Igbo based power on titles while Western culture had a government more like the current government today. Only men had power in the Igbo culture but in the Western culture, women had power, too, as they had a queen. Nwoye was scared to join the new faith because of the power his father had. As written in the book, “He dared not to go too near the missionaries for fear of his father” (149). After joining the new faith, Nwoye actually seemed to become stronger and more independent than how he was before he joined the new faith. The new faith he joined made Nwoye more sure of himself rather than just doing everything his father told him to do. Other characters were troubled by the Western ways because it challenged their own