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Analysis Of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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Has your view on life or personality ever drastically changed after an influx of new ideas or knowledge? During Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, an exotic group of foreigners introduce their religious beliefs, and many of the Ibo clansmen are quick to desert their traditional faith in favor of the new and exciting alien religion. As a consequence, many of the new converts gain a new sense of identity within themselves. Due to the introduction of Western ideas and the cultural collision that follows, Nwoye becomes confident, extroverted, and overall, a more upbeat and optimistic young man. Before the arrival of the missionaries, Nwoye’s lives his life in a dreary and lackadaisical manner, similar of that to Unoka, his grandfather. …show more content…
While the evangelists sing their religious hymns, the narrator notes that the Nwoye is relieved by the music: “It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul…Nwoye’s mind was greatly puzzled” (Achebe 141). It is evident that the songs and teachings of the missionaries have a profound impact on Nwoye and his personality. Moreover, the hymn internally connects with him in a way that brings closure, something that his clan and people never were able to deliver to him after the death of Ikemefuna, who was like a brother to Nwoye. This newfound closure gives him optimistic beliefs of this new religion, and for this reason, Nwoye, after a heated confrontation with his tradition-following father, gladly joins the white man’s church. Although Nwoye does not fully understand why his father dislikes the new religion, the author observes that “[Nwoye] was happy to leave his father. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith” (Achebe 146). During this excerpt, it is indisputable that Nwoye has boosted his confidence by defying his father and has become optimistic about the opportunity to proselytize his family members to the new religion. Furthermore, Nwoye’s confidence leads to a newfound upbeat and extroverted behavior, both of which were not present in him before the cultural collision between the Ibo and

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