No one likes being told how to live. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, missionaries came to Africa to teach the natives a new way of life, Christianity. The natives had lived a certain way their entire lives and had practiced their beliefs wholeheartedly. European missionaries wanted to convert them from these ways. Each group of people had difficulty communicating with each other; this caused a sort of ignorance towards the other. Joseph Conrad did an adequate job describing the views of Europeans in his novel Heart of Darkness and why they felt the need to be in Africa. The traditions and beliefs present in these two novels caused a great separation between the natives and the whites; could this have caused more harm than good? What does it mean to be uncivilized? Uncivilized means: –verb (used with object), -lized, -liz•ing. to bring one out of a wild, ignorant or rude state; to make civil; rise in social and private life; illuminate; perfect: Rome civilized the barbarians. (Dictionary.com) Europeans had this common belief that Africa needed to be civilised. As I read these books I felt that Europeans thought they were helping Africans to civilize themselves through Christianity. One's definition of civilization depends on their point of view. Joseph Conrad shows how the white man viewed the natives in his choice of words, he states in his book; of the land; and, as if by magic, torrents of human beings – of naked human beings – with spears in their hands, with bows, with shields, with wild looks and wild movements, poured into the c...... middle of paper ... where he is, but instead his translator mixes up the words and the natives burn the church. This demonstrates the lack of communication skills between them with disastrous consequences. In conclusion, the Europeans thought they were right in trying to bring Christianity to Africa, but in reality it caused the natives more unhappiness. Europeans had a sizing effect on Africa. Darkness can be associated with ignorance, hence the title Heart of Darkness. Because of this ignorance, things literally fall apart for the natives of Africa, hence the title Things Fall Apart.Works CitedAchebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. 1st. New York: Anchor Books, 1959. Print.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1950. Print. "Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness". An image of Africa. New York, NY: 1989. Print