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To begin, Nwoye converting to Christianity is a cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture because Nwoye wanted to convert but he knew his father did not like the white men’s faith western ideas brought into Ibo culture were the white men’s faith called Christianity. People in the clan like Okonkwo did not like the whit men’s faith because it went against their faith and claimed that everything they believe in is false. “Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day, he keep it secret. He dared not to go too near the missionaries for fear of his father” (149). Okonkwo has been known for his bad temper and so Nwoye wanting to convert created a huge conflict between him and his father. Nwoye knew if his father knew about him being interested in the faith that his father would kill him. ”Answer me,” roared Okonkwo, “before I kill you!”(151). When Okonkwo found out about that Nwoye was among the Christians he almost killed him and then kicked him out of the house. Okonkwo’s response to Nwoye converting to Christianity was very harsh and he did not take it very easy. He felt like his son…
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While this is a great point, the missionaries eventually pull Igbo people into their own culture, breaking some traditions. The people who did not fully agree with the Igbo traditions decide to break away and confirm to Christianity. For example, Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, does not believe in certain rules and is interested in Christianity. A couple years into Okonkwo’s exile, Obierika stumbles upon Nwoye among the missionaries in Umuofia. Obierika decides to visit Okonkwo for an explanation. “He finds that Okonkwo does not wish to speak about Nwoye. It is only from Nwoye’s mother that he hears scraps of the story” (Achebe 144). Okonkwo believes Nwoye is a disgrace to the family and never wishes to speak of his “womanly” self again. Due to the Europeans converting members of the Igbo clan to Christianity, they are forced to change their cultural traditions. As Obierika said, “it is too late, our own men and our sons have joined the ranks of the stranger” (Achebe 176). These illustrations display the conditions for questioning and constructive change of violent traditions are present in the Igbo society (Hoegberg 60), but simply from the amount of time and new actions interfering with their own culture putting them in…
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They also practice sexual abstinence during lactation, they also stay in shape by having wrestling combats when it’s not farming season (Medikka, 2007). They believe in herbs as well that comes from many plants that grown in their country along with cutting of tribal marks which effects the healing. The guy I spoke with is from Umuchu, Nigeria where his mother and father were born. They were never in the United States he came to the United States when he was 23 years old. All his grandparents were born in the same city of Umuchu. As a child he grew up in an urban area with his mom and dad in Umuchu, Nigeria. Ikedi stayed in contact with his family aunts, uncles, and cousins when he was a child and they lived in the same city but not near. He would visit them weekly and his family original name never changed. He grew up in Catholic religion and attended catholic schools where he was an active member in his religious institution. When he came to the United States of America he changed religions over time to Christianity. Ikedi attends his institution throughout the week and while he’s at home he reads the bible, pray and celebrates religious holidays. He still prepares his ethnic meals but he doesn’t participate in his ethnic activities anymore. Ikedi still has friend in the United States with the same ethnic and cultural background…
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The white men pulled in enough individuals from Umuofia, particularly the individuals who involved the most reduced positions and the individuals who scrutinized the past request, to debilitate the town's adequacy and conviction. Those esteemed by the new establishments were those like Unoka. The better approaches for Umuofia were too fundamentally not quite the same as what Oknonkwo had set up as his way in his childhood. Despite the fact that suicide conflicted with the Umuofian conventions, it hadn't generally been about those customs on the most fundamental level, and Okonkwo did one final thing that his dad could never have had the quality of conviction to do. As it were, Okonkwo's suicide conformed to the methods for Umuofia; the genuine Umuofia that Okonkwo had possessed the capacity to relate to and that he looked for approval from had murdered itself with its malleability towards the new ways.…
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Shortly after this, locusts swarmed Umuofia. The people of the Ibo community were very excited by this because it was a source of food for them. Okonkwo has a talk with Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the Ibo community, in which Ezeudu warns Okonkwo of the repercussions of taking part in the killing of Ikemefuna. Though when the time comes, Okonkwo ignores the advice in order to maintain his masculine image. Three days after Ikemefuna’s death, Ezinma has been struck ill. Okonkwo gathers medicine for her and she is restored to normal. At the funeral of Ezeudu, Okonkwo’s gun explodes, accidentally killing Exeudu’s sixteen year old son. For this, Okonkwo is exiled to his “motherland” of Mbanta for seven years, in which he lives with his uncle, Uchendu. In Okonkwo’s absence, Obierika watches over his yams and sells them when they are finished growing, and brings the product of these yams to Okonkwo. While Okonkwo is in exile, many changes occur in Umuofia. White missionaries have come to Umuofia, setting up churches and converting…
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As the white men moved into the Igbo's land, their culture, values and their beliefs changed. These changes were extremely evident, but in the end the Igbo were unable to doing anything to stop the changes that had already start taking place in their society. As soon as the whites arrived, they introduced a new religion that was completely different than the natives were accustomed to. The white man told the Igbos that, “they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone,” (145) also, he mentioned that there was only one God, the creator of everything. Okonkwo was convinced that the man was entirely wrong, but his first son, Nwoye, had been captivated by all of these new ideas, and after a discussion with his father, “Nwoye decided to go to Umuofia where missionaries had a school to teach, to read and write the new Christians. (152)” “He was happy to leave his father to follow the missionaries. (152)” Indeed, Nwoye was not the only one convinced by the new form of religion, but also other natives, and some of them turned away from everything they were, just to be part of it. Before colonialism, the unit of the family was very important in the Igbo culture, but with the arrival of missionaries and their religion the division among families began. Sons, wives, and daughters separated voluntarily from their family to follow the new form of religion, even clans could no longer act as…
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Equiano writes about his religion, “the natives believe there is one Creator of all things…he governs events, especially our deaths or captivity.”2 He goes on to note other characteristics of his native religion; one example is that they sacrifice and make offerings.3 This is important…
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To begin with, Okonkwo’s death marks the end of the Ibo culture in Umuofia. Anxious to return home, Okonkwo does not understand why everyone is allowing the missionaries to interfere with their lifestyle. Imposing a new religion and government, the white men do not understand or seem to care about how the clan operates, focusing solely on converting the clansmen to a supposedly superior ideology. As a result of his upbringing, Okonkwo is not afraid to fight for what he believes in, his tribe and culture, unlike most of the people in Umuofia. Originally convinced that Umuofia would fight against the new religion,…
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With Okonkwo’s ideas, the people of Umuofia would not have been taken over in such a manner, Okonkwo is very aggressive and fearless and would definitely have lead the tribe to war if need be. However, the tribe is now weak and only after the Christians have unmasked and killed an egwuwu did they react with any sort of force. After this act of force Okonkwo and five other men were called by the Commissioner and imprisoned; these men were beaten, starved, and dehumanized for days. Their release was only allowed when the tribe paid a hefty fine and after this abuse, the tribe failed to stand up against measly messengers. After killing a messenger and seeing the weakness of his tribe Okonkwo commits suicide tarnishing his…
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Their belief lead them to try to enforce law in Umuofia by establishing a government; the court that they use to judge cases in Umuofia is similar to the ones back in their home. The travelers were trying to bring their culture to Umuofia and lead the villagers as if their Nigerian culture was wrong; the missionaries, for example, insist that the gods of the clansmen were false and that God (in Christianity) is the only true god. This makes the white travelers too aggressive in the eyes of some…
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Okonkwo- An influential clan leader in Umuofia. Since early childhood, Okonkwo’s embarrassment about his lazy, squandering, and effeminate father, Unoka, has driven him to succeed. Okonkwo’s hard work and prowess in war have earned him a position of high status in his clan, and he attains wealth sufficient to support three wives and their children. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is that he is terrified of looking weak like his father. As a result, he behaves rashly, bringing a great deal of trouble and sorrow upon himself and his family.…
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On Okonkwo’s return to Umuofia after his exile, he meets a different Umuofia that is being controlled by the white men from Europe and a Umuofia that is drifting to Christianity “The church had led many astray…the white men had also brought a government”. He is furious and enraged at the fact that Umuofia does not fight back “He had spoken violently…on their action” (Achebe, 108) he makes this point known at the meeting of the elders, and offers a solution to kill the white man. When the people of Umuofia do not yield his advice he follows his emotions and commits suicide. Okonkwo did not think logically about this because if he had, he would have seen a perspective where his death does not solve the problem of colonization, or his death causing Umuofia to go to war. From Okonkwo’s story, it is clear how solving a problem two different ways leads to two different…
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People all over the world worship many gods, goddesses, and other higher beings. Some religions are monotheistic, worship one god or goddess, others are polytheistic, worship multiple gods and goddesses. In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the author demonstrates the Igbo tribes polytheistic religion by showing the people worshiping many gods, goddesses, and spirits; such as, they worship a god named Chukwu, two minor gods, a minor goddess, and six different spirits.…
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Family was there when it seemed like everyone else had turned their backs. When Okonkwo had been exiled from Umuofia, he went to his uncle, Uchendu, and “As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company he guessed what had happened, and asked no questions” (Achebe 129). Uchendu understood his nephews problems without him having to ask questions and supported him regardless. Since Okonkwo saw that his uncle was willing to stand by his side, Okonkwo felt more at home and had an easier time adjusting. Had Okonkwo been alone he would have made rash decisions alone and been forced to grieve alone. With the unity that Uchendu had shown Okonkwo, he did not end up causing any conflicts and created a peaceful stay. Due to the unity between the family, Okonkwo seemed less isolated and removed chances of conflicts between the new clan and Okonkwo. Another moment in which familial unity played a crucial role was when Agbala had taken Enzima. Ekwefi ran after Agbala for quite a while until she stopped at a cave where Okonkwo eventually found her. Okonkwo stayed with Ekwefi at the entrance of the cave ensuring the safety of his daughter and Ekwefi. Okonkwo held great fondness for his family in his heart, which caused him to stand by Ekwefi unified for the sake of his daughter. As a result of the unity, Okonkwo felt reassured and did not go in after Agbala that could have conjured up…
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As a result of the British motives of spreading Christianity, most Igbo people lost their faith in their native religion and the African traditional society eventually fell apart. To accomplish their purpose of altering the beliefs of the natives of Mbanta, several white missionaries tried to influence the villagers by claiming that “[They] have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die” (Achebe 145). The motivation behind the missionaries’ desire to convert the natives of the conquered territories was mainly to spread their faith in foreign lands and increase the number of followers who believe in Christianity. The rise in followers would lead to more…
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