The Aspect of Peace in "Things Fall Apart"
..., any form of violence is strictly prohibited. The Ibo tribe takes this “festival” very seriously. It is during this week that Okonkwo beats his third wife, Ojiugo. After Okonkwo beats his wife, Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess, Ani, is infuriated and gives Okonkwo a lecture about how sacrilegious the crime was. This is one instance where the reader can see that peace is very influential in the Umuofian society. Another instance of this concept of peace is when the Christians move into the village. However, this occasion shows how the peace goes away from the village. When the Christian missionaries started their church in Umuofia, they started to evangelize and convert many members of the Ibo tribe over to Christianity. This “was a source of great sorrow to leaders of the clan,” and it this cultural change took peace away from the village (143). Because many members of the village were becoming missionaries, the cultural change could not be stopped, and peace could no longer be in Umuofia. However, one could argue that the missionaries’ coming into Umuofia brought peace to the village. This view was shared by the District Commissioner. He believed that the cultural beliefs of the citizens of Umuofia were barbaric and primitive. He also believed that the missionaries’ arrival was one of the best things to happen to the village. The reader can see this belief through the title of the book that he was going to wri...