God(s) Fall(s) Apart : Christianity in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

Abstract

This paper studies the confrontation between Christianity and the Igbo religion in Chinua Achebe’s first novel in the context of colonialist appropriation. An analysis of the techniques used by the Christian missionaries to infiltrate the fictional world of Umuofia is complemented with a discussion of the main characters of the novel in their relation to religion and their roles as facilitators or opponents of the colonization process. Gender issues are also briefly dealt with as Christianity is seen as “effeminate” by the natives and some female Igbo characters.

Analyzing the Inevitability of the Plot of Things Fall Apart Through the Post Colonial Perspective

“…This incomplete transformation allow the converts to help colonial invasions and eventually contribute to the collapse of their societies. [9] After analyzing the triggers of the developing plot of the stories, we are able to explain whether the plot of the novel is inevitable. In fact, there is no true or false about different religions, and there is no better or worse about two society.…”

La traducción al español de la novela Things Fall Apart de Chinua Achebe

“…La sociedad de estos espíritus enmascarados era la institución más sagrada, secreta y respetada del clan. Si la mera sospecha sobre la identidad "terrenal" de estos espíritus era considerada tabú, el desenmascaramiento constituía un delito gravísimo contra las tradiciones del clan y una violación al respeto debido a los ancestros (Galván y Galván, 2005). Por consiguiente, la ira se desata entre los egwugwu que manifiestan su furia prendiendo fuego el recinto de Enoch y la iglesia de los misioneros.…”