Things Fall Apart in Things Fall Apart

In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe things really did fall apart for Okonkwo and his clan. Okonkwo lived in and African clan with his three wives and eight children. He was very respected within his clan and held two titles. He was also a great warrior and wrestler. Things started to fall apart for Okonkwo and his clan when the Europeans came in and tried to completely change the Africans way of living because they saw them as uncivilized. Imperialism was the attempt by the Europeans to change their culture. The three areas of the Africans lives most affected by imperialism were their society, religion, and family life.

The society of the Africans was very different than that of the Europeans. The Ibo people thought of women as possessions and they bought them from their families, and they had no rights. The Europeans, however, thought that women should be treated equally to men and brought in the idea of having only one wife rather than multiple wives as the Africans were used to. The evil forest was believed to be a cursed piece of land by the Ibo people. Anyone in their clan who died in an unrightful manner, such as suicide, had their bodies dumped in the evil forest. They also left any twins who were born within the clan to die in the forest, as they were thought to be evil. The Europeans had different beliefs about the forest. They did not think the land was cursed as the Africans did. They were also against the idea of leaving defenseless infant twins to die in the forest and even rescued some from certain death in the forest.

The introduction of a new religion also greatly changed the way the Africans lived. Before the Europeans came the Africans believed in many gods with Chukwu being the supreme god and creator of all the other gods. The Europeans believed in a god similar to Chukwu but no other gods existed in their religion. When the Europeans came to Okonkwo’s clan in Umuofia they told the Ibo people about their religion and were looking for a spot to build their church. The Ibo people at first were not accepting of the white man’s religion and told them they could build their church on a patch of land in the Evil Forest. They thought because the land was cursed that the Europeans would die after seven weeks. After the seven weeks were over,