Chinua Achebes Arrow of God is set in the 1920s before secularism became dominant It begins with the image of a mask when he tells his son not to carve the mask of a god for the white man The mask is a symbol of change The whole world is changing and the people who do not change will not survive The old priest Ezeulu desires change but he cannot do it He cannot force himself to leave the old ways behind and adopt the new ways Thus he sends one of his sons to learn from the white man He cannot d