Different countries have people that hold many different views and beliefs. In Nigeria the Igbo area is located in the southern area of the country. And within this area is Umuofia, which is where the Ogidi tribe lives. These people have beliefs that rest strongly on religion and faith in god. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe takes a look at the life of an African tribe that has been isolated from the outer more technologically advanced world where science has become a part of religion proving that certain things live sickness are not caused by evil spirits. But the African tribe has no knowledge of this and they live in a society where there traditions, beliefs and there forms of communication differ from are own. In Umuofia, traditions are an important part of their lives. They celebrate festival that has been celebrated by their people for hundreds of years. ?The feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began, to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan?. They beliefs were that if they prayed to the earth goddess she would give them a good season to grow their crops. They had other traditions in their tribe, like the process you must follow to marry. After coming to the ugi they would bid for the price of the woman in broomsticks because they felt that talking with cowries was insulting to the woman because it was like buying something at the market. ?. Akueke?s bride price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries?. This tribe believed that the groom must pay to have his wife, which is how they had always done it. To be successful in Umuofia you want to, have many wives and many kids and have many barns full of yams and have titles with the clan. Okonkwo was one of the w... ... middle of paper ... ...e had such a temper he would beat them. And because of his pride he would never stop until he was done beating them. Okonkwo had a very tough personality and was known through out the land as being a fierce fighter who had claimed five heads of his opponents. This culture really varies from ours in many ways because of the ways they communicate is so different from how we would ever consider doing here. The Igbo tribe has values beliefs and ideas that are strongly rooted in the gods. The way in which they communicate and interact shows a lack of respect towards woman and they are treated like slaves to men. Achebe?s novel ?Things Fall Apart? gives a good insight into the aspects a of a culture that before him had never need explored, and it gives the reader a good look at what the beliefs, values and the way the members of the community communicate and interact.
The natives could no longer see eye to eye and therefore a certain division among the people could be seen. The inhabitants of the village started to segregate themselves between two groups: one that stood loyal to the traditional Igbo tradition and culture and another which had divided loyalties and looked up to Christ and his saving grace as the ultimate gift of life to mankind. Things Fall Apart is all about the “collapse, breaking into pieces, chaos, and confusion” of traditional Igbo culture that suffers at the hand of the white man’s arrival in Umuofia along with his religion. Okonkwo’s own son Nwoye converts to Christianity, leaving his own culture bereft because of the suffering he endured after the killing of Ikemefuna, who was a ward left under the care and protection of Okonkwo.
One custom of Umuofia that would be very different from Western culture is Polygamy, the practice of having many wives. This custom is practiced in the connected nine villages of Umuofia. In fact, a man's wealth is partially measured by the number of wives he has. A wealthy man described in Things Fall Apart, had nine wives and thirty children. Okonkwo had three wives and eight children.
In her article, “Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”, Diana Akers Rhoads positively criticizes Achebe’s work. She believes that Achebe does a great job of conveying the Ibo people as culturally bound and religious. Akers states, “Achebe’s aim is to present the peculiarities of the Igbo culture, especially the beauties and wisdom of its arts and institutions…” (Akers 1). It is agreeable that Achebe does present the beauties of the Umuofian culture which is later destroyed by the Europeans. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Achebe, “talking of the importance of ideals, refers to the example of village life based on a kind of equality” (2). Achebe demonstrates the importance of religion and culture in the novel by talking about the life of the native people. Akers also says which is true in the novel, that “Igbo are in some ways superior to those who comes to convert them” (4). It is true that the people of Umuofia especially Okonkwo, are superior in not following the religion and culture of the Europeans. For instance, Okonkwo tries to stop the missionaries by killing them in order to stop them from changing the religion of the Ibo people. Therefore, as Akers discusses in her article, religion and culture was worth a lot to the natives but, ironically many natives converts to Christianity due to the arrival of the
In the Umuofia’s culture, women are often mistreated by their husbands and are expected not to question the men within their tribe. Although the women are viewed as inferior, they play a very important role in the Umuofia’s culture by keeping the family together and passing down important traditions to their children, which will continue their heritage.
In the book, Things Fall Apart, Achebe introduceses the Umofia people as a patricarchal with strong punishments. As the reader digs deeper into the book, the reader finds reasons and explainations for their style of living. Later in the story, Europeans started to colonize and convert the Ibo to christianity. The arrival of the settlers startled and changed the way of living for the Ibo. Most Europeans started to encourage or forcing the Ibo to convert to christianity. This declined the tribes original culture, while increasing christianity faith. The expansion of the missionariers change the life and views of various clan members. One in particular is Nwoye who converts to religions, opinion on the Ibo culture, and leaves his family behind.
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
In the novel Things Fall Apart, the author Achebe explores a theme of masculinity versus femininity. The Igbo society was dominated by gender roles. Men discriminated against women. Women and men were not considered to be virtually equal. Women are taught to mother while men are conditioned to dominate and control. The author mainly portrays the masculine versus feminine theme to make an important connection between the gender roles.
He was a very proud man and did not take kindly to being questioned, especially by those whom he considered of lesser social character (Ikuenobe, 2006). Such as the case of calling another male villager a “woman” while in a meeting because he did not have any titles (Achebe, 1994). Being questioned by a “lesser” man was equivalent to being weak, and Okonkwo had a fear of being seen as weak and lazy, like his father. However, because he had this fear, his ability to fully integrate with the clans virtues, such as humility and compassion, he lacked the ability to enjoy some of the “restful and festive periods” that the village had, such as the Week of Peace (Ikuenobe,
Okonkwo was well known through out the nine villages because of his achievements in the tribe. Okonkwo had a great fear of becoming like his father. This had a rather large impact on his life and how his personality. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a lazy man whereas Okonkwo was a hard worker, Okonkwo ruled his house with a heavy hand and he was a man of war.
Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan, a lower Nigerian tribe that is part of the nine connected villages, including Okonkwo’s village Iguedo. Okonkwo father Unoka was a man who feared the sight of blood and always asked for things he was never successful with nothing not even when it came to his farm. His wife and kids often went hungry because of him. One night, the town crier had rung the ogene, and requested that all of the clansmen gather in the market in the morning. At the gathering, Ogbuefi Ezeugo a noted orator announce that someone from the village of Mbaino murdered the wife of an Umuofia tribesman. The village filled with so much anger that they wanted revenge. Okonkwo traveled to Mbaino to deliver the message that they must hand over a virgin and a young man to Umuofia. If Mbaino was to refuse this demand the two villages would have to go to war. The elders give the virgin to Ogbuefi Udo as his wife, and Ikemefuna a fifteen year old boy to Okonkwo for safekeeping and instruction.
Chapter 17 of Things Fall Apart, goes in explicit details of the horrible traditions the Umuofia tribe has embedded deeply into the bases of their society. Abnormal events or people were seen as works of the devil and immediately disposed of “She had borne twins, and they had been immediately thrown away” (151). Another instance is when the outcasts or osu go to Church after seeing how they accept “abominations” such as the mother who only bore twins. The only difference between the osu and average people were that they were forbidden to cut their hair “he [Mr. Kiaga] ordered the outcasts to shave off their long, tangled hair. At first they were afraid they might die[...]
Throughout the first part of the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe it shows readers how Igbo live their life and shows the traditions and culture of their people. In the second part of the book it starts to go into about how Western cultural imperialism comes in and tries to teach the Igbo people their culture, language, education and especially their religion. The influence that the missionaries bring to the Igbo culture is significance because they want the Africans to have the same views as them and for the ultimatum to take over the land that the Igbo people live on, so they can use and take their resources.
Okonkwo embodies all the ideal and heroic traits of the Igbo culture. He is strong, authoritative, hardworking, and successful. The opening sentence states that “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond” (3). Okonkwo is great and famous because of his “solid personal achievements” (3). Okonkwo first achieved fame and recognition when he became the village’s wrestling champion. At eighteen years of age, he had “brought honor to his village” by defeating the seven-year champion. By winning the wrestling match, Okonkwo demonstrates to his village his great strength and skill as a warrior. After that his fame spread “like a bush-fire in the harmattan” (3). Okonkwo governs his household with authority. He “ruled his household with a heavy hand” (13). His wives and children lived “in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (13). Okonkwo is a hard task-master. He works on his farm “from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost” and compelled his family to do the same (13). He does not tolerate laziness in his sons. He punishes his son, Nwoye, with “constant nagging and beating” (14). Okonkwo is the sole and unquestionable authority figure in his household.
Many cultures tend to clash greatly, and an example is the idea of monotheism and polytheism. This is the culture clash of western ideas and the Ibo culture in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The Ibo culture was a polytheistic tribe that experienced the influence of Christianity by the Western people. One of the main characters, Okonkwo, was not pleased with the new missionaries ideas. The clan had their set beliefs and was not inclined to open up to a new influence. Okonkwo saw as though his clan was civilized, and there was no need to change matters. Unlike a few outliers, Okonkwo was one of the many that simply saw things begin to fall apart with the influence of western culture, as he began to question who he really was and what he
The author Chinua Achebe, in the novel, “Things Fall Apart,” shares the extreme diversity between the female and male characters residing in Umofia. Okonkwo, the male leader of the tribe, carries qualities such as power and manliness, as all men are expected to. As for the females they are commonly referred as being weaker for child bearing and more responsible because they are expected to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Although the traits of the Igbo culture vary in the determination of the sexes, both genders share both positive and negative aspects of their community.