The lifestyle of the African people remained unchanged for hundreds of years. They worshiped many different gods who each represented different elements of nature, their traditions were controlled by the spirits of their ancestors and oracles were capable of foretelling the future. It was not until Europeans began to explore this land that the African culture was disrupted. From the slave trade to the work of Christian missionaries, Europeans began to bring new ideas and beliefs into the lives of these people. The affect of Christian missionaries on African life is told in Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart." This novel tells the story of Okonkwo, who is a highly decorated warrior in the village of Umuofia. His life, along with the evolution of the tribe, are followed from a time in which things are well to a time in which things begin to fall apart.
The story begins by telling the story of Okonkwo and how he gained fame "throughout the nine villages and even beyond"(3). He is in a constant state of trying to better himself with the fear that if he does not he will end up like his father. Unlike Okonkwo, his father was "lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow and he owed every neighbor some money"(4). At an early age Okonkwo became aware of how others saw his father and vowed to be a better man than him. He places a lot of importance on personal achievements and believes that these achievements bring honor to the village in which he lives. However, as the first part of the novel comes to an end, Okonkwo is careless and accidentally kills another tribal member. His punishment for this was banishment from the village for seven years.
The first part of the novel sets the tone of how everyday tribal life was in Africa. Okonkwo's exile to his mother's tribe, Mbanta, is where the next part begins. While in exile Okonkwo hears the story of the village of Abame, which was destroyed by the white man.
