Maybe Dr. Dyer Can Help (Reader Response)

Achebe’s novel was a very easy reading, easy to pick-up, and easy to finish story. I did not find myself dreading the assignment at night as I did with Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness. The story line was easy to follow and after I conquered the names of the numerous members of the Ibo, I thoroughly enjoyed the composition. Had I not known any better, Achebe’s novel did not seem as though the point of it was to criticize Conrad. I almost believe that I would have enjoyed the story itself more if I had not known. I spent a lot of my reading time searching the pages for a poke at Conrad. Although I definitely enjoyed Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and read it with ease, the novel brought too many questions to my attention. I finished the assignment with many unsettled feelings and was not sure where to take them.

One unanswered question I had with this novel is one that deals with the point of accountability and the missionaries. The point of missionaries is to minister the Christian faith to individuals and groups that do not know the Lord. It seems that the beginning missionaries’ attempt was to help the tribes to see a better life, yet this new life shown to the tribe by the missionaries really was not a life that sounded appealing. The question that this left me with was does the point of accountability come in here? The tribe did not know of the Lord, it takes time and explaining to fully understand the importance of having Christ in our lives. Even those that have been educated since day one about the saving grace of the Lord do not completely comprehend the importance of having Christ in their lives everyday. Are these people truly going to hell because they do not know the Lord? In the church where I was raised we learned that a child does not go to hell because they do not have the advanced relationship with Christ that an adult has. Therefore, why would members of the tribe go to hell because they do not know the Lord, when a child would not? It seems to me that they are very similar situations, neither group truly knows the importance of the Lord, nor can they understand it without the correct education about the faith. I have toyed with this idea in my mind and I have a hard time justifying the fact that these individuals will go to hell because they do not know the Lord in the way that the missionaries do, what about children then?

Why, also, did the English come in and try to change the lives of the Ibo completely? The Ibo had a way of life that was working, that was understood by all members of the tribe and accepted. The English came in with the missionaries and forced their government on the tribe. I understand that part of Colonialism is to impose a country’s government on that of another, but why one a government system that IS working? The Ibo had understood rules about the way life should be lived and all that were members of the tribe knew these rules, they followed them without asking questions. It seemed as though the Ibo had a better governing system than the English did, and I truly think this is because the center of the tribe’s government was the gods and the English government is not. I just don’t quite understand why the missionaries imposed terrible ideas about Christianity and the English government on the tribe by their actions and expected them to understand, to want to be a part of this government and faith.

A novel that leaves me with questions is not my ideal story. I liked the way the storyline flowed smoothly and was very easy to follow. I enjoy a novel more when I finish the story and feel like I learned something. A feeling of accomplishment always leads me to want to read the novel again, but this story left me so uneasy I can not read it again until I have answered the questions and confusions I was left with.