The Role of English and French Colonialism in the Development of Christianity

English and French colonialism brought new foreign religion (Christianity) to the societies presented in Achebe, Wa Thiongo and Oyonos level that resulted to divisions among family members in those societies. Before the coming of the English and French settlers, colonizers and missionaries, these societies practiced their own traditional beliefs. Yes, there were divisions before within those societies, but that had nothing to do with a foreign religion imposed on them either by threats or by well calculated strategies.

In the rest of my paper, I will be talking about how this division came about, who were involved and the impact it brought on members of these societies.

In Achebes things fall apart, the division caused by Christianity is evident in the novel. The title itself Things Fall Apart gives an insight into one of the major impacts of British colonialism: introduction of Christianity and the falling apart traditions in Nigeria and especially among the Igbo people.

The Igbo believe in Gods that were mostly manifestation of nature and its surroundings.

The fact that the Igbo were a predominantly agricultural society made their believe in their Gods even more strong. They are careful not to disobey and commit any sins, especially against the goddess of the earth for fear of her repercussions since they relied mostly on agriculture. The British then came and introduced a completely foreign religion and evaluated their subjects based on Christianity and the Igbo traditional religion.

There are stark differences between the Igbo traditional religion and the new colonialist religion.

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Ancestors are very important in the Igbos faith and are frequently worshipped as Gods. They have different Gods such as one for rain and one for earth. Christianity, on the other hand has its basis on one all-powerful God. The idea of worshipping ancestors is not welcome in this new religion. This leads to a culture and tradition that is on the verge of falling apart. Understandably, the Igbo do not want to welcome this new religion and do everything to resist its influence.

The whole idea of Christianity is completely irrelevant to the Igbos way of life. The colonialist and missionaries see this new religion as a form of education while the Igbobase theirs on their main form of livelihood which is agriculture. These two opposing values lead to division and disunity among the Igbo society and its family members. For example, Achebe describes how Okonkwo has a hard time in accepting this foreign religion and how he has made several sacrifices in order to follow his Igbo ways of life. So, when his son embraces Christianity and joins the missionaries; he has no option but to disown him. The English missionaries try to impose this new religion ideologically. They know the loopholes in the Igbos way of life and programmed their strategies in that direction to convert people into Christianity.

There are some rituals, although awkward in nature practiced by the Igbo that no one questioned publicly. For example, discarding twins to the Evil Forest, is considered normal because the society in general believed that twins could not be born to human beings hence making them inhuman. Okonkwos son Nyowe, always felt dislike for this practice. Also, when the white men asked for land, the people out ignorance, gave them the Evil forest in the hope that the spirits will harm them and will not be staying there for long. The societyin the book believed that the forest was unholy.

The white men not only stayed there for long, but they also started preaching Christianity. The people were proved wrong in their belief. The unconscionable murder of Ikemefuna also changes Nwoye forever. The murder, his fathers strict nature, the awkward rituals practiced by the society in which his father was part of , and his gentler form all combined makes Nwoye join the missionaries. His father eventually disowns him hence leads to disunity and division.

In Oyonos Houseboy the same introduction of Christianity is evident and will later result to divisions. In fact, Christianity in the form of Catholicism can be viewed as the backbone of the novel. The white priests influence people, especially children, into this new religion using gifts and threats of hellfire. The priests ensure Christianity is sold to the society.

Through these gifts and threats, they trapped children into this new faith, like throwing corn to chicken and made them stay within it using threat of eternal damnation. The division caused by priests in their pursuit to spread their faith revolves around one of the main characters of the book, Toundi. Toundi, like any other boy in Oyonos Houseboy society and against his parents wish, likes taking gifts from the catholic priests. This interaction with the priests and him receiving gifts leads to the beginning of Toundis acquaintance with Christianity. Since his parents are completely against this new development, violence and division become inevitable. Toundi defies his father and constantly receives these gifts from the priests.

These constant defiance leads to Toundi being beaten by his father. He then flees to Father Gilbert and seek for help. Father Gilbert believes in Toundi and trains him to be the perfect example for the people. Toundi is completely brainwashed in a way that makes him believe his culture as inferior to Christianity. He even at one time describes himself as a decadent of cannibals which is very inhuman. In truth though, the French are ones who portray inhuman traits from how they treat the African subjects. Even after abandoning his cultural heritage and traditional faith, Toundi is not seen as equal as can be seen when father Gilbert shows off what he terms as his boy to the other colonialist while treating him as if he were a dog. Upon the death of father Gilbert, Toundi is transferred to a new master and is almost basically treated like a slave by being paid with an old shirt and a trouser or nothing at all under his new master after doing all house works.

At one time father Gilbert even humiliates Toundis father in front of Toundi. Toundi later asks the priest to take him as a houseboy after which father Gilbert accepts even though Toundis father is against this practice. He is then christened and given the name Joseph. The coming of the French, therefore, led to disunity and division within Toundis family as a result of the French endeavors to convert people into Christianity. Ngugi Wa Thiongos Weep Not, Child follows Njoroge, the main protagonist, in his pursuit to obtain education and be a good Christian.

Wa Thiongo shows the readers how the English colonist used religion and education in their attempt to divide and control the society in his book. A division within the society that is tied to Christianity and attempts to please the Whiteman becomes evident in Jacobos endeavors. He is the wealthiest in the village, a devout Christian and has proclaimed allegiance to the white settlers. It is through Jacobo that we can see the colonizers were not there to help make the lives of the people better but pursued their own interests. They used eternal salvation through Christ among others such as education as a strategy to empower England by providing, for example, a larger workforce.

The colonialist brought this new religion which found many converts like Jacobo but also disrupted the rituals that held the people together. The practice of polygyny and female circumcision infuriated the Christian missionaries despite being a major part of the Kikuyu traditional beliefs. While some members of the Kikuyu embraced this new faith, a major part of the society was not ready to welcome this idea. This created division between those who embraced Christianity and the way of life of the Whiteman versus the rest. At one point, Jacobo sides with white settlers when his fellow community try to resist them by organizing strikes and fighting using guerilla warfare.

These cowardly act by Jacobo eventually inspires Ngotho, Njoroges father, to take action. At a time when Jacobo tries to urge villagers to refrain from striking, Ngotho attacks him as he believes he is a traitor. In fact, the death of Jacobo by Boro, Njoroges older brother, is linked to these two opposing views. The families of Jacobo and Ngotho are pitted against one another. Understandably, the friendship between Njoroge and Mwihaki becomes untenable after the killing of Mwihakis father by the elder brother of Njoroge, Boro. This division will also play a significant part in shaping the Mau Mau rebellion.

In conclusion, the introduction of Christianity by the English and French brought divisions within the societies of the three books. These disunities as a result of a new religion did not exist before the arrival of the colonizers. A father disowned his son in Achebes Things Fall Apart, a son defies his father and seek solace from a priest who humiliates his father in Oyonos Houseboy and two families are pitted against each other resulting to death in Ngugis Weep, Not Child. Unfortunately, such kind of religious divisions exist even today in Africa. In Central African Republic, for example, religious divisions exist between Christians and Muslims. It is important to note that it was France that colonized this country even though the societies in the three books have no connections with this country other than being African.