While the family set out to convert the villagers to Christianity, strong resistance among the locals renders this mission impossible, and as Congo gains its independence while the family is on their mission, the political situation becomes dangerous for foreigners.

In The Poisonwood Bible, a white missionary family living in the Congo struggles to reconcile their faith and values with those of the local people. Another important theme in Rushdie’s novel is the power and meaning of names, a concept that Achebe engages with at the very beginning of “Chike’s School Days.” Finally, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver addresses similar themes as “Chike’s School Days,” but from the opposite angle. Also relevant is Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, which also explores the ways in which colonial oppression affects children growing up. Achebe wrote Chike and the River in order to provide African schoolchildren with a book whose protagonist is a young boy who shares their cultural background. Another book by Achebe that is deeply related to “Chike’s School Days” is Chike and the River, which also follows the character of Chike as he navigates school for the first time. The key difference between the two is that “Chike’s School Days” starts at the beginning, so to speak, examining the ways in which colonial influence affected children, whereas Things Fall Apart explores the impact of British oppression on Igbo adults.

Both narratives center on the destruction of local African cultures at the hands of the British. As an example of postcolonial literature, “Chike’s School Days” thematically relates to Achebe’s canonical novel, Things Fall Apart.

Chinua achebe's