“And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass, they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth colour of the vast, hungry swarm” (72).
The locusts symbolize the inevitable faith of the Igbo people. Their faith is sealed once the missionaries settle within their colony and change their whole society. This is basically foreshadowing of the colonists who attempt to take over and change every culture the Igbo people are accustomed too. “Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swam” is the foreshadowing of this change of culture and religious views. The world as the Igbo people know will come to an end. When locusts destroy crops, back then there was no way to get rid of them; so their destructive nature demonstrates the powerless of the Igbo who cannot do anything against the new colonists who clearly have more advanced technology.
Inequality is demonstrated as the “locusts” destroy and eat everything in their paths. While the missionaries want to convert the Igbo into Christianity. In order to do so, they must destroy everything that the Igbo is accustomed too; however, even if the Igbo want to fight back, they can’t because they’re only used to using wooden weapons compared to the more advanced guns that the missionaries use. The Igbo can’t fight back because they’ll die, thus most turn over to the churches being built and convert to Christianity. Since Nwoye couldn’t meet his father’s standard, he acquired power to satisfy his father wishes. However, after the death of Ikemefuna who taught Nwoye to become strong in his own way, Nwoye decided to convert. This action had angered his father which he eventually disowned Nwoye. Obviously, Nwoye was never treated right because he was pressed to live in his father’s footsteps – something he did not want to do; as a result, he severed their father-son relationship by converting to Christianity.
Nwoye’s actions show how inequality will affect people. Okonkwo thought nothing of his son until he acquired the power his father wanted for so long. However, Nwoye was powerless to go against his father because he was always beat and nagged; thus he gained power which pleased his father. But after the death of Ikemefuna who was basically an older brother figure to Nwoye, he decided that his father was wrong all along and reverted back to his normal self, but this time holding a grudge against his father.
Inequality today is still amongst society. People aren’t treated right because they don’t meet others standards or views. When one group hates on another, the group that is hated will eventually hate on them as well. It’s a never-ending cycle which continues to drive humanity. Nwoye demonstrated that he was unequal to his father and since his father kept abusing him, he decided to turn against his father without any thought because he wanted to be equal.
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