Wednesday, July 31, 2013

What is a good description of Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown in Things Fall Apart?

We aren't actually given a physical description of these
two characters apart from the obvious detail that they are both white. Mr. Brown is said
to wear glasses, but apart from that the main description we receive from them regards
how they tried to establish Christianity in the tribe and the different approaches that
they took. The best comparison between them comes in Chapters Twenty One and Twenty Two,
which clearly detail their approach to the indigenous religion. Note what we are told
about Mr. Brown:


readability="13">

This growing feeling was due to Mr. Brown, the
white missinoary, who was very firm in restraining his flock from provoking the wrath of
the clan... Mr. Brown preached against... excess of zeal. Every thing was possible, he
told his energetic flock, but everything was not expedient. And so Mr. Brown came to be
respected even by the clan, because he trod softly on its
faith.



The way that Mr. Brown
was respected even by the clan is demonstrated through the many friendships that he
formed and the respect with which he was held. However, Mr. Brown's replacement, Mr.
Smith was very different:


readability="8">

He condemned openly Mr. Brown's policy of
compromise and accommodation. He saw things as black and white. And black was evil. He
saw the world as a battlefield in which the children of light were locked in mortal
conflict with the sons of darkness. He spoke in his sermons about sheep and goats and
about wheat and tares. He believed in slaying the prophets of
Baal.



Thus we can see that
the massive difference between Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith is that Mr. Smith was far more
antagonistic and harsh towards the indigenous religion, whereas Mr. Brown adopted a more
softly-softly approach.

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