Colonial Ideologies In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Towards the end of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo decided to take his own life due to the changes in his tribe caused by the white missionaries. This makes it harder to distinguish if the colonists were responsible for Okonkwo’s death and the diminishing of the Ibo Tribe. However, these colonists are gradually pushing an agenda to the Igbo people where Okonkwo is critical against. The collision between two separate beliefs causes various conflicts occurring in Things Fall Apart that eventually causes Umuofia to fall apart. This undermines Okonkwo’s drive to succeed in traditional terms and his desire to be a leader in his tribe.

Christianity turned Nwoye’s life around. He broke apart from the Ibo cultural norms, and became a part of a religion with morals and believes he agreed with. Furthermore, Nwoye was sent to a college to get educated. When Obierika confronted Nwoye about why he was with the missionaries, Nwoye replied: "I am one of them" (), showing that his perspective on religion has changed for the better, based on his own morals, and not the clan’s or his fathers. Okonkwo, however, didn’t approve of Nwoye’s religion change.

These new beliefs negatively change Ibo society because it causes them to lose citizens and their civilization to lose power. Another example of how the white man’s arrival negatively impacts the Ibo people is because Achebe writes, “At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger. The clan was worried, but not overmuch. If a gang of efulefu (worthless man) decided to live in the Evil Forest, it was their own affair” (154).

Although they were both christian puritans, John Eliots views were thatit was his civic duty to help the Indians by forcing his religion upon them, while Roger Williams though it was his civic duty to help the Indians get religious liberty. An example of Eliot forcing his religion on the Indians is seen when Governor John Endecott came away from the Natick settlement where John Eliot worked with the Indians amazed, he said “The Foundation is laid, and one that I verily beleeve the gates of Hell shall never prevaile against…. I could hardly refrain tears from very joy to see their diligent attention to the word first taught by one of the indians, who before his Exercise prayed…. With such reverence, zeale, good affection, and distinct utterance, that I could not but admire(Jarvis 57).” This shows Eliot forced his religion upon the Indians because they were

As a result of this they experienced religious persecution. People that lived on land that was inhabited by the Puritans could only practice the Puritan religion (“ Puritans”). Congregationalism and a Congregational church was a result of the Puritan church (“Religion in the

The settlers at Jamestown were members of the Anglican faith, the official Church of England. The colony was a representative government. The first representative legislative assembly in America convened in Jamestown’s Church at the end of July 1619, and it underlined that the colonists would have some say in running their own affairs. The Virginia colonists settled in the territory of the Powhatan Indians; the unstable relationship had already begun. Vast differences in culture, philosophies, and the English desire for dominance because they saw the Natives as savages, were obstacles too great to overcome.

Although they experience different systems of oppression, Douglass and Ohiyesa see how the corruption of religion can be used by the white majority to assert themselves as masters to their respective peoples. To defend this argument, I will compare how both authors demonstrate the use of religion as an overarching tool of persecution through the influencing of family, culture, and religion. Before investigating the connections between the authors, it is necessary to investigate the differences in their systems of oppression as a counter to the argument being presented. Ohiyesa lived in a time when white settlers were beginning to move across the United States and meet various Native

They wanted to be able to practice their faith however, whenever, and wherever they wanted. However, in Richard Hakluyt's Discourse of Western Planting, he stated that it was necessary for the British Empire to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. There were various approaches on how to succeed in doing this. Some were mellow, some were violent, and some were in-between. Many Native Americans refused to accept Christianity, mostly because of the examples that the only Christians they knew set.

Williams had established a relationship with the Natives, specifically the Narragansett, who at first granted him land on the Seekonk River, but the Governor of Plymouth claimed that land belonged to Plymouth. The Narragansett, along with two other tribes, then granted him the land that would become Providence, Rhode Island, with Williams going on to write that Rhode Island was not bought by money but by love. Of course, it did not hurt for the Natives to have friendly relations with a white settler who would become an intermediary for the Natives. Williams views are rooted in his concept of the separation between Church and State, which led Williams to place importance on property. Williams believed that property rights were sustained by natural law and advocated liberty and equality both in land and government, and that the English were not landowners, but trespassers and if the English felt strongly about property rights then so did the Native Americans.

In the novel, Christianity’s customs contrasts to the Igbo in that the Christians accept individuals as they are and not by what they have accomplished. This can be seen with the woman that the Igbo believe has been cursed with ogbanje. Nevertheless, she is accepted into the church even though she was perceived as an underling in the Igbo society. Therefore, it is apparent that the encompassing nature of Christianity led to the fall of the Umuofian

In the Salishan autobiography “Mourning Dove”, author Mourning Dove gives insight into how the culture of her people was ultimately altered during the late 1800’s; primarily caused by the catalyst that was the arrival and the integration of white values into their society. The main force that drove these transitions to occur stemmed from religion. Through the influence and encouragement of pastors, in this case, Father De Rouge, the Natives beliefs in their ancient customs gradually declined, as his determined efforts to spread the word of Christianity had reached the ears of the Native tribes (Mourning Dove, 26). Whether that be holding service in tipis or aiding the sick and needy. An example of this change regarding their beliefs could be

II. Rural Planning and Social Legislations: The Protestant Church and Social Welfare in Rural Canada The first two articles clearly demonstrated a conflict of interest based on the reformers assumptions that the rural society would benefit from progressivism. Nancy Christie and Michael Gauvreau’s article presents this argument by highlighting the role of the Protestant clergymen in ushering a social reform movement based on their issues with rural leadership. The motives behind the social reform initially began with the concern of the Protestant clergymen in increasing rural church attendance, but eventually shifted towards a movement for community reconstruction and social planning towards progressivism. According to the reformers, “the solution

However, Dowd progresses the course of history by arguing that the nativist rejected the accommodationists. Accepting Anglo-Christianity and culture, Dowd states that the nativists viewed the accommodationists as aiding in the transformation of native culture. Citing Josiah Gregg’s memoirs, the author states how many of the prophets preached that Christianity did not provide “salvation” to the Native Americans. Offering the importance between Native religion and politics, Dowd provides historians with a different outlook on the identity and culture. The author’s different approach to identity enables historians to investigate new inquires on the character and history of the Native