Rev. Smith

After Mr. Brown falls ill and leaves Umuofia and his church, it is Reverend Smith that replaces him. Achebe sets up Rev. Smith as a direct antithesis to Mr. Brown and he quickly comes to represent the strongly negative results of colonialism. Rev. Smith is a profound zealot and condemns Brown’s more accepting method of Christian evangelism, preferring a flock of few but more devout followers than a larger church that still has spiritual autonomy. Smith encourages zealots like Enoch, who seeks only to purport his spirituality through violence, ironically in the same way Okonkwo does.