Theme Of Power In Things Fall Apart

Power has the ability to overcome and make anyone in its way obsessed with having it. Power can turn even the best, most moral people into people full of greed and hate. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Ibo tribe is becoming oppressed and disrespected by the arrival of Christian Missionaries. Achebe shows us through the imprisonment of the tribe leaders and the forcing of the Missionary 's government onto the tribe that a thirst for power can destroy and break things apart. When the Christians first came to Umuofia, they only brought a religion. They were laughed at, but the tribe was still tolerant of them staying. Christianity kept growing as more clansmen began converting, and they gained more influence over …show more content…
The District Commissioner invites them for a friendly chat to discuss what 's next for the church and tribe after the church has been destroyed. When the leaders get there, they are quickly tied up and thrown into cells. There, they are beaten, starved, and taunted. A fee of 200 bags of cowries had to be paid for them to go free, but the tribe was actually lied to by the court messengers and gave 250 bags. The Christians committed this horrible act of taking the tribal leaders hostage to enforce their power over the tribe and to force them to stop trying to rebel and drive them out. The Christians disgraced the tribe leaders, by humiliating them, as well as beating them and treating them like dirt. The leaders were so angry, embarrassed, and hopeless, they thought about giving in, as Achebe writes,”Even when the men were left alone they found no words to speak to one another. It was only on the third day, when they could no longer bear the hunger and the insults, that they began to talk about giving in"(195). The consequences of the Christians taking the tribal leaders hostage has turned previously proud, strong men into weak, tired people who are sick of fighting and getting only more oppressed in return. The christians broke the spirit of the tribe and it’s leaders.The Christians desire for power over the clan has made them fall apart, has turned brothers and friends into enemies. Power is the only thing they want, and are willing to commit horrible acts to get it. If something will strike fear and obedience into the tribe, the missionaries will do it until they have all converted. The kidnapping of the tribe leaders is the final straw, and the rest of the tribe wants to try to fight them and rebel. But part of them knows the Christians force is much stronger and powerful than theirs. The tribe knows that the end of their previous ways is coming, and they are