Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Conflicts of Ibos and Christians

The conflicts between the white men and the Ibo people is a bit frustrating.  The white men just walked in out of no where and in a way just took over the Ibo people's area.  I mean the clan gave the men the Evil Forest to build and live off of, but still.  Some of the clan converted to Christianity, others did not.  So, there is argument and confusion within the villages.  Some family members have left, others have stayed.  For example, Nwoye left to be Christian and the rest of his family stayed.  Families are being split up because of this new belief.  The Christian's are now expanding even more.  Not only do they have churches but they are starting to build schools and trading stores, etc.  The place will soon turn into a town and then the Ibo people will definitely be lost.  But the people who did convert to Christianity hardly understand what's going on since the white men speak their language and the blacks speak their own.  So everything is half and half in a way.  But the people who haven't converted hate this Christianity "thing" that is going on and don't know how to stop it or what to do.  Only Okonkwo seems to know what the real reason is for why these people are here and what they want to accomplish while they are here.
The British don't understand the Ibo people's way of life.  They think their way is real and that believing in all these separate gods is fake.  They try to tell them that too.  They think that this new religion is good and thats why they have gone to Nigeria and tried to convert people to Christianity or because they want more land and to just conquer and kill.  Some of the Christians think these black men are good and want to help them (Mr. Brown), but others want to just conquer and don't care about any of the people (Mr. Smith). 

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