The snake or serpent as a literary archetype hearkens back to the serpent of Eden (Satan) who tempted Eve to eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, who then tempted Adam. This led to the two being cast out of the Garden, Original Sin, etc. In the case of the killing of the python in Things Fall Apart, it could be argued that this is an inversion of the Judeo-Christian imagery of the serpent as harbinger of evil and suffering. The python is a symbol of the clan's strength, and the osu who boasts of killing it later dies, thus reaffirming the faith of the tribe in their traditional gods as opposed to the God of the missionaries.
