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Maddi Moyer

Honors English 11

Mrs. Leah Hoover

26 April 2018

Culture Clashes

Cultures clash when people are not willing to understand a culture different from their

own. For groups with different beliefs to coincide, they must accept their differing perspectives.

In order for people to accept another perspectives, they must first attempt to understand the

reasoning behind others’ beliefs. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe examines a Nigerian tribe

that is invaded by European missionaries. The collision of the two worlds results in catastrophe

when the people of the two cultures cannot accept their differences. The Ibo people of Umuofia

do not see anything wrong with their culture, and therefore do not react well when the Christian

missionaries try to forcefully change it. The conflict between the Christian Missionaries and the

Ibo people represents the fact that cultures cannot coexist unless they are prepared to accept each

other’s different religions, customs, and rituals.

The problem begins when the Christians come to assimilate the people of Umuofia. They

try to change everything about the Ibo culture, including their views on ogbanje children, twins,

Gods, and their problem solving tactics. The Christian missionaries believe that they are

benefiting Umuofia, but the Ibo people disagree. A missionary tells the people of Umuofia they

have “brought a peaceful administration to [them] and [their] people so that [they] may be

happy” (194). By claiming that they are doing things for the Ibo people, the Christians are

assuming that the people of Umuofia want change. However, the Ibo people do not think their

culture needs changed. The missionaries’ main goal when coming to Umuofia is to civilize their
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people and convert them to Christians. At first, they try to hide their true intentions by making it

seem as if they are simply trying to improve Umuofia. The Christians create schools and markets

to deceive the people of Umuofia. They do not have intentions to understand or accept their

culture. While the Ibo culture may be bizzare by the Europeans’ standards, it is somewhat

peaceful and orderly before the Christians come.

Despite what the Christians may think, the Ibo culture does have order. Umuofia “never

went to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle” (12). This

is contrary to what the Europeans think, as they think that the Ibo people only handle issues with

violence. Also, Umuofia has a court of law where disputes are settled fairly. The Christians never

stop to realize that the Ibo people have ways to keep peace and do not necessarily need to change

their ways. It isn’t until the missionaries come that the real violence and unrest starts.

The Christian and Ibo cultures are completely different from one another. The Ibo people

think that Christianity is a “lunatic religion” (154). Meanwhile, the Christians think the people of

Umuofia worship “gods of deceit who tell [them] to kill [their] fellows and destroy innocent

children” (146). The Christians’ main concerns are the Ibo peoples’ religion and their

government. The missionaries arrive, tell the Ibo people they shouldn’t believe in multiple Gods,

put them in jail, and humiliate them. The Christians should have simply shared their beliefs and

ideas instead of pushing them and punishing the people of Umuofia based on European laws. A

man from Umuofia states that “[the Christian] does not understand our customs, just as we do

not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says

we are foolish because we do not understand his” (191). Since the Christians welcomed

themselves into the Ibo culture, they should be the ones to initiate peace and understanding. Both
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cultures fail to realize that the issue is not that either culture or religion is right or wrong. The

issue is that they are unwilling to understand each other’s points of view.

When the Christians first come, they do not create many problems for the people of

Umuofia. The original leader of the missionaries, Mr. Brown, “came to be respected even by the

clan, because he trod softly on its faith” (179). Although there is no doubt that Mr. Brown is

there to convert the Ibo people, he is willing to accept that they have different opinions. It isn’t

until Mr. Smith comes that the missionaries and Ibo people can no longer stand to live together

peacefully. This is because he “condemned openly Mr. Brown’s policy of compromise and

accommodation” (184). Mr. Smith sees the Ibo people as evil and bans them from the church if

they don’t follow Christianity’s rules. Like many people in the world, he lacks the willingness to

acknowledge that people have the right to practice their own culture.

The Christians and people of Umuofia may have been able to live together bloodlessly

had they attempted to appreciate their different cultures. In life, people will encounter an infinite

amount of individuals that have different ways of living their lives. Rather than try to forcefully

change the way individuals live, it is important that people instead try to appreciate diversity.

After all, the world would not spin if everyone was the same.