Igbo Tribe In Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo life is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). When Okonkwo was a boy, his playmates teased him calling, saying that his father was agbala. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was lazy. He did not work on his farm; he died in great debt. He did not acquire a single title. He did not have a barn to pass down to his son. Unoka is a type of man who is scorned in Umofia. He is seen as weak and effeminate. As Okonkwo grows older, he is determined not become a failure like his father. His father was weak; he will be strong. His father was lazy; he will be hard-working. Okonkwo earned his fame by defeating the reigning wrestling champion. Okonkwo diligently plants yam, building a successful farm. He builds himself an obi, has three wives and many children. His fame “rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo will not let one womanly trait sully his reputation. Therefore, he “hate[d] everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). One of these was gentleness. Okonkwo refuses to show any signs of emotion, except his temper. He

Since Okonkwo stood out more than all the other men he was seen as Umuofia's most powerful man. Although Okonkwo is the most powerful man in Umuofia he also has weaknesses. One of those weaknesses is his father, he doesn’t wanna be a weak man and careless like his father. As the white missionaries moved in into their home land, the Igbo people who are unsure of how to react to these traditions either switched to their ways or stayed faithful to their faith. Many people became persuaded of the new religions authorities, however Okonkwo who is an warrior at heart refuses to accept the changes that were taking place in his community.

In the Ibo tribe, women and children were seen as inferior compared to men in the eyes of society. Women have weddings arranged by their parents. After getting married, the women are considered to be the property of the husband. The main purpose of women in the Ibo society was staying home and taking care of the home and children. It was very important for a woman to give birth to a child, preferably a boy so that

Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a story of a traditional village in Nigeria from inside Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel depicts late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and trappings on the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by

Both practices pertain to the recognition and potential role that male tribe members are able to assume. Each show value that is seen in becoming a protector of the women or even the village itself. As the crowd held up Okafo and recited their chant, they included the line “Okafo will wrestle for our village.” (Achebe 53) The chant and especially this line support that wrestling is performed for the purpose of finding a strong, male figure to deem as a protector. This is true for the practice of polygamy as well. If an individual is unable to protect or care for his women, Achebe wrote “he was not really a man. He was like the man in the song who had ten and one wives and not enough soup for his foo-foo.” (Achebe 53) The quote means that it is meaningless to have multiple wives if the husband does not care for and protect them all. This shows that the value of having many wives is not to have several objects in one’s home , but it is a symbol of a man’s ability to be a provider and protector. Both ceremonial wrestling and polygamy are both important symbols that represent the theme of

Before the arrival of European influence, villagers of Umuofia had a single option for a way of life. It was a place to be feared, dominated by war and violent practices. Ibo culture is centered on a patriarchal system based on hierarchy; the highest titles held by male egwugwu in the legal system and the osu at the bottom. The main character, Okonkwo, represents the ambition to strive for a higher position in society in order to gain status: “His life had been ruled by a great passion-to become one of the lords of the clan” (131). Another aspect in Ibo culture is the representation of women. They are undermined in order for men to achieve success; bride prices are used to able men to marry more than one wife and husbands are

Women are very important in some cultures however in others, such as in the Igbo

In the Ibo culture, when a woman was to be married, the family of her suitor would come and inspect her to be sure she was beautiful and ripe enough to be a part of their family. A woman did not have any value other than her beauty and her abilities to cook and bear children. In a conversation between Okonkwo and his friend Obierika, they spoke of two other villages where their ''customs are all upside down'' and ''titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives'' (73).

Okonkwo is initially introduced as a proud, hardworking, successful warrior. He is described as "clearly cut out for great things" (6). But he is the son of a ne'er-do-well father; though genial and inoffensive, Unoka must certainly have been considered a failure. He is lazy and does not provide for his family. Not only is this disgraceful, but life-threatening as well. He is dependent on other members of the clan and must have been considered unsuccessful. Okonkwo chafes under such disgrace and his success is a consequence of his desire to be everything his father is not; society's vision of an exemplar citizen. The fact that Okonkwo is able to rise above his poverty and disgraceful paternity illustrates the Igbo's acceptance of individual free will. But Okonkwo's fate and his disharmony with his chi, family and clan are shown to cause his ultimate disgrace and death.

As Niger has industrialized and moved away from medieval systems and towards a unitary government, there has been a lot more pressure on local people to settle down and dedicate themselves to oasis gardening (Rasmussen 2001:144). This changes the behaviour of men drastically, as they no longer need to live away from their wife’s tent for the sake of the caravan trade for five to six months a year. Men now build adobe houses near their wife’s tents, which eliminates the fear of homelessness if their wife decides to divorce him( Rasmussen 2001:144). This frees him up to begin to practice polygyny, and expand his family to include multiple wives and offspring to help with oasis gardening, thus developing a visible link between reproduction and

The tradition Gbandi social order is fundamentally based on polygyny and prior to the influence of western culture, most man aimed for attained control over several wives, large house hold with many wife and children established the social foundation for man to assume the prestigious status of big house hold and economic basis for controlling substantial productive operation. With these assets, man establishes himself as important member or leader in the community.

For example, knowing how to work the fields is very essential, therefore, male children are taught how to work the easiest crops as soon as they are strong enough. After the children get older they climb the levels of work until they can farm the main crop, yams. Yam farming is a venture undertaken by only the men of the Umuofia community, therefore, yams are grown to gain wealth and also to feed one's family. They are a symbol of masculinity and ability as a provider. "The King of Yams" was an event where men worked for three or four moons to grow as many yams as possible. It demanded hard work and constant attention, "during the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farm cock-crow until the chicken went to roost." (Achebe 13). This shows the importance of farming yams in the Igbo culture, and how it's a male role. The men in the Igbo culture were responsible for protecting their property, family, and specially the tribe they lived in. Not only that, but men were the ones that provided the political decisions in the tribes. For example, if someone had to get punished, they choose what would happen to them. In addition, they would choose if they would go to war with other tribes. These are some of the main things men were supposed to provide in the Igbo

Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop” (Achebe, 1994, p.22-23). This proves that there are gender roles in every aspect of the Igbo culture including the growing of crops. It is a man job to do the yams because yams are the main food staple of the Igbo culture. In this culture is a man’s job to provide for the family. The yams also show masculinity because it shows they're not afraid of hard work. Even if Igbo faction are sophisticated in male/ female jobs and partnership others may argue that Igbo faction are

The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment.

Family plays a big role in everybody’s life. Some families are good and some are bad. But all families are important. In the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, family is very important in the lives of the Igbo. The gender roles of the Igbo family are very important. The father, the mother, and the children of the Igbo family all have different roles. They all do different tasks that help the family and support each other. The gender roles of the father, the mother, and the children are important very important to a Igbo family.