Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe
According to Merriam-Webster, cultural shock is a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture of environment without adequate preparation. Cultural shock is experienced by many different people across the world everyday. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character, Okonkwo, experiences cultural shock. Things Fall Apart focuses on the culture in Nigeria of the Ufomia tribe, the Igbo culture. Okonkwo, the main character, is a high-ranked leader of the tribe and strongly believes in the Igbo culture. When white missionaries move into the Ufomia tribe and take over, Okonkwo reacts to the sudden change negatively resulting in shocking events. In Things Fall
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Okonkwo never doubted the Igbo culture or the rules of it, so when white missionaries invaded his tribe and brainwashed his people with Christianity, he reacted negatively. He lashed out in acts of violence. To be specific, Okonkwo lashed out on a messenger for the white missionaries that resulted in blood, “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 204). This shows how aggressive Okonkwo became when it came to anything involving white missionaries. He reacted negatively to these incidents. All his reactions to Christianity and the white missionaries are negative. He constantly stated how he wanted to go to war with them because he believed they had no right to take over their tribe and distinguish the Igbo culture. For instance, Okonkwo states how he so dearly wants to go to war to force them to leave their tribe, “We must fight these men and drive them from the land” (Achebe 176). This is another example that shows his responses to Christianity taking over are negative because if he does not get the result of war through the tribe he will take things into his own hands to create revenge for them. Overall, Okonkwo has such a negative reaction to Western ideas, Christianity, and white missionaries because he believes only in the Igbo
Okonkwo never doubted the Igbo culture or the rules of it, so when white missionaries invaded his tribe and brainwashed his people with Christianity, he reacted negatively. He lashed out in acts of violence. To be specific, Okonkwo lashed out on a messenger for the white missionaries that resulted in blood, “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 204). This shows how aggressive Okonkwo became when it came to anything involving white missionaries. He reacted negatively to these incidents. All his reactions to Christianity and the white missionaries are negative. He constantly stated how he wanted to go to war with them because he believed they had no right to take over their tribe and distinguish the Igbo culture. For instance, Okonkwo states how he so dearly wants to go to war to force them to leave their tribe, “We must fight these men and drive them from the land” (Achebe 176). This is another example that shows his responses to Christianity taking over are negative because if he does not get the result of war through the tribe he will take things into his own hands to create revenge for them. Overall, Okonkwo has such a negative reaction to Western ideas, Christianity, and white missionaries because he believes only in the Igbo