There are several messages in
, but perhaps the most important is that the Englishmen who destroy the
tribe are not, as they believe, imposing civilization on savages. They are eradicating another
complex civilization, which has much in it that ought to be preserved. Achebe emphasizes this by
the care with which he records the Igbo customs and the dignityan austere kind of poetrywith
which he invests their speech. This is evident throughout the novel, particularly in the
theological debates between Akunna and Mr. Brown:
"You carve a piece of woodlike that one (he pointed at the rafters from which
Akunnas carved Ikenga hung) and you call it a god. But it is still a piece
of wood.
Yes, said Akunna. It is indeed a piece of wood. The tree from
which it came was made by Chukwu, as indeed all minor gods were. But He made them for His
messengers so that we could approach Him through them."
Akunna's perspective makes perfect sense. Although Mr. Brown is vastly better than Mr.
Smith, he still does not treat the Igbo as equals. Yet anyone unfamiliar with Christian ritual
who saw people in church kneeling before a cross would also think that they were worshipping a
piece of wood. Mr. Brown does not quite appreciate this, and Akunna seems more sophisticated
than the English pastor in his understanding of religion.
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