Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Chinua achebe as a novelist
Similarities in culture in Nigeria
Chinua achebe essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Ibo culture and culture today have similar and contrasting marriages. The Ibo and cultures today are similar because people can get married whenever they want. However today, people usually don't get married at young ages like the Ibo people. The Ibo culture and people today can also have as many children as they want. Both cultures usually have a lot of help from different men, women, and even children. "Some of the women cooked the yams and the cassava, and others prepared vegetable soup. Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood. The children made endless trips to the stream" (113). The Ibo culture had a marriage system called polygamy, which is when a man is married to several women.
A lot of people today usually have a marriage system called monogamy, which is when a man is married to one women. In Ibo culture, the marriage ceremony was really meant for the bride and her mother. "Everybody had been invited men, women, and children. But it was really a women's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother" (110). Marriages today usually involve both the women and the men along with their families. The Ibo culture and culture today have some similarities, but they also have several differences.
Many societies have beliefs rooted deep in ancient religion. Some beliefs include polygamy, polytheism, and patriarchy, or rule by men. One such culture is that of Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Polytheism and polygamy are custom in the clan, and the role of each family member is very defined. The men are overly domineering. The women and children are treated poorly and often beaten. Life in Achebe's Umuofia would seem very different to someone living in modern day America.
Culture collisions are in our everyday lives here in America in our own little towns. We might not notice our culture changing because it is a part of our everyday lives. Culture collisions cause some people to triumph and some people to fail. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Ibo tribe did not see these culture clashes everyday until the “white men” showed up and influenced the Ibo to change their ways. Achebe shows how many of the characters react to this culture shock. Obierika is one of the main characters that shows his sense of identity through this culture collision.
In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, they talk about the traditions and cultures of the Igbo people before and after the arrival of the European people. The Igbo are located in the southern region of Nigeria. All of the Igbo people regardless of what village they live in all spoke a common language. The Europeans started to make their way into southern Nigeria around the time of 1870’s this was known as the colonial times in Igbo history. This is when the Igbo civilization started to change and members of the clan started to change their beliefs from the ways they previously used to cherish. The Igbo people’s beliefs change throughout the novel as the arrival of white Europeans come and promote Christianity. This promotion of Christianity puts the traditions and values of Igbo life at jeopardy. As portrayed in the book when the European folks convert Nwoye into a Christian. However also like in the book some of the people in the villages did not change their beliefs when the Europeans came down, this example is portrayed when Okonkwo does not change his beliefs and he sti...
Chinua Achebe presents the culture of Umuofia throughout his novel, Things Fall Apart. Achebe describes the culture’s specific traditions, rituals, and norms. Everybody in the clan has to abide by the clans regulations or else they are punished or ridiculed. In the clan, gender plays a major. Men have to act manly and brawny, and the women have to be able to cook, clean, and tend to the men’s children. Power, also plays a huge role amongst, the men; men must grow the most yams or be a great fighter in the clan in order to gain power However, this can develop a conflict between the people who are either discontent with the norms, for those who cannot fulfill the norms, and for those who become obsessed with the norms. Achebe claims that cultural norms and traditions shape the culture and its people, but these
Chinua Achebe establishes the ideas and morals of where one comes from, such as culture, ancestry, and not abandoning one's culture when modern options are available for religion or cultural norms.
The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe brings up a lot of important points historically and culturally that bring readers into the Igbo culture and much larger issues going on during the time period. Readers see from the very beginning important themes that are evident throughout the entire book. How certain situations cause there to be change and the importance of societal status in the Igbo community. Early on in the book we are introduced to how valued it is to be considered “manly” and abide by the standards that are set by society for men and women. Later on readers see how by not complying and going against self causes problem for the protagonist, Okonkwo leading to a tragic end.
In the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there were many events that occur that is pertaining to many different types of themes. Three examples of themes in this story are gender, fear and religion. Gender is a theme of this story because men and women have their own roles that they abide to in Umuofia. There was not any roles that both men and women share in common. Fear is a theme of this story because Okonkwo had a negative perspective of his father Unoka and he did not want to become like his father. In the story he try to do everything differently than his father. Religion is a theme in this story because this story shows how Umuofia’s traditional religion changes to Christianity.
Literary features of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Chapter 11 Pg 70 Achebe throughout the novel uses many different literary features Literary features of ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe Chapter 11 Achebe throughout the novel uses many different literary features to bring emphasis to certain points and equally to create a plausible picture of what tribal life was like. His particular style of writing, using specific detail of everyday things, brings the characters to life; it creates a depth and complexity to the characters that makes the tribe into a realistic civilization. This technique is used primarily to challenge the preconceptions the people of the Western world have about tribal life. Details such as the ‘shrill cry of the insects’ and how the snuff Okonkwo brought had gone damp and how it was so dark there was not enough light to eat by.
The definitions of primitive and developed are always evolving, adapting to cultural changes and exposure to new ideas. The European colonists who came to Africa dismissed the native people as “primitive” and “uncivilized” due to their foreign customs and practices.. However, it can be argued that every society has both primitive and “advanced” elements. In Things Fall Apart, the author, Chinua Achebe, portrays African societies accurately, showing both the civilized and uncivilized aspects.
The payment was given in exchange for the economic value of woman to her husband in her labor and her children. Hence, for the husband and wife marriage was as much as anything else an economic compact. (James L. Newman, 1995, p.122) Customs governing division of labor, rights to land and to children varied widely. However, while a woman was married her husband generally held her labor and its fruits firmly within its grasp. In addition, the brides usually went to live with her husband's kin, and she was dependent on this group in which she was a virtual outsider. (Jennifer Seymour Whitaker, 1990, p. 99) Once involved with her new household, an Ibo woman often lived a life quite separate economically from that of her husband, in which the basic unit was herself and her children. She was usually expected to cook...
Things Fall Apart Essay The Merriam-Webster definition of culture is the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time. Culture is what makes one place different from another. Without culture, every place on earth would look exactly the same and there would be no differences. What kind of a world would Earth be if everything everywhere was the exact same?
For perspective in the Novel “Things Fall Apart” , Achebe’s Igbo land is a male ruling environment. A good example would be Okonkwo he is respected because he is nothing like his father he is strong and unoka is weak, fearless where Udoka is scared. Because he is strong and fearless he is the most respected man in Umuofia.
During part one of the story, Achebe takes the reader through the daily lives of the Ibo people. The reader is exposed to different aspects of Ibo culture like the role of women in society and the process of growing food. The role of women in the Ibo tribe was very specific and minimal. When a man wanted to marry a woman, he had to pay the bride price to her relatives only if they accepted him. “My daughter’s suitor is coming today and I hope we will clinch the matter of the bride-price” (Achebe 65). This is from a conversation between Okonkwo and a friend. Women were given virtually no rights and their only purpose was to give birth, cook, and clean. Women had no say in tribe meetings and never allowed to talk back to their husbands. The agriculture of the Ibo society was also a main focus in Things Fall Apart. Yams were the main nourishment through every meal and they called these yams "the king of crops." Furthermore, people used the yams for every traditional celebration and used kola nuts to offer their "chi" or personal god. These foods, as Achebe had described, were sometimes related to or involved with the religion or ancestral spirits of the Ibo tribe.
Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, is split into three parts; each part of the book shows a different side of the culture and customs of the Ibo people through the eyes of Okonkwo, the main character. Okonkwo is first characterized to be an angry, ambitious man who wants nothing more than to leave the embarrassing shadow of his late father behind. At first, readers may develop a dislike of Okonkwo because of his harsh words and actions delivered to people like his wives and children, things that very few people in today’s Western society would've even dream of doing or saying. Yet through this quote, “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo wasn't a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (Achebe 13), the reader is drawn into Okonkwo’s faults and is able to relate to him. In this way, Achebe begins to humanize the foreign Ibo culture. As Part 1 continues, Achebe describes in detail the various customs and events that characterize the Ibo culture and more specifically, the clan of Umuofia where the book takes place. Stories are told and events are described, all while making Umuofia a more relatable but seemingly far away place. For example,
Every civilization since the beginning of time has had its own unique culture, language, and religion. In Nigeria, the Igbo tribe follows this trend. The culture of the Igbo’s has evolved to include a social hierarchy, unique customs, and an appreciation for achievement. Their language has developed to include not only words, but concepts as well. The Igbo people developed a unique religion including many gods and methods of worship. Set in the 1890s, the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe clearly proves that before the arrival of the Europeans, the people of Umuofia in Africa had their own language, religion, and culture.