Every culture has their own ideas of art, literature, customs and other original views according to their culture. These ideas about one’s culture are called universals. People have their own universals but the great part of universals is not having them but also sharing them with other cultures. By sharing universals of one's culture with others it can change people from another culture. When one applies Kwame Anthony Appiah’s idea of Universals in Cosmopolitanism to the character, Nwoye in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Nwoye would change through the sharing of religion of the white men and other ideas. Nwoye could change throughout Things Fall Apart by the love he shared with other cultures about Christianity. Appiah states in Cosmopolitanism, “Once we have found enough we share, there is the further possibility that we will be able to enjoy discovering things we do not yet share” (Appiah 97). What Appiah is saying here is that once different cultures find shared ideas, they can start to appreciate new customs found between the two cultures. Nwoye was immediately drawn to the idea of Christianity when the missionaries and white men came into the picture. Once Nwoye had the idea of Christianity in common with the missionaries, he started to enjoy finding new universals within another culture other than his own. Nwoye shows love for the new ideas by his actions, for example, “After passing and repassing by the church, Nwoye returned home” (Achebe 150). By Nwoye’s actions of walking past the church and then re walking past the new church shows the love he has for the new religion. Nwoye cares about what he is learning. Nwoye's would change through the love he shares for this new religion and ideas of another culture, through universals. Before religion came into play in Nwoye’s life he would have never walked twice past a church longing to go in. Therefore, Nwoye could change throughout his life by new ideas and universals he shares with another culture and the love he has for these shared ideas. Nwoye would change throughout Things Fall Apart through the contact of others pertaining to shared ideas. In order to share ideas with others and to understand their culture a person must have contact with others, for example, “When two normal human beings meet, they often share not only what all normal human beings share but also much else. This is one result of the constant contact across societies…” (Appiah 97). When people meet for the first time they share stories and ideas of their life. Appiah states that these exchanges are due to contact. If people never have contact then it is very hard to get to know another's culture and share in universals. As Nwoye began to spend more time with the missionaries he could start to change as he learns more about the new culture. For example, “He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father. But whenever they came to preach in the open marketplace or the village play ground, Nwoye was there. And he was already beginning to know some of the simple stories they told” (Achebe 149). Nwoye started to share the ideas of Christianity with the missionaries on a deeper level. He had contact with them when they preached. Because he had direct contact with the missionaries he began to understand the new ideas, and stories within Christianity. All in all, Nwoye would change by having contact with the missionaries and sharing universals through this contact. Through their conversation Nwoye started to understand the culture better and even started to learn stories about Christianity. Without this direct contact, Nwoye could not change through universal's, conversation. With contact he was able to hear stories and ideas in detail. Without this conversation and contact, Nwoye would not be able to change through universals. Nwoye is able to change throughout Things Fall Apart because
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Universals are important to share with other cultures because it can influence people for the better, like in Nwoye’s case. He is able to be changed to be more similar to the missionaries and he strayed from his original culture through the new ideas and universals introduced to
Universals are important to share with other cultures because it can influence people for the better, like in Nwoye’s case. He is able to be changed to be more similar to the missionaries and he strayed from his original culture through the new ideas and universals introduced to