In looking at culture
clash in Achebe's , we will focus mainly on the late portions of the novel
(from Chapter Fifteen to the novel's end). In this section of the narrative, missionaries arrive
and undertake a mission of Christian salvation and colonization. English governmental bodies are
also brought to bear in the region.
First, the whites appear as a rumor,
talked about in a "woeful story." Described as "riding an iron horse," the
first white man encountered is feared because he appears so different. Village elders in Abame
consulted their Oracle, which told them "the strange man would break their clan and spread
destruction among them." The men of Abame then killed the white man due to the Oracle's
prediction. Not long after that killing, white men arrive in Abame with guns and effectively
wipe out the village.
As evidence of culture clash, this episode presents a
stark initial conflict between two peoples with little understanding of one another (and little
interest...
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