Things Fall Apart Research Paper

The coming of new religion affects many people in their lifetimes. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Christianity is brought by the missionaries to the Ibo tribe, where some of the tribe members are affected greatly. Some of these people include Okonkwo, Nwoye, Obierika, and the osus. The Christian missionaries assisted Nwoye with finding who he was in society. Before these missionaries came, Nwoye would do anything to please his father, even if he didn’t believe in following him. He was fearful of what Okonkwo would do to him if he didn’t obey orders. Nwoye changed from being very fearful in society, to being outgoing and confident. Nwoye had the strongest response to Christianity coming into the tribe. The Christian missionaries changed Nwoye’s way of thinking, and they helped him become a man in society. Nwoye wasn’t always outgoing or confident. He used to be scared of his father and he wouldn’t work as hard. Okonkwo expected Nwoye to be hard working and outgoing, just like he was, but Nwoye was becoming the opposite of what Okonkwo expected. “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old, but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” (23). Okonkwo soon realized that Nwoye was developing like his father, Unoka, whom Okonkwo was afraid of …show more content…
Nwoye found himself with Christianity being his destination, while others, such as Okonkwo, couldn’t handle life anymore and ended theirs. Nwoye became a strong, independent man who chose to follow his path in life with a little guidance along the way. Some characters fell apart, but in Nwoye’s case, he found a new beginning and his true purpose in life. When Nwoye said “I am one of them” (144), this changed his life, since he transformed his way of going about things. Life takes unexpected turns and with those unexpected turns, we find out more about ourselves and eventually become an individual with our own way of