Throughout our daily lives, we find hope in the smallest of places whether in the
stranger who smiled at us when we are having a rough day or witnessing a friend generously
give money to a homeless person. Hope is that little piece of encouragement that warms our
soul to get us through the challenges of life. Our past experiences are the foundations to our
source of hope for the future. Father Gabriel exemplifies the epitome of hope in the movie The
Mission because of his commitment to trust God to help the Guaraní people and to display his
love regardless of the attacks by the Portuguese. In comparison, the character Okonkwo from
author Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart is hopeless when facing dehumanizing and
racial issues with the White people.
In the film, Father Gabriel’s character roles are to spread God’s message of love be, to
fight against the Portuguese for justice, and the hope for the Guaraní people. Father Gabriel
gets upset with Rodrigo Mendoza who he is mentoring because he wanted to quit fighting for
justice. Gabriel is filled with anger when he tells Mendoza that priesthood might not be for him
if decides he walks away from this injustice, “We will stay with them because God is love!”
Although Father Gabriel is angry, he encourages Mendoza to stay for the Guaraní people. He
gives hope to his fellow priests/brothers because he talks to the Portuguese governor, Hortar,
about keeping the mission as a home for the Indians. Yet the governor finally decides that they
have to leave the mission to go to war with the Guaraní people and for the priests to come back
with him or be executed. Father Gabriel bravely tells him that denies his option to come back
with him because it is unjust and morally wrong. After a tough meeting with some of the tribe
leaders, Gabriel tells Hortar, “I told her I would live with them in the jungle because they are
afraid of the devil.” As a White man who holds the opportunity to have a lavish life, he chooses to live with the poor and lowly people out of love. Overall, Father Gabriel exudes hope and love
for the oppressed Guaraní Indians by teaching them Christianity, respecting their culture and
traditions, and showing them unconditional love just like God.
In the novel, Okonkwo has three main character roles that contribute to him being a
powerful leader in the Umofia tribe: violent, controlling, and hopeless. Okonkwo did not display
any hope for his life or his community. He was violent and severely beat his wife Ojuigo during
Peace Week because he claimed she neglected her wifely duties. Engulfed with rage, Okonkwo
brutally beats his third wife for not having dinner ready, “In his anger he had forgotten that it
was the Week of Peace…But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way
through, not even for fear of a goddess” (29-30). He has no respect for Ojuigo because he
selfishly wants to stay in control over his family. Okonkwo is handed Ikemefuna along with a
virgin by the tribe and they are treated like family. One of the elders of the tribe tells Okonkwo
that the Ikemefuna must be killed due to the oracle but he should not be apart of it. Then he
forces him to return home which crushes Nwyoe. Ikemefuna is attacked by the men with
machetes and runs back to Okonkwo. “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him
down” (61). This shows how Okonkwo is selfish and consumed with controlling how others view
him. He is so prideful that he is willing to kills Ikemefuna who was like a son to him to protect
his reputation. Lastly, Okonkwo also plays a major role in being a hopeless force against the
District Commissioner and the other White people that invade the town. He was captured,
tortured, and held hostage by the District Commissioner’s minions. Once again, Okonkwo let his
anger get the best of him and committed suicide. Ironically, he knew that it would be a disgrace to his tribe as they said, “It is an abomination for a man to take his own life” (207). He was so
prideful that he refused to be killed by any white men so he took his own life.
Father Gabriel faced a huge battle against the Portuguese government and military in
hopes to protect the Guaraní people. He confronted Hortar peacefully and with respect, which
was not reciprocated. The mission was created by Father Gabriel to convert the Indians into
Christians. Hortar refused to read his note and decided to side with his fellow plantation owners
because they would lose slaves. He attended a meeting alongside Hortar and was completely
denied a chance to defend the Guaraní people. The governor asked him to translate: “They
must move leave the mission. Tell them now!” The governor discrimination only fills Father
Gabriel’s heart with hope for survival and love for the Indians. The priest found grounds for
hope in the Guaraní people as they trusted him and remained open to Christianity despite the
governor. He also found hope in God because he was able to remain calm and at peace
regardless of the governor trying to get rid of Indians. His hope encouraged Mendoza and the
other priests to stay and fight against the Portuguese instead of abandoning them out of fear.
His final worship service with the Indians gave them hope to pick up the cross and continue
marching as Christians even though they were being shot at.
Okonkwo faced powerful outside influences against the White people invading his
village. He never trusted the White people but his tribe feared them too much to disobey them.
The District Commissioner tricked him and persecuted other Umofia leaders. Okonkwo faced
being starved and dehumanized, “…the prisoners’ barber, took down his razor and shaved off all
the hair on the men’s head. [They] ate nothing… [And] were not even given any water to drink,
and they could not go out to urinate. At night, the messengers came in to taunt them and knock…their heads together” (195). He does not believe life will be good with the White people
around and feels so hopeless that death is his only option. Unlike Father Gabriel, he doesn’t try
to see the best in this situation or have faith in his religion that things will be ok.
The Mission took place during the mid-1700s, which was a time of Father Gabriel in
which particularly slave owners from Portugal became very greedy and wanted more slaves.
Father Gabriel had hope that provided the Indians with the mission. He knew that God would
save the Guaraní people and spiritually it did. In long-term historical trends, Father Gabriel
would have had hope during the Protestant Reformation that challenged protestant to
reconsider divine right of the Roman Catholic Church (lecture, The Protestant Reformation).
Martin Luther wrote the Ninety- Five Theses by nailing it on the front door of the church
(lecture, The Protestant Reformation). Gabriel would believe that there would be equality
between the social classes.
Okonkwo is hopeless because he does not have faith that Africans and Whites will
become equals. He sees Whites as the people to kill because that’s how he has been treated.
Yet Okonkwo would have led the Haiti Revolution, which is similar to his own time. The Haitian
Revolution was inspired by the French Revolution because they wanted equality and to abolish
slavery (lecture, The Atlantic Revolutions, 04/20). There were also a lot of unstable positions
that resulted in their government collapsing (lecture, The Atlantic Revolutions, 04/20). Okonkwo
would have selfishly taken charge and enjoyed that the Haitians would attack and kill the
Whites. In contrast to times during the late 1700s, the Civil Rights Act he would have been hung
and/or discriminated against in. He similarly embodies the spirit of Malcolm X who believed that violence and revolution would scare the White people. Okonkwo values power and control
over those around him so he would have dreaded living during this time.
Plays, novels, films, and legends all can provide true historical insight. In order to create
these fictionalized accounts, the creators need stories that tend to be based human experiences
to captivate the audience. For instance, legends are long stories that are traditionally passed
down to different generations. Those legends can provide historical facts and lessons about
culture, religion, and education. Plays also give historical insight especially about hope when the
actor or actress overcomes a problem in the story. Walking out of the theatre after an inspiring
story the audience feels motivated and encouraged by the insight they’ve gained.
As a Christian, I find many sources of hope despite living in a world of people who crave
power and that will sacrifice everything to obtain it. I intentionally try to see life in positive
outlook no matter the obstacles that arise. Over the years, I have developed four ideals in which
I use as sources for hope: blind faith, ignoring the enemy, trusting God when He says no, and
living Jesus. Blind faith is not seeing what’s in the future and knowing that God is there. This is
where the positivity comes in because there is always a bright side to every situation. When I
see the good in everything, I am able to see all the blessings I already have instead of focusing
on the negative. Christians are always encouraged to show gratitude for everything that God has
provided for us. Although there will be times where it may be hard to get out of a rough time
but accepting the bad instance and choosing to move on shows absolute faith in God. Father
Gabriel’s blind faith was an apparent source in his life and became the center of the mission.
Despite the evil attack from the Portuguese, he continued to praise God during his prayer service with the Guaraní women and children. Blind faith is something that I am struggling to
master but I greatly value.
Ignoring the enemy is a prime way to keep hope present in my life. When sin we sin we
are turning away from God and that devastates Him. Then I always take a moment to just
breathe and really think about why I disobeyed God. Usually, I re-learn that God wants nothing
from me than to be happy. So letting negative thoughts get me down is simply the enemy trying
to destroy God’s light in my life. The enemy wants us to turn away from God and lose all the
hope we have. Luckily, God has given us the strength to overcome any temptation that walks
our way. We are able to say no and rebuke the enemy from our lives because of our innate gift
of hope.
Trusting God when He says no is possibly the hardest concept to understand and to
practice. Christians need to initially understand what exactly God has promised them before we
get angry with Him. When we accept, what God has put into our lives positive or negative then
we are choosing to keep hope alive. I always challenge myself to reconsider the things that
occur in my life because God has a plan and reason for everything. We live our life according to
His purpose and not our purpose, which is why we should commit to His plan. Whenever I am
sad I ask myself, “would God be happy with how I’ve been living my life lately.” Usually if it’s no,
I tell myself that it is okay to not get what I want and to wait for something better that God.
Lastly, living like Jesus is how most Christians try to live their life and naturally fail
because we are sinners. I am no victim to that and hope that I can better control my actions to
mimic His. Jesus was hopeful and trusted in God despite all the people who doubted Him. He
accepted that even some of his followers denied Him but still carried out God’s message. Jesus even showed unconditional love to the poorest and to the evilest people. He even accepted
everyone no matter how badly people treated him because He loved them. I sometimes hold
things against people without really understanding their story and where they come from. But
Jesus had hope in humanity and in the world. Hope allows us to move on when things are bad,
to continue to love the people that hurt us, and overcome any obstacles alongside God.

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