Things Fall Apart Christianity

The Role of Christianity in postcolonial Africa During the nineteenth century, the interests of multiple nations led to a wave of imperialism that afflicted the continent of Africa. The imperialistic interests coupled with their strong ideals and beliefs influenced to a great extent the continent. Prior to imperialism, the populous had a preexisting culture and belief system that dictated their way of life. However, as a consequence of imperialism, the new belief system and education that Christianity brought with it changed the lives of the people of Africa and brought about a cultural shift that is present in post-colonial times. Examples of this are demonstrated in the novels, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Nervous Conditions by

The author then goes on to showcase the cultural shift by describing the arrival of the Christian missionaries and the steady impact that the teachings had on the Igbo people. In an interview, Chinua Achebe said “I wanted that moment of change, in which one culture was in contact, in conflict, in conversation with another culture, and something was going to happen”. The author writes about how the integration of Christianity began to weaken the established culture and take away control from it. According to the novel, “At first the clan had assumed that it would not survive. But it had gone on living and gradually becoming stronger” (Achebe, Things Fall Apart 184). The “it” being the Christian missionaries, but as the Christian teachings and beliefs became more widespread the Igbo culture weakened. This demonstrates to a great extent how the culture of the Igbo people changed as a result of Christian

The main character is described as struggling with the gender role assigned to her due to her traditional family culture while trying to attain an education in an effort to shift to the modern culture where education is the key to not only success but to freedom as well. In an interview with Tsitsi Dangarembga, the interviewer Robtel Pailey with the Pambazuka News, questions Tsitsi about her interest in “convergence of gender, oppression, and Africa”. Tsitsi describes her position and why it matters to her. During the interview she says “Gender matters to me because I am a woman and experience firsthand the oppressive consequences of gender discrimination”, thus the connection to her novel where Tambu to certain degree represents the struggle of an oppressed African woman due to her traditional role ascribed to her by her culture. The novel adds to this by indicating Tambu’s relief and view of when her uncle took her in under to pretext of granting her an education in order to help the family thrive. She described the moment she was leaving the homestead, “They were watching me climb into Babamukuru’s car to be whisked away to limitless horizons” (Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions p.58). It is important to note the use of the word limitless. This indicates that her prior circumstance in