The setting of this book takes place in a small African village called Umofia in the early 1900s. The main character is named Okonkwo and he was a deeply respected member of his clan. In this book the author, Chinua Achebe, tries to demonstrate the culture clash between the Africans and the British and what outcomes become of this conflict. This is idea demonstrated by Achebe throughout the book but perhaps an underlying meaning of the book was to stress the progress of imperialism through Africa and what changes among the native cultures had to be made to adapt to the foreign ideas being presented. In the following examples from the book will be used to try and support both ideas.
Throughout the book there was a culture clash occurring between the British and the Africans, but before you can understand this occurrence you must first realize that in his book Achebe was specifically writing to the British to show them that his culture may have been viewed as primitive but it was authentic and was without need of salvation from a foreign nation. .
When the British had come into Umofia there were many differences in customs and ideas between the Africans and the British. One major conflict in cultures was the great difference in religion. The British thought the gods of the Africans were just pieces of stone and wood and there was only one true god and he was . . .the Creator of all the world and all the men and women (Achebe, pg. 125). In this quote the missionary was stating that his god was the true and only creator of all the world. They said that people who worshiped these false gods were heathens and were thrown into hell on judgment day. When the Africans heard this they all laughed at the British fools and believed that the true gods would show them their real power and would kill the missionaries and destroy their church. Very few villagers converted to this strange, new religion and believed that those who did would be dealt with by the great gods.