25 July 2012
Religious Readers
Marleigh posted a comment about the Igbo traditions and how Achebe wrote in such a way that she understood and supported the tribe's traditions. I felt the same way about their traditions, to the point that when the missionaries came in the story I had very strong feelings against them. I'm not very religious, so I was wondering if all readers, religious or not, felt the same way about the missionaries. I would think if you were religious you would feel the missionaries were right in their actions, and sort of be rooting for them during the story. Did religious veiwpoints affect the way you read the novel?
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5 comments:
I'm religious,and I was actually really conflicted during the course of the novel, I didn't know which side to root for. At times I wanted the tribe to 'win' and really connected with them as a whole. At other times I understood the missionaries point of view and there desire to convert the tribe. Perhaps this novel was written to appeal to both sides of the religious spectrum.
I'm pretty religious and I found that when I was reading about the missionaries taking over the villager's lives, I didn't really like them. In my opinion, coming into innocent peoples' lives and forcing them to convert isn't very christian like. They did present some good points but I supported the Igbo people.
I kind of read it as a means of evaluating the missionaries. I didn't really root for anyone, but I did try to catch where the mission would mess up. Mainly so I can have ammunition if a class discussion on the book turns into a criticism of Christianity, moreso than getting anything more out of the book.
While I was reading I was rooting for the tribe even though I am very religious. I can see how people would want the change to Christianity, but to force the change was wrong. I wanted the tribes to be able to choose their way of life and not be forced one way or another. I can see how people would root for the missionaries, but I feel that it was wrong to force their beliefs on the people.
I am religious too. And I have to say during the novel I disagreed with the missionaries, I was angry at how they dealt with things, and I felt bad for the tribe. I agreed with everything the tribe was doing to keep the missionaries out, and to be honest I felt like I was on the tribes side. I feel like the way the novel was written and through the point of view of the tribe your mind is kinda altered to agree with the tribe.
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