Yan Yaroshevich3/23/11

AP English IVDestruction of a Culture

When the missionaries in “Things Fall Apart” arrive to Umofia, they cause drastic

change in the people’s culture. They bring about some positive change by convincing the

converted not to believe in or perform certain practices that include killing innocent

people by casting them off to the “evil forest”, and providing human sacrifices to their

gods. However, the growing influence they had over the youth of Umofia caused the

entire culture of the people to change, disregarding all of its well-respected and long

standing traditions. This is what led to the suicide of Okonkwo, whose death represents

the death of Umofia’s culture as a whole. While the coming of the missionaries benefitted

the people of Umofia, their arrival is ultimately detrimental to the people because it

eventually leads to the destruction of their culture.

The positive changes that the missionaries brought to Umofia come from their

disapproval of certain Umofian practices that they understandably regard as negative.

One such practice includes leaving newborn twins to die in the “evil forest” in order to

not bring bad luck to the family. Their belief in the ogbanje, a child who dies repeatedly

and returns to its mother to be reborn, leads to another practice in which the dead ogbanje

child is mutilated and dragged across the ground into the “evil forest”. The missionaries

convince the converts of Umofia to stop these practices and disregard these beliefs as

they do not hold any value in Christianity: “[your gods] are gods of deceit who tell you to

kill your fellows and destroy innocent children. There is only one true God…” (Achebe

146). While these changes are seen as positive by the missionaries, Okonkwo and the

elders of the village, who are some of the last remaining people of the traditional

Umofian culture, do not see them as postitive because they value every tradition and

practice in their culture, including unpleasant ones. They value these traditions because

they respect the gods for whom they are doing them.

In addition to these practices, the people of Umofia have many other religious

traditions that make their culture unique and respected. They believe in several different

gods, unlike the missionaries who only believe in the Holy Trinity. They highly respect

the words of the egwugwu, which are masked men who speak for the ancestral spirits of

the village. They also make visits to the oracle Agbala, whom they come to for advice

when it is needed. The detrimental outcome of the arrival of Christianity to Umofia is the

destruction of their religion, due to the missionaries’ ignorance of this religion. The

Umofians have a high regard for the egwugwu; when asked by one of the egwugwu the

question “do you know me?”, the person being addressed would give an answer such as

“How can I know you, father? You are beyond our knowledge” to show respect to the

spirit (90). Egwugwu are held in high regard among the Umofians because they represent

the spirits of the tribes’ ancestors, and they help people settle disputes as well.

Unmasking an egwugwu in public is considered by the Umofians “one of the greatest

crimes a man could commit”, and Enoch, one of the Christian converts, committed this

crime (186). The Christians’ ignorance toward Umofian religion is once again shown in

Mr. Brown’s answer to one of the Umofians’ questions. The man asks him “If we leave

our gods and follow your god… who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods

and ancestors?”, to which Mr. Brown replies: “Your gods are not alive and cannot do you

any harm… They are pieces of wood and stone” (146). Though this view is initially

considered ridiculous by the Umofians, who laugh at the statement, eventually more of

them become convinced and join the Church, completely giving up all of their previous

beliefs.

In addition to the religious beliefs of the Umofians that were neglected by the

Umofian youth due to the new introduction of Christianity, their customs and traditions

were also forgotten about. Achebe emphasizes the richness of their culture from the

beginning of the book. Among the many things that make them a unique culture are their

love for wrestling, their different types of ceremonies, and their use of proverbs. The

wrestling events help keep Umofia closer together, as everyone unites to watch them.

Other such events include ceremonies, such as ones celebrating a marriage or for the

egwugwu. These ceremonies unite the people of Umofia, some coming from different

villages, to share palm wine and kola nuts, while listening to the music created by their

flutes and drums. The use of proverbs is also much respected; Achebe says that “proverbs

are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” (7). With the many young Umofians being

converted by the missionaries, these traditions are slowly forgotten as the converts go on

to join the entirely different culture of the Christian missionaries.

While the missionaries establish a government which they believe is good for the

people of Umofia, many of the Umofians do not see it this way. They say that the

“District Commissioner judge[s] cases in ignorance”, and he has court messengers who

are “greatly hated in Umofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-

handed” (174). This government also includes a prison system which the Umofians were

also not very fond of. The prison is for people who “had offended against the white

man’s law”, which is not fair to the people of Umofia because it means they have to

follow a whole different set of rules than they are normally used to, and they have not

been told many of these laws.

The reputation that the individuals in Umofia build and their respect are also lost

with their culture and religion. There are many things in Umofian society that can make a

man well respected. There are four titles which a man can have, and each of these must

be earned with hard work. Having a large amount of yams can also gain people’s respect,

because the more yams a man has, the harder he works to grow them. Having more than

one wife is also viewed with respect among the Umofian people. These are things which

many of the elders in the villages had, and their younger friends and family would look

up to them and honor their achievements. However, when the missionaries started to take

over, more Umofians joined the Church every day, until there was only a small minority

of elders left, Okonkwo among them. Okonkwo had 2 of the 4 titles, 2 barns full of yams,

and 3 wives, which is considered very successful and deserves great respect among the

people in his village. As soon as the village turns Christian, however, there is no one left

who can really appreciate his hard work, except the other elders.

The coming of the missionaries to Umofia ultimately had a negative impact on the

people because it led to the destruction of an important culture with unique religious

beliefs and traditions. The ultimate outcome of the Christian colonialism of Umofia was a

drastic change of the people’s culture. The youth of Umofia saw this as a positive change,

thinking of Christianity as a new religion which will help them achieve their goals.

However, from the elders’ perspective, it is a negative change, corrupting the Umofian

culture, stripping hard workers of the respect they once held in their village.