"The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village of Mbanta. There were six of them and one was a white man. Every man and woman came out to see the white man.... "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die," he said". (Achebe 144-145).
According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?
In Chapter 16, we get a taste of how imperialism began in Things Fall Apart. As white people began to integrate themselves into the societies of the Ibo people, the Ibo people began to question their own beliefs. When the white missionary enters the village of Mbanta, Okonkwo and his people do not take him seriously. As the missionary talks to the people of Mbanta through his translator, the translations are rough and comical and their new ideas are unbelievable. The missionary attempts to encourage the people of Mbanta to forget their own Gods and their own beliefs, and instead believe in a new God. The people of Mbanta do not take him seriously, but Nwoye (Okonkwo's son) finds interest in the words of the missionary and joins them. This makes Okonkwo very unhappy and he does not like to speak of him anymore. But, in the beginning of Chapter 16, we hear from Obierika that the white missionaries have had a huge impact on Umuofia and have begun building a church and converting people after their visit to Mbanta.
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