Jonathon Neumann January 27, 2014 CPO 2241 Chinua Achebe’s novel When Things Fall Apart tells a story from the perspective of the natives of Nigeria. Before picking up the book I was told it was about the arrival of white missionaries in the land of Umofia. But now I see it is primarily about the life of Okonkwo, his family, and his village. Achebe immersed me into a culture of hardships such as: of the ten children Ekwefi bore, Enzima was the only to survive and Okonkwo toiled restlessly to support his family only to have all he had burned. But also he guided me through a community strongly connected together with customs such as the New Yam Festival and marriage ceremonies, and tales such as the mosquito and the ear. Many of the things knitting the community together began to fall apart when a missionary and his translator arrived. It is easy to see that the way I live as the way fo live, For example, in the parable from Apocryphal Gospel of Daudi, the guests believed they were doing what was right when they destroyed the pictures, tured the television, pushed out the air conditioner, and moved out the furniture. How are they doing what is right? Well, they destroyed the “objects of veneration hanging on the walls,” tumed “a [frightening] world of...small people,” missed the warm weather of home, and moved the objects in the way so they could sit on the floor. The effect the ambassadors of Christ had on the village requires me to ask: “Do I do that?” The English did not simply-bring the Gospel; they brought a new system changed the standard of living. The law of the villages was no longer respected and the natives were under a new law that they neither knew nor agreed with, Spreading the Good News is not about enforcing our culture, our customs, and our way of life. We must open our eyes to see and ears to hear the perspectives of others, and it tears me apart to see the tragedies that result from misunderstanding and miscommunication. The tragedy of When Thing’s Fall Apart is that “[the white man] put a knife on the things that held [the natives} together and [they fell] apart” (Achebe 176). Yes, many, including Okonkwo’s son, were saved, but many, such as Okonkwo, were humiliated by the bringers of the Good News. In conclusion, it is easy to put others down and lift ourselves up based on our education, economic conditions, or culture, but we are commanded to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19), “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you” (Luke 6:31, NASB), and not esteem ourselves above others (Romans 12:3). May the Lord give us humble hearts and eyes to see and ears to hear others.