Chinua Achebe

                As I was searching the Internet for outside sources, I came across a few interviews and biographies of Chinua Achebe which held an interesting piece of information. It turns out that Achebe’s parents were converts to the Christian religion and he was a Christian himself. This is interesting considering that his novel paints a bad image of Christian missionaries and converts by showing how they devastate the Igbo religion, and that his novel is told through the perspective of the Africans who wholly believe in the Igbo faith.

                With this, Achebe’s purpose for writing the novel becomes even nobler, since he truly aimed to change the demeaning view that White European authors had created for Igbo Africans even though he and his family were considered to be some of the natives who had betrayed their fellow tribe members. Though Achebe didn’t practice the Igbo faith, he was fascinated by it, and those who practiced it, so he wanted to allow them to share their lifestyle fairly through their point of view. Perhaps his fascination and ability to fully depict a religion that he personally doesn’t follow is what makes Chinua Achebe the talented, widely popular author that he is today.