Christianity as an Ideological Instrument: A postcolonial reading of Chinua Achebes Arrow of God

Abstract

This paper attempts to reveal how the Christian religion was used in colonizing African peoples according to Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Colonists regularly use subtle and indirect ways to colonize people before and after independence; one of these methods was through ideology. The paper depicts the ways in which Christianity as an ideological instrument was used as a tool for colonization. Chinua Achebe, a major African postcolonial writer, has played a significant, though controversial, role in the fight against colonization and helping his country to regain its African identity. In this novel, Achebe has tried to create a new picture of African religion and has also described the process through which the white missionaries entered Africa and wiped out African religions. Key words: Christianity, ideology, postcolonialism, arrow of god.