One of the most striking misunderstandings that lead to conflict and strife in Chinua Achebe's seminal novel Things Fall Apart is when an indigenous man converts to Christianity and then precedes to kill a snake, which is a serious taboo within the traditional Igbo culture. Snakes are sacred creatures to the Igbo; indeed, they are revered by the Igbo in Things Fall Apart. Therefore, the intentional harm of a snake is deeply disrespectful to their culture. The man kills a snake in order to demonstrate his devotion to the Christian God, and this misguided show of religious zealousness creates a scandal in the surrounding community. Interestingly, Achebe consciously presents the Igbo tradition as powerful, because the man who kills the snake dies suddenly later on in the novel.
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