"'At this point an old man said he has a question. 'Which is this god of yours,' he asked, 'the goddess of the earth, the god of the sky, Amadiora or the thunderbolt or what?' The interpreter spoke to the white man and he immediately gave his answer. 'All the gods you have named are not gods at all. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children. There is only one true God and He has the earth, the sky, you and me and all of us.' 'If we leave our gods and follow your god,' asked another man, 'who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?' 'Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm,' replied the white man. 'They are pieces of wood and stone.' When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. They must be mad, they said to themselves. How could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away" (145-146).
White people are great. Especially white Christian men. They are super great. Their religion is the BEST. Their is the only god that exists. Right ? Well if you are asking the white interpreter who arrives to the African village in Things Fall Apart, he would tell you just that. Across history, Christianity has clashed with other religions because their god is supposedly the only god. In this passage in Things Fall Apart a white man finally makes an appearance and begins trying to convert the African people to the more holy religion.
Right off the bat the white man begins invalidating the African people's gods. When an old man asks him 'Which is this god of yours', the white man responds with 'all the gods you have named are not gods at all'. However, he does not stop at just this. He goes on to criticize and completely rip apart the gods the Africans so deeply respect. He calls them 'gods of deceit' who 'kill your fellows and destroy innocent children'. The word deceit implies that these gods are intentionally malicious and that the African people who worship them are ignorant because they follow them. When the Africans ask what will happen if they leave their god and follow the white man's god the white man tells them that it does not matter because they are merely 'pieces of wood and stone'. This completely invalidates even the existence of the Africans' gods.
The Africans are not having any of this white man bullsh*t. They know that their gods are real and they honestly think the white man is a little crazy. When what the white man was preaching was translated to the 'they broke into derisive laughter'. The word derisive is important in this sentence. It is defined as expressing contempt or ridicule. Clearly they know that this man is wacko.
This scene is extreme foreshadowing. It is the beginning of white men coming in and taking over the native cultures. They come in, disrespect every religion that is remotely different from their own and do whatever they want.
I love how biting and sarcastic this is. You have great insight on the foreshadowing in this book.
ReplyDeleteTo be frank, the tone of the introduction put me off and made me not want to read the rest. The tone is too sarcastic and informal; it reads as more of a rant. I also think one should be careful. If you replaced the word "white" with any other race and the word "Christian" with any other religion, the post could be deemed insensitive, or even a bit racist. That being said, I understand what the point of the introduction was. The second paragraph summarizes well and has some decent analysis, although I think there could stand to me more in depth analysis. The third paragraph could use more support in it. This does show a good understanding of the novel and context.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love the first few sentences. The sarcasm contrasts well with how serious the white man is and how adamantly he insists that the old man is in the wrong. It forces us readers to take a step back and see the situation for what it really is. You could go into more detail as to how his assertions subvert the Africans' religion; what specifically does he leave out that would make this discussion one of equals? Also, why do the men simply laugh instead of trying to stop him? Is there anything culturally that may make them more tolerant of a different religion? This post covers some good topics, and introduces the text well.
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