God(s) Fall(s) Apart : Christianity in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

Abstract

This paper studies the confrontation between Christianity and the Igbo religion in Chinua Achebe’s first novel in the context of colonialist appropriation. An analysis of the techniques used by the Christian missionaries to infiltrate the fictional world of Umuofia is complemented with a discussion of the main characters of the novel in their relation to religion and their roles as facilitators or opponents of the colonization process. Gender issues are also briefly dealt with as Christianity is seen as “effeminate” by the natives and some female Igbo characters