Where Do Belief and Knowledge Begin? - Things Fall Apart

Belief and knowledge not only build up on each other, but are also the basics of human beings. Before exploring the point at which they begin, key terms need to be identified. Belief can be defined as an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. Beliefs are based on trust and confidence that something is real to someone, or thinks is real. Beliefs can also be called unjustified beliefs, because there is no evidence to support that said thing is true. On the other hand, knowledge can be defined as a justified true belief. One can notice that both of these terms stand on the same page, just that one lies on the start while the other one is at the bottom. Beliefs vary depending on where someone is born given the environment, their family or their community; beliefs are impacted by all of those factors. On a personal note, beliefs refer to the value systems one hold and their morals. Knowledge is more tangible than beliefs, given the fact that the previous idea has now been proved with substantial evidence.    Through the The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda Adichie states that beliefs vary from person to person, and different cultures do not necessarily share their beliefs since they have been raised differently. Moreover, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, a novel written in 1959 and published in Nigeria, she explores both knowledge and beliefs, and the points at which they start. She combines Western phrases with Igbo ones in order to preserve African oral traditions, and make her novel a true African novel. Along the novel, characters have been raised in the village of Umuofia and have their own culture; they have never been exposed to other ideas until Christianity comes along.  

            Adichie, throughout her TED Talk, constantly refers to the fact that many people only have a “single story” about what Africa, especially Nigeria, is like.  People from a Western civilization who have no factual knowledge, no evidence, regarding what occurs in Africa have been exposed to an unreal African world. They have been exposed to a poor, non-educated and uncivilized world; characteristics they belief are true, but have no evidence that it is. These beliefs have been inculcated within families as generations go by, and as mentioned previously have become unjustified beliefs, no evidence to proof them. Adichie has lead us to realize that beliefs begin when one is born, since they are what form a person and what a family teaches one. Contrary to beliefs, knowledge does not start at a certain point of someone’s life, due to the fact that is gained every day and at every moment. Knowledge is gained by any lesson one learns or by any experience someone is exposed to. Chimamanda Adichie has evidence that Nigeria, and other African nations, is not how the Western Civilization depicts it and transmits this information back to the West through her novels. At that point, human beings are receiving knowledge because there is evidence to prove Adichie’s point of view.

            In Things Fall Apart, Achebe presents the reader with a contradiction between beliefs and knowledge in which it is pretty hard to distinguish between both. For instance, those living in Umuofia have been brought up to believe in numerous gods and an Oracle, and they get their beliefs from them. When Christians arrive at this village, they leave those beliefs a side since there is no evidence, no knowledge that these gods actually exist. Nonetheless, Christians worship an inanimate god, a god that cannot be seen and that is only present spiritually. Reverend Brown and later on Reverend Smith present theoretical evidence such as the Catholic Bible. The Bible is a secondary source since it tells stories that have been heard as generations go by, but once again there is no evidence that those events have occurred and that God actually exists. Reverend Smith would be completely opposed to the view that Christianity is an unjustified belief, because the missionaries refute the Igbos by saying that “all the gods you have named are not gods at all. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children. There is only one true God and He has the earth, the sky, you and me and all of us” (146). Missionaries are trying to prove the Igbo beliefs wrong, but they have nothing to prove their beliefs are right. When the tribal people tried to question their beliefs “The missionary ignored him and went on to talk about the Holy Trinity” (147). It is clear that since Christianity is based upon pure unjustified beliefs, missionaries will do everything to deviate the conversation and try not to go into major detail. They boast about having evidence, and they share their hypothetical evidence with Igbos in order to have more followers and make it easier for them to conquer the nation. At least the Igbos had the Oracle figure present, and they could ask for advice and in response they would be getting answers about things that actually exist; some knowledge is being transmitted.

            In conclusion, it is evident that knowledge and belief are linked together but at some point they take their own paths. Knowledge start off as a belief, but it is more than that since evidence needs to be present in order to prove and justify that belief. Both Chimamanda Adichie and Chinua Achebe, through their TED Talks and novel respectively, have taught the difference between what a belief and what a piece of knowledge actually is. Beliefs are based on pure emotion, what one feels and thinks is going on and happening; knowledge start off being part of emotion but then gets build up with reason, with logic and evidence.