One can reasonably assert that there are existed a sequence of social change as a means by which to describe the impact of the invasive European culture upon the native culture of Umuofia. As Chinua Achebe points out in his novel Things Fall Apart, though there is the objective to lend a hand, it can sometimes become deadly and even fatal to the lives of people. Achebe also points out that the old native society with many of its customs undergoes a deep change. Old traditions are abandoned and new ideas transform the people. Could this have been avoided had the Europeans not arrived in Umuofia?
             Pre-colonial Africa is not viewed as a happy place. It is characterized as a world in which violence, war, and suffering exists, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. The people in Umuofia depend strongly on the ancestors and gods in their culture. It is their tradition and their beginning, from which they govern their lives. Without the stronghold of customs and traditions, only chaos exists. People in Africa learned to live in harmony with Nature's changes. They developed culture based on religion and nature. They worshipped many different gods and goddesses who represented elements of the natural world. They had priests capable of physical and psychic healing, oracles who could foretell the future, spirits of ancestors who controlled traditions, gave orders and guided the tribe at a time of crises. This system of control worked very well for centuries. The members of the Ibo tribe were far from educated and uncivilized. They simply devised educational and socializing methods, which were different from the Western model, which worked for them.
             Some changes are good; others are bad. Although the missionaries came with the desire and intention to help the underdeveloped Ibo village reach its potential, the effects are upsetting to the native people and their culture. The
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