One of the book’s main themes is the struggle between change and tradition. This struggle can be found in the villagers of the nine clans. The Igbo people are caught between embracing the change or rejecting it. For example, characters such as Nwoye and Okonkwo are forced to confront the radical cultural shift. To start, with the introduction of the Christian missionaries, Nwoye’s life was forever changed. Growing up in a household where he was scrutinized for his unmasculine ways, hearing the words of salvation gave him a new understanding of his troubles. The hymn the missionaries’ sang about men living in “darkness and fear, ignorant of the love of God” (Achebe 146) had a lasting effect on Nwoye because he was able to connect with the feelings of fear and insecurity, feeling he experienced with his father. Ergo, with the new change came understanding and fulfillment. Okonkwo’s life, on the other hand, was negatively impacted by the drastic change. His life was turned upside down, for Okonkwo relied on the tribe’s morals and beliefs. Thus, he found himself unable to adapt to cultural changes, dieing with his old traditions. Therefore the change so negatively affected Okonkwo’s life that he fall
One of the book’s main themes is the struggle between change and tradition. This struggle can be found in the villagers of the nine clans. The Igbo people are caught between embracing the change or rejecting it. For example, characters such as Nwoye and Okonkwo are forced to confront the radical cultural shift. To start, with the introduction of the Christian missionaries, Nwoye’s life was forever changed. Growing up in a household where he was scrutinized for his unmasculine ways, hearing the words of salvation gave him a new understanding of his troubles. The hymn the missionaries’ sang about men living in “darkness and fear, ignorant of the love of God” (Achebe 146) had a lasting effect on Nwoye because he was able to connect with the feelings of fear and insecurity, feeling he experienced with his father. Ergo, with the new change came understanding and fulfillment. Okonkwo’s life, on the other hand, was negatively impacted by the drastic change. His life was turned upside down, for Okonkwo relied on the tribe’s morals and beliefs. Thus, he found himself unable to adapt to cultural changes, dieing with his old traditions. Therefore the change so negatively affected Okonkwo’s life that he fall