In the book Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, we are able to read about the social changes the white missionaries had on an African tribe. Mr. Achebe describes the way of life before the missionaries arrived and then records some of the changes, which occurred due to the changed belief system introduced by these missionaries.Soon after the missionaries began to teach the tribal people about the Christian faith, their tribal customs began to be questioned. This caused a sense of unrest in the village. The missionaries were trying to bring with them new ways of life, and mostly better ways of life. Mr.Achebe tries to show us that the missionaries showed people who were hurt by the beliefs of the tribe that this did not have to go on in their religion. This is one of the main reason people switched to their religion. Mr. Achebe also shows us that the tribe had many harmful beliefs before the missionaries came. The Umofia people believed that twins were evil and should be thrown away right after birth. They believed that sacrifice was a good way to bring about peace. They had many other beliefs that seemed normal to them but we would find them questionable at the least. They thought the forests were evil and many superstitions. When the missionaries came to their land the people hated them. Over time the missionaries built trust among the people and began to teach them truth. They told the Umofia that the forests weren?t evil. As the villagers began to accept truth and not the superstitions, those who remained became very angry. The Ibo culture started to fall apart. The missionaries, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith taught the women who were leaving their twins to die in the forest, that they didn?t have to kill their twins if they joined them and their religion. Many women left the villagers beliefs and joined the missionaries.. For example, there was a girl named Nneka who had given birth to several sets of twins. She left them in the fores...
