In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a defiant figure who resists the attempts of the white colonizers to impose on his clan a new religion and social order. Okonkwo's defiance stems from his fear of the white men's destructive potential on the social hierarchy and religion of the clan. Okonkwo's fear is presented when he first encounters the missionaries of the new religion in the village of Mbanta. The interpreter of the white missionary, "...was a man of commanding presence and the clan listened to him" (144). The fact that the clansmen are listening to the interpreter makes Okonkwo fear that some villagers might believe what the missionary is saying. This fear compels Okonkwo to stay, in hopes of chasing the missionaries out of the village. Okonkwo's fear does not subside until several clansmen laugh at the missionaries and he feels there is no danger of anyone being converted. Okonkwo is fearful and violently resistant to the new religion because it has the potential of undermining the life long work of the clan trying to please the gods of it's ancestors. If Okonkwo was to accept the new religion, his sacrifices to the gods, like the killing of Ikemfuna, who Okonkwo loved as a son, would have been done in vain. Anyone from the clan who converts to the new religion seems to saying that Okonkwo was wrong in killing Ikemfuna. Also the twins who are stuffed into earthenware pots and left to die in the evil forest would be dying for no justifiable reason. One of Okonkwo's greatest fears about the new religion is that it could destroy the social hierarchy of the clan. "None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in the assembly of the people. None of them was a man of title. They were mostly the kind of people called efulefu, worthless, empty men" (143). By joining the new religion, these "worthless" men are dismissing the social order of the clan, and gaining respect and power in the new society. In this sense, the underclass of the tribe are having a revolution, where the elitist, title holders in the clan are no longer respected, and the members of the underclass who convert are no longer "worthless " men. If the social hierarchy of the clan no longer existed, Okonkwo would lose his status and respect among the clan.

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