Things Fall Apart #2

I know this was discussed in class, but I find Nwoye's conversion and his character very interesting.  I would like to talk about Nwoye's character and why him converting is so fitting and how he uses his conversion to cope with his father's overbearing expectations.  From the beginning of the book, we see Nwoye as a sensitive boy who thinks about the actions of the Ibo Society.  For example, the killing of the twins and the killing of Ikemafuna all caused "effeminate" emotions to stir inside of him.  His father saw this as a weakness which created a rocky relationship between Nwoye and his father.  He wanted someone who was like him: strong, no emotions, hard working, and no effeminate features.  I love when Nwoye converts to Christianity because I see it as Nwoye standing up to his father and him embracing himself.  Its as if he is making a statement that this is who he is and I don't care if you accept it or not.  Christianity, in my opinion, served as an escape for him from his father's expectations.  He could convert and become equal to his father and gain an education and become the person he wants.  Also, Christianity was a light of hope for him.  He understand that Ikemafuna and all of those twins who were killed would be saved through Christianity.  This gave him hope and convinced him further to reason and negotiate with the white men and listen to what they say.  In Okonkwo's eyes, however, this was the worst decision he could have made.  Okonkwo was so mad he almost choked his son to death.  To him, converting to Christianity was more of Nwoye's effeminate side showing which made him more angry because Nwoye was becoming more and more like Unoka, Okonkwo's father.  I also think that Nwoye's conversion to Christianity was some of the reason behind Okonkwo's suicide.  These are some of my final thoughts on Things Fall Apart.