Second Half of Things Fall Apart

The second half of “ Things Fall Apart” is about how literacy and schools were brought to the tribe by European expansion. What started out to the tribes as something new and exciting quickly cascaded into something they regretted. The Europeans created schools to teach reading and writing but these schools were run by missionaries that forced their religion into the teachings and the students. The tribes had nothing to do but accept the religion and teachings or the Europeans would run right over them. I find it interesting that expansion and knowledge has always had such a deep connection with religion. In history most societies that have looked at expanding their borders have operated in this same fashion. The goal is to expand into the country and try to assimilate the population by giving them something in common with yourself. This is exactly how the Europeans acted in the story. First they offered knowledge, then pushed religion, and lastly enacted their own form of judicial system over the tribes.