Ibo People's Responses to the Settlement of the Missionaries

When the white people started to arrive at the villages. The villagers had no idea of what to do. Soon the white people started to build churches and spread religion. The Ibo people didn't know what they meant. The white people would say that they had false gods and that their god was the god they need to believe in. They had no idea what that meant. The missionaries also talked about the holy Trinity, that there is three parts to that one god.

The white peoples attitudes on the village was very pleasant until they meet Reverent Smith. He was rude, but Mr. Brown, their first white men they saw was very nice to them. The church and religion was nice too because they let a lot of outcast in and that made them feel welcome.

Then the government came and different laws were passed. The village now had a jail, which they would throw the men away for throwing twins away, which is a part of what they do. Then the men couldn't feed their family and they would starve. When in jail they would have to do labor like cutting wood and pulling weeds, which was for the women. It was very degrading for the men.

The British thought that the Africans were living their lives wrong. They saw that some of their rules were very bad and against the British ways. They thought they believed in false gods and that they needed to be changed. Also the British wanted to colonize.

Okonkwo Understanding

Okonkwo thinks that the "female" virtues are weak. That the emotions are not as strong and won't make him successful. He never wants to be his father, so he doesn't want to be weak. He always wants to be a leader or the lord of the clan. By doing this he has created many problems in his life. Like not being able to be nice to his family, or showing that he cares. He is always spreading farther apart from his family, like when Nwoye runs away. And he always beats his children when they show any sign of laziness. So he causes more trouble to himself than he would if he just showed respect people. When Okonkwo left the village because he did something he made it seem like it was something he could not change forever. He gave himself pity. That is really selfish, because like Uchendu said it wasn't that bad.

Okonkwo

I believe that Okonkwo is not the nicest person around. He is not patient. Even though his father was lazy and unsuccessful, he beats his son if there is any sort of sign of laziness. So that isn't the best way of being a great person. He also beats his wife. He beat the third wife on Peace Week, which is forbidden. He also is a little rude towards not to work. If anyone is lazy they get beaten, if anyone shows affection toward him they get beaten. He believes that showing affection is weak. He believes that no one should show weakness. Even if they society allows stuff like this to happen, shouldn't happen anyways.

There is a little part in Okonkwo that is nice. He does the write thing and is famous in the tribe. He ask nicely for the yam seeds from the rich guy when he was young. Okonkwo isn't the best person, but there are still some people who in fact are worst than Okonkwo that are in the same town of Umuofia.