Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Things Clash Apart

When cultures clash, things fall apart. The book, Things Fall Apart, which is written by Chinua Achebe, is a historical fiction about the Igbu tribe. This tribe is developed, however, very different from the christian culture in their way of life, social hierarchy, and beliefs. When the Christians arrive in their tribe, and challenge nearly everything everything that the culture believes and stand for, they starts to lose their sense of identity. Their voices are taken away and replaced with the white man’s voice and things fall apart. When the Christians arrive, Nwoye and Okonkwo react very differently. Okonkwo was afraid of change. He was afraid of becoming like his father, Unoku, who was gentle and lazy. For that reason,

It is who we are. Although Nwoye and Okonkwo are from the same tribe, their cultural identity is drastically different. As Nwoye accepted the coming of the Christians and eventually joined them and changed his name to Issac, his father Okonkwo took a different approach. He saw Nwoye’s choice to join the Christians weak and woman-like. “He was a flaming fire. How could he have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate?... But Nwoye resembled his grandfather Unoka, who was Okonkwo’s father. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He, Okonkwo, was called a flaming fire. How could he have begotten a woman for a son?”(153). Okonkwo was so afraid of becoming like his father, that he became afraid of the idea of change, and that fear is what allowed Nwoye to grow distant, and eventually leave his father for Christianity. After his son left, Okonkwo got even worse, and he killed another man. “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body”(204). Okonkwo, so overwhelmed in everything that was happening, everything that was changing, and everything that he was losing and has lost, striked the man down. Then he goes home and in both spite and fear, ends his misery, and hangs himself. As they are removing his body from the noose, the District Commissioner shouts: “‘That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog…’ He could not say any more. His voice trembled and choked his words”(208). Although Okonkwo was a harsh man, in the end, he could no longer put on a brave face. He was so afraid of change, that the arrival of the Christians pushed him to the edge and he ended