Igbo Culture In Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Headstrong Historian” both deal with the heavily controversial tellings of the Christian assimilation of Nigeria. The two stories take place in Nigeria and more specifically, the Ibo society. Achebe’s telling of the story involves many people/villages and their own stories, even though their story may not pertain to the main character’s. Adichie’s version focuses mainly on one family and the lasting effects of the encounters with Christianity. Achebe’s novel does fixate on the ideas involved in the means of Christian assimilation. To put it another way, Achebe talks more about the approaches the missionaries take in order to convert

The novel Things Fall Apart was written in 1958 by a late Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart alludes to the effects of European Imperialism on Igbo culture. This novel begins in a fictional town called “Umuofia”, on the boundary of modern day Nigeria. European missionaries arrive in Umuofia, uninvited and especially unwelcomed. Upon the missionaries arrival, Umuofia’s cultural tradition is shaken to its core and tampered with by the Europeans. The effects of the Europeans on the Igbo culture in Umuofia alter the village’s religion, political structure, and the Igbo peoples way of life.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, religion, an indispensable tradition is celebrated within the Igbo people. The Igbo people, hosts gatherings, worship, and celebrate their ancestors. They are polytheistic, in other words, they believe in many gods. The Igbo people also believe in sacrifices to their ancestors and crimes are considered as sins. Their ancestors and gods serve as a role model, or a sculpture, to whom they worship and sacrifice in Igbo society. However, the arrival of the European Missionaries not only brings tremendous changes to Igbo religion and culture, but also creates conflicts among them.

-After Nwoye is lured into the Christian religion and abandons his culture and family, Okonkwo is ashamed and states, "you have all see the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people" (172). Nwoye's father disowns him only because he chooses a path untraditional to his culture. The serious, frustrated, and unhappy mood that is created in Okonkwo's statement gives the reader an idea of how much the Ibo culture values tradition, choice, and family.

In a society, religion is supposed to unite people that share a common belief and create peace, but in Umuofia and the other villages in Nigeria, it tears everyone and everything apart. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Igbo religion was dominant in Umuofia prior to the Christian missionaries arrival. Everyone followed its teachings, despite how they made them feel. The villagers did what the religious figure (the Oracle) told them to, even if that meant killing someone that they loved. As a result of this, some relationships between people were changed. Despite some of the harsh teachings from the Igbo religion, society was united with a universal belief system. However, the day that the first Christian missionary arrived, this would forever be changed. Not only did the new religion transform relationships between people as well as change people individually (just like the Igbo religion did in some cases), but it also brought destruction to Umuofia and its neighboring villages. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe argues that religion has the power to destruct and change relationships, convince people to convert, and to break apart a society.

In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe introduces his readers to the Nigerian village Umuofia and its culture through the protagonist, Okonkwo, a well respected Umuofian leader. Umuofian culture is centered around pleasing and respecting spiritual life. Everything within this culture and religion has a specific order; however, the Umuofian culture ultimately reaches its demise when Evangelists arrive to convert the Umuofians to Christianity. As seen through the events that transpire in this novel, from Nwoye leaving his family to letting the osu have a place in society, religion has the potential to both build and break a society. Specifically, religion has the power to break apart families, introduce new ideas into society, and bring hope into one’s life.

The most populous country in Africa with a population of more than 160 million people is Nigeria. Nigeria is home to more than 300 tribes, one of the largest tribes being the Igbo tribe. In the novel Things Fall Apart the igbo culture partly consists of the practice of Polygyny and father-son inheritance. The Igbo tribe are still considered to be harmonious to land through festivals and are famous for their culture around Yams.

One of the major flaws in society is the lack of people with strong convictions. While Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Abeche, is a novel revealing how the European invasion ultimately leads to the destruction of the African society, Chinua demonstrates an underlying message about how some internal flaws also lead to a person’s or society’s demise. The way people begin to follow the ways of the Christians and the lack of action regarding the missionary invasions are key factors in the ruin of the Ibo society. As a whole, the Ibo people do not stand on a clear conviction; thus they fall for another belief. A major cause of the collapse of Okonkwo’s society is the scarcity of attempts to stop the missionary invasion.

In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe talks about two different religions and beliefs. The Igbo society believe in many gods which some of their gods are focused on nature. They worship the earth and try not to dishonor the earth. They don't only worship nature gods but their ancestors are important gods and worship them for their guidance. When the missionaries arrive with their religion “Christianity” the Igbo society is wrecked. The missionaries believe in one supreme god. The god that is the creator of the world believing that men goes for judgement before him when he dies. As Achebe argues “In Things Fall Apart” that British colonialism has a disregard for Igbo Religion, tradition, and government. The British didn't acknowledge how the Igbo society were being

Achebe describes the Ibo to be a traditional group, who strive to continue their lives as their ancestors did. They carry on their traditions such as The Week of Peace and The Feast of the New Yam. The Week of Peace is celebrated in the Ibo village to “observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbour.” It was pure evil to break the “sacred peace” because this week was to “honour our great goddess of the earth.” This peace was very rarely broken and the Ibo thought that if it were, Ani would make a “blessing our crops will not grow.” But during this Week of Peace, the peace was broken. Okonkwo broke the Week of Peace, when he was angry with one of his wives for not returning home to feed the children. Once she came home

One of the most prevalent themes in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is that of the Ibo (or Igbo) society’s traditions and customs. From the way they speak, which is mostly in proverbs, to their everyday lives to the different ceremonies they hold, they lead their lives in order to please their different Gods. When someone in the village does something that is seen as upsetting to the Gods, they are punished, which is what happened to Okonkwo in the Week of Peace. The Week of Peace is a time in the village between harvesting and replanting where no one works and everyone and everything is meant to be peaceful. The week is meant to please the Earth Goddess in hopes that she will reward the village with a good harvest the next season, however, Okonkwo’s signature temper gets the better of him and he lashes out on ones of his wives,

In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a man by the name of Okonkwo struggles to keep the Igbo traditions alive when his village is invaded by the new traditions of the Europeans. Achebe uses imagery, repetition, and compares and contrasts both traditions to help us have a clearer understanding of the importance of the Igbo culture to the older generation. Achebe gives a vivid description of the vast feast that Okonkwo holds to show his gratitude to the people of Mbante for taking him and his family in. At this feast, traditional foods are served in large amounts as though it were a wedding. The feast consisted of foo-foo, yam pottage, egusi soup, bitter leaf soup, and pots of palm wine; food that you would not find in a European

Change, It’s what makes this world go round. Something that will never stop happening. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe there is a cultural society called the Igbo. The Igbo like many other places in the world had uninvited visitors. The white men in the novel were the visitors of the Igbo.

In the fictional novel, ‘Things fall apart’, written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo's family and Igbo culture have fallen apart ever since the missionaries came to Umuofia. When the missionaries arrived at Umuofia, “they had built their church there, won a handful of converts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages.” (Page 143) The new faith accepted the Osus (outcasts) and twins which made some Igbo people convert to Christianity. However, the new religion made Igbo culture look bad and Igbo traditions started to crumble.

The book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a book that talks about the Igbo culture in the community of Umuofia. Okonkwo, who is the main character in this book, is known as a warrior of the Umuofia clan but can also be short-tempered and aggressive at times. Despite his father, Unoka, who was very lazy and weak, Okonkwo was highly respected in Umuofia. The Igbo culture is polytheistic and has many family traditions. Father-son inheritance was one tradition that Okonkwo did not receive from his father, this made him resent his family at times.