Adapting to Change Cesar Chavez once said: “Preserving one's own culture does not require contempt or lack of respect for other cultures. » Respect for other cultures is very important if you want to have peace within your own culture. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Western missionaries introduce new thoughts and beliefs into Ibo society. The changes to Ibo society caused major conflict between the two cultures and ultimately led to the downfall of Ibo culture. Throughout the book there were several complex relationships. However, the most complex would be the father/son relationship of Okonkwo and Nwoye. When the missionaries arrived, Nwoye gained a sense of belonging and comfort, which allowed him to show his true feelings that he had hidden. Chinua Achebe used Nwoye to emphasize that changes to a culture can be positive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay After Nwoye converted, he felt a sense of identity. When Okonkwo murdered Ikemefuna, Nwoye never recovered from the loss of what seemed like a brother. When Nwoye found out what happened to Ikemefuna, “He didn’t cry. He remained soft” (Achebe 65). Nwoye felt overwhelmed with emotions; he felt betrayed by his father for participating in something so horrible, but he knew Okonkwo only did it to maintain his reputation for being masculine. He had to keep the abundance of his feelings to himself, otherwise he would risk appearing too feminine for his father's taste. When Western missionaries introduced their culture to Ibo society, Nwoye realized that it was a better fit for their religion; a religion where he didn't need to hide his feelings or be forced to make decisions he knew were unethical. Although the introduction of Western culture caused conflict in the lives of many people in Nwoye's life, the missionaries provided Nwoye with an outlet that he was able to use to release his anger and frustration towards his father and the whole Ibo culture. Nwoye's fragmented relationship with his father growing up made him feel like he didn't belong in Ibo culture. His childhood was full of terrible memories that made him a dispirited individual, which was highlighted when Achebe wrote: "At any rate, that was how it seemed to his father and he sought to correct it by constantly harassing and beating him. And so Nwoye became a sad-faced youth” (23). Okonkwo was intolerant of Nwoye's differences and as a result, abused his son both emotionally and physically. Nwoye's father made him feel like an outsider in his own family, and because of this, Nwoye was afraid to be himself from a young age. When Nwoye found out he would be leaving home to attend a Christian school, Achebe wrote, “Nwoye didn’t quite understand. But he was happy to leave his father” (145). The missionaries gave Nwoye a refuge where he was free to be himself and not hold back any of his emotions out of fear, which was a great relief to him. Nwoye's character change helped shape the book Things Fall Apart as a whole. The arrival of the missionaries aroused a lot of curiosity within the tribe. The curiosity of the Ibo people, especially the Nwoye, led to conflicts within families and among friends. All the conflicts caused by the missionaries shaped the outcome of the book by emphasizing that the.