“Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance. . . whose diffusion can only be considered as the total eclipse of human reason”, famous quote from the French philosopher Montesquieu which can precisely summarize Chinua Achebe's masterpiece, Things Fall Apart. The story of an Igbo man, Okonkwo, who had an unfortunate childhood and inherited nothing from his shameful father. With his tenacious efforts, he has become one of the most influential men and is highly regarded among the nine villages of Umuofia. After returning to Umuofia from his exile, he realizes that his homeland has been culturally invaded by Europeans. Outraged by this domination, Okonkwo seeks revenge and a way to drive the English out of the country. He killed a church messenger to cause a war but unfortunately chooses to hang himself. With this plot, Achebe effectively shows a "balance of cultures" by describing Western religion in both positive and negative aspects to criticize the idea of ​​a single story, which exemplifies the main character Okonkwo that its negative aspects are only a unique history and a facet. of his true character. Looking from a secular point of view, there is no one religion or culture that is better than the other, but it is the idea of ​​cultural misunderstanding and the consequences for the rest of humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the book, Achebe presents Christianity as an invasive religion not only towards the Igbo tribe but the entire African continent. When religion starts to spread, it creates a lot of controversy and unrest among the natives. Achebe wrote in chapter sixteen: “We have sent you by this great God to ask you to turn from your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die. Clearly, missionaries attempt to convert people to Christianity by offering something that will benefit people, but they use a condescending tone to portray Africans as savages in need of Western enlightenment. Ironically, the missionaries treated the natives with bad manners as they hanged people for killing their followers and kidnapping and extorting money from the leaders. Although the Christian church has many positive influences, such as offering a place to live for lower class people such as twins and women, the horrible result of Christianity's invasion on Umuofia eclipses their generous attempt to help the people. The plot of the story provided many aspects of Christianity rather than a whole story of criticism of Western culture that actually shows “the balance of cultures” for the Western presence in Africa. From the perspective of the Igbo tribe, the Western belligerent culture, full of arrogance and ethnocentrism, takes responsibility for invading another civilization. This example of "cultural balance" and the idea of ​​multiple aspects characterize the characteristics of the main character Okonkwo. He is often described as a violent and cruel person, but his ironic behavior suggests that there are misconceptions about him. The novel is often compared to the great Greek tragedies as Okonkwo reflects himself as a tragic hero. Although Okonkwo seems like an aggressive person who has no supportive impact on society, there are many aspects that make people admire him. From the son of a failure to one of the most influential men in Umuofia, Okonkwo shows what true courage and manhood are. Despite his erratic mood, Okonkwo has great care towards his family with the hope that his children.