Wednesday, March 14, 2012

What is the impfact of Reverend Smith's personality on the village in Achebe's Things Fall Apart?

In Things Fall Apart, the clan had
been used to the way Mr. Brown witnessed on behalf of his Christianity. While Mr. Brown
was calm, understanding, and caring, Reverend Smith comes in to take his place using
force and strict regulations.


Reverend Smith is aggressive
and uncompromising in his nature. He is dogmatic. He criticizes the clan's customs and
traditions. He does not try and enlighten; he strictly insists that those in his
congregation are to abandon former traditional
beliefs.


While Mr. Brown befriended the clansmen, Mr. Smith
harshly condemns the clansmen. While Mr. Brown used respect to reach the clansmen, Mr.
Smith imposes his religion on the clansmen.


Mr. Smith is
offensive in his approach. The clansmen reject his religion because he makes it clear
that he believes the tribesmen's customs and traditions to be ridiculous. In anger, he
leads his flock and is adamant about tearing down tribal traditions, even claiming that
the clansmen are filled with the devil's spirit:


readability="9">

Mr. Smith is angry and flamboyant. He denounces
the tribe's customs and bans from his church clan members who must be, according to him,
filled with the devil's spirit to want to continue tribal
tradition.


No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the meaning of the 4th stanza of Eliot's Preludes, especially the lines "I am moved by fancies...Infinitely suffering thing".

A century old this year, T.S. Eliot's Preludes raises the curtain on his great modernist masterpieces, The Love...