Clue
“If we leave our gods and follow your god,” asked another man, “who will protect us from the anger of our neglected gods and ancestors?”
“Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm,” replied the white man. “They are pieces of wood and stone.”
When this was interpreted to the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter. These men must be mad, they said to themselves. How else could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And Idemili and Ogwugwu too? And some of them began to go away.”
The snapshot above shows the strong belief many of the villagers have in their own religion as the reaction observed by them when Mbanta translate what the “white man” says which causes to laugh. However, this can also be interpreted as the inverse as well as it also shows the people who did not walk away and continued to listen which we learn later in the story that one of them was Okonkwo’s son Nwoye who has doubt in their own religion. This allows us to see that possibly there is several other people who may disapprove of the religion and not agree with it completely and is willing to hear an different perspective and look for answers from a god that is not made of “pieces of wood and stone”.
They are in such disbelief about the white mans claim that their Gods are not real and they are simply just made of “wood and stone” that they began to laugh and kind of mocks the white men as being mad. Anyone who has strong religious beliefs about the Gods in their culture would react the same way as the Mbanta men because to have someone disrespect your God and saying that only their God matter is outrageous. Although there were a few who put aside their Gods to convert to a new religion, most stayed the same and those who were converted became outcasts of the clans.