12.09.06
Things Fall Apart: Fourth Post (Missionaries)
I’m rather torn on the actions of the missionaries. On one hand they are against things that are genuinely unfair in the native culture, like throwing away twins, and generally the are benevolently fixing these things (adopting the twins rather than trying to make unwilling parents keep them). But on the other hand the missionaries show little interest in learning about the society and no interest in adapting to it, and they are rather dismissive of everything the people have believed for generations. I don’t like the missionaries very much, but I admit they brought a few good ideas with them. I just wish they also had some basic respect for the people they were dealing with!