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Chapter Twenty

Note: Okonkwo's relationship to the newcomers is exacerbated by the fact that he has a very great deal at stake in maintaining the old ways. All his hopes and dreams are rooted in the continuance of the traditional culture. The fact that he has not been able gradually to accustom himself to the new ways helps to explain his extreme reaction. The missionaries have brought British colonial government with them. Missionaries were often viewed as agents of imperialism. There is a saying common to Native Americans and Africans alike which goes like this: "Before the white man came, we had the land and they had the Bible. Now we have the Bible and they have the land." Note the final phrase of Obierika's last speech, alluding to the title of the novel.

1. What clashes in values are created by the functioning of the British courts?
2. Define imperialism.

Chapter Twenty-One

Note: Achebe was raised a Christian; but both rejected the faith and have preferred to affirm certain aspects of traditional beliefs in their own lives. Note how Akunna shrewdly senses that the head of the Church is in England rather than in heaven. Note the recurrence of the phrase "falling apart" in the last sentence of the chapter. The missionaries try to refute what they consider idolatry with the simplistic argument that the animist gods are only wooden idols; however the villagers are perfectly aware that the idol is not the god in a literal sense, any more than the sculpture of Christ on the cross in a Christian church is God. This sort of oversimplification was a constant theme of Christian arguments against traditional faiths throughout the world as the British assumed that the natives were fools pursuing childish beliefs who needed only a little enlightenment to be converted. Mr. Brown here learns better.

1. Why do some of the villagers--even those who are not converts to Christianity--welcome the British?

Chapter Twenty-Two

1. How is Rev. Smith different from Brown? What is the result of his black and white thinking?

Chapter Twenty-Three

1. What does the District Commissioner say is the motive of the British in colonizing the Africans?