Absolutely ripped with vehemence and overwhelmed with the longing of a free Umoufian people, Okonkwo trudged through the village detesting all freshly converted Nigerian Christians, because to him "To abandon the gods of one's father and go about with a lot of effeminate men was the very depth of abomination". He revolted during clan meetings, muttering about having to "plan his own revenge and fight alone" since none of the others seem so forceful as to rage against the foreigners. Events unfolded hurriedly and at long last, the people of Umoufia appear to have finally joined ranks with that of the white man. "He has put a knife on things that held us together … and we have fallen apart" Okonkwo viewed the entire separation of a once close clan with utter resentment, and befouled the name of the foreigners. Though it was impeccably clear that none of the Umoufians were willing to rush into a war of blame, Okonkwo was nevertheless determined to cause some sort of disturbance. His body was found suspended in midair by a hanging-rope, after he had so mercilessly killed a court messenger.
This harsh and irrevocable means of trying seamlessly to oppose an occurring change, was not shared by all of Okonkwo’s fellow villagers. Quite the contrary, many were more than happy to welcome the foreigners with open arms and a desire to flee the suffocating, governing rule of Umoufia. "There were many men and women in Umofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo". Instead of arming themselves against the much needed development, they simply watched markets quickly rise into becoming major trading business. “For the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great importance.” They were happy with whatever the foreigners brought forth, including those blossoming churches and peculiar traditions of actually allowing twins a chance in life.
As aforementioned above, Nwoye was one of those many whom chose to accept the Christian faith and rule. He had long been troubled with all those persistent questions that kept creeping upon him in the night, as he listened to the far cries of twins left out in the forest or as he gazed at the look of a murderous father. "vague and persistent question that had haunted his young soul-the question of the twins crying in the bush and the killing of Ikemefuna" Nwoye had found his salvation in the Christian religion, all questions were clearly answered, murder was forbidden and each and every life was granted a brilliant prospect of living properly.
Another example would be the much cared-for-man, Obierika, who thought better of the Umoufian rules. He once stood, looking up at a palm tree, watching young men struggle with the harvest, and began to wonder. Why were title-bearing men excluded from the task of climbing to the very top of a palm tree? “I don’t know how we got that law” After the foreigners took place in Umoufia, Obierika pondered more and more about all those ridiculous rules and outrages traditions of the Umoufian tribe. Had it been fair to so ruthlessly throw Okonkwo out of the tribe “for an offence he had committed inadvertently?” They would punish manslaughter so relentlessly, but they would never even dare touch those who murder for the will of the Gods. Obierika honestly endeavoured to try and find the answers "But although he thought for a long time he found no answer. He was merely led into greater complexities". Consequently, he preferred the explained regulations of the Christian religion, much like that of Nwoye.
Okonkwo’s response was of an extreme, he stood resolutely near all that of which his life was based upon and refused to even slightly budge. Nwoye, however, bounded off to the other side, never looking back toward what he had so willingly left behind. Obierika flows into the very middle of both: he was most unquestionably conscious of what the foreigners were doing, which was slowly reverting the Nigerians onto the Christian side, but he was not completely opposing this change, knowing that it might cause a bit of prosperity to flourish and perhaps a small spread of knowledge among the Umoufians. Chinua Achebe was definitely successful in showing all those contrasting responses, starting with the extremes then gradually showing what should be in the very middle.
Things Fall Apart is an aspiring novel, written only to show how even the tightest of clans and bonds may eventually unfurl and separate, merging into that of the worldly norm.
