Things Fall Apart Christian Religion

The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about pre-colonial life in Nigeria and the arrival of European culture. This book talks about how the village of Umuofia reacts to the culture shock of the Christian missionaries coming in and taking over. Nwoye is one of the main characters in this book. He had a negative response at first because of the way Okonkwo, his father, responded to them. After Nwoye was able to discover them for himself he decided that he wanted to pursue their beliefs. One of the many things that drew Nwoye to converting to the Christian religion was the beautiful music that they played. While he was going school to learn to read and write he heard the hymns playing and he was instantly attracted to sounds. Nwoye was often sneaking around the church to be able to hear the music that pleased him. Nwoye expresses the way he feels in chapter 16 on page 147, “the words of the hymn were like drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the
The Christian beliefs were very different from the Igbo beliefs and Nwoye was attracted to that. The Igbo gods convinced the people to believe that ogbanjes and twins were a source of evil. The Christians believed that ogbanjes and twins are just children and should be treated as children. In the Christian religion their God declared a better life after death and did not kill newborn twins. The beliefs and laws of Christians were a lot more lenient and less cruel which he appreciated. Christian religion was what finally broke the fragile relationship between Nwoye and his father Okonkwo. Nwoye’s attention to the new religion caused him to leave his family and fully convert to Christianity. Later on, when he was asked about his father, Nwoye replied, “He is not my father.” (Chapter 16, page 144). It was Christian faith that finally helped Nwoye to find the courage to cut the ties with his