How The Igbo Culture In Things Fall Apart

In the novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, there are three main instances which lead to the downfall of the Igbo culture—the destruction of the village of Abame, the conflict between Okonkwo and Nwoye in the motherland, and the conflict between the church and the clan in Umuofia. In the second year of Okonkwo’s exile in the motherland, Obierika, his friend, came to bring him the revenue his yam crops had earned him along with a story about the destruction of Abame. “During the last planting season a white man had appeared in their clan. He was not an albino. He was quite different. And he was riding an iron horse (bicycle). The first people who saw him ran away, but he stood beckoning to them. In the end the fearless ones
“They spent the first four or five nights in the marketplace, and went into the village each morning to preach the gospel” (Achebe ch. 17). The missionaries desired a portion of land to build their church, and thus, the rulers of Mbanta gave them a portion of the Evil Forest. Eventually, they had built their church in the Evil Forest which flourished, attracting many conversions. Nwoye was one of them as he was “attracted to the new faith from the very first day” (Achebe ch.17). Despite this attraction to Christianity, he still dared not to go too near the missionaries in fear of his father’s wrath. However, as hard as he tried, Amikwu, Okonkwo’s cousin, spotted him among the Christians while he was passing by from a neighboring village. Amikwu relayed this information to Okonkwo, which greatly angered him. Once Nwoye had returned home in the late afternoon, “Okonkwo, overcome with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck and said “Where have you been? (Achebe ch.17). After questioning Nwoye, Okonkwo seized a heavy stick that lay on the dwarf wall and hit him two or three savage blows. This broken relationship between Okonkwo and his son, Nwoye, is a significant instance which lead to things falling apart in the Ibo