African American Culture In Things Fall Apart

Culture Culture is the way of life for a group of people. Culture is one of the most important puzzle pieces of the book, Things Fall Apart. In the book, Thing Fall Apart, culture plays an enormous role in the dynamics of the book. Many people think African culture is silly and irrelevant, but to the African it is the only way of life that they know and practice. Examples of African cultures are the following: tradition, religion, holidays, language, art, etc. In the book, Things Fall Apart, culture is described and explained in several ways.

Tradition is one of the many different types of culture in the book, Things Fall Apart. One example of tradition is, “Moments before Unoka accepting the honor of breaking the kola. Okoye, meanwhile, took a lump of chalk and drew lines on the floor, then painted his big toe” (Things Fall Apart, 2). We would never fully understand what that symbolizes, but to the people in the book it means everything. We as people will probably think that is the weirdest thing that someone would ever do, but to the African is a social norm. A question would be what is the significance of the kola and the chalk, but to the Africans its tradition.

Some lines from book symbolize their way of religion, “Near the barn was a small house, the “medicine house” or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits. He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut, food and palm-wine, and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself, his three wives and eight children” (Things Fall Apart, 14). They say that he who offers the kola brings life, and that is one of the predominant rituals of the story. They do this to please their gods and