What major misunderstanding leads to conflict in Things Fall Apart?

One of the major misunderstandings that results in conflict takes place in chapter twenty-two and involves a zealous Christian convert named Enoch. During the annual ceremony celebrating the earth goddess, Enoch taunts the egwugwu by daring one of them to touch him. One of Umuofia's ancestral spirits, in the form of an egwugwu, approaches Enoch and simply strikes him with a cane. Enoch responds by attacking the egwugwu and tearing off his mask, which is considered the most serious crime a person can commit. To the Igbo tribesmen, unmasking an egwugwu is equivalent to murdering an ancestral spirit, which is something the European Christians do not understand.

The following day, the egwugwu assemble and seek vengeance on Enoch and the Christian church for his crime. The egwugwu do not harm any Christians but burn their church to the ground, which incites the serious conflict between the European colonists and the village of Umuofia. In response to the church being destroyed, the Europeans arrest the elders of the village and humiliate them while they are imprisoned. Rather than punishing Enoch for his crimes and attempting to appease the village of Umuofia for Enoch's horrific offense, Mr. Smith decides to hide him. The European colonists' lack of understanding and their blatant intolerance motivate and permit Enoch to commit the crime of unmasking an egwugwu, which causes the major conflict between colonial and native relations.

One of the most striking misunderstandings that lead to conflict and strife in Chinua Achebe's seminal novel Things Fall Apart is when an indigenous man converts to Christianity and then precedes to kill a snake, which is a serious taboo within the traditional Igbo culture. Snakes are sacred creatures to the Igbo; indeed, they are revered by the Igbo in Things Fall Apart. Therefore, the intentional harm of a snake is deeply disrespectful to their culture. The man kills a snake in order to demonstrate his devotion to the Christian God, and this misguided show of religious zealousness creates a scandal in the surrounding community. Interestingly, Achebe consciously presents the Igbo tradition as powerful, because the man who kills the snake dies suddenly later on in the novel.

How did miscommunication cause problems in Things Fall Apart?

Thanks for the question!

It is easy to argue that miscommunication led to some of the conflicts between the citizens of Umuofia and the British colonizers in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The primary source of these miscommunications is the vast cultural division between the British and the Igbo villagers and a lack of mutual understanding regarding the social and political norms of each group.

One humorous example of miscommunication is the translation errors of the missionaries as they adapt to the vast number of Igbo dialects. For example, in chapter 16, an Ibo missionary attempts to explain the impact of the arriving British for the people of Mbanta:

When they gathered, the white man began to speak to them. He spoke through an interpreter . . . . Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. Instead of saying “myself” he always said “my buttocks.”

These sorts of errors are minor, but they contributed to the lack of understanding between the villagers and the missionaries when the topics of conversation steered towards the gods and religion. For example, the Igbo struggle to understand the concept of monotheism, and Okonkwo leaves the exchange “fully convinced that the man was mad.”

Another example of miscommunication in Things Fall Apart is the hard-headed stubbornness of Reverend James Smith. Mr. Smith “saw things in black and white” and refused to respect local Igbo traditions. His radicalism led to violent conflict when his follower, Enoch, killed the sacred python. He also supported the unmasking of the egwugwu, which exacerbated tensions amongst the villagers. This inability to communicate foments conflict and causes many problems in part 3 of the novel.

One final example of miscommunication is when Okonkwo, along with five other elders of Umuofia, is arrested by the District Commissioner. This humiliates Okonkwo and causes him to become “choked with hate” for the British conquerors. You can argue that this is a form of miscommunication because it is clear that the District Commissioner does not understand how deeply his betrayal offends the elders and the traditionalists who remain in Umuofia. This event stirs anger in Okonkwo that eventually leads to the murder of the messenger.

I hope this helps!