"But there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye, Okonkwo's first son. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. He did not understand it. It as the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul-the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. Nwoye's callow mind was greatly puzzled" (Achebe 147).
The white people have come to Umuofia to spread their beliefs to the people in the nine villages and try to convert from believing in the egwugwu, and multiple gods and to just believe in only one true god. One of the villagers who is interested in these new beliefs and wants to convert is Okonkwo's eldest son Nwoye. Imperialism is encouraged through religion in this part of the book because the missionaries who are not from Umuofia are trying to convince everyone in each of the nine villages that they should not believe in their many gods and only believe in this one god. The missionaries, through an interpreter told the villagers that the gods they believe are evil because they tell you to kill others and destroy innocent children and that they should turn away from them and believe in the true God the missionaries are talking about who will reward them in life and in death.
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