Why The Igbo People Were Civilized

The issue in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is that there are many different problems that makes it hard to decide if the Igbo society is civilized or uncivilized. Civilized society means the culture has a social order characterized by a government, a system of justice, a social structure, and some kind of spiritual belief system. Some characteristics of a civilized society are basic freedom rights, patriarchal social structure, hardworking families, organized rules and values,etc. Lastly some characteristics of uncivilized society are men overpowering women, women getting beaten, unfair basic rights, and women not being able to do what men do. In the Igbo society many of their practices are uncivilized in the government due to the exile of Ikemefuna, their beliefs on beating women, and views on gender roles including being oppressive to women.

The language barrier between the colonists and the colonized enables critical misunderstandings to take place. The idea of someone vilifying certain customs and traditions in which he is unfamiliar is very laughable. The District Commissioner was therefore very misguided when he called the Igbo as a primitive tribe. .His statement contradicts very much with the fact that the Igbo people have their own complex language and a highly organized mode of living.

“Civilized Society is when the culture has a social order characterized by a government, a system of justice, a social structure, and some kind of belief system”. The Igbo people are indigenous people of Southern Nigeria. The Igbo culture has many unique attitudes. They comprised of polygamy marriages, beliefs in polytheism, farming customs, and showing of masculinity. In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo society is civilized because it established a justice/ government system as well as gender roles/ relationships.

In things fall apart by Chinua Achebe he is able to portray the igbo people for who they really are. A complex advanced civilization, rich in culture, with artistic traditions, social customs, and are ultimately depicted as a harmonious part of nature. The ibo people were feared by all its neighbors , powerful in war, magic, and it's priest. But the igbo people were often depicted as savages by the europeans but realistically they where never a primitive culture.

White Europeans invaded the African countryside in search of valuable materials but disregarded the African’s humanity during their quest. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the fear of the unknown-- the imperialism--drove the clansmen of the African Igbo culture to their own demise. Proverbs were a central component of the Igbo culture and provided a sense of security

Colonization is the introduction of new ideas to another nation. This form of change creates conflict between the colonizers and those who are being colonized. This can be bolstered and verified by countries such as Nigeria, where missionaries brought new ideas, technology, and religion. These changes and events of colonization in the Igbo tribes are what inspired the book Things Fall Apart by Achebe. As the Igbo become Familiar with the missionaries conflict is created as some convert to Christianity. This is the case for Nwoye, one of the new Christians, as he shows that It is one adaptability and curiosity that leads one to a new way of life and survival.

For the Ibo people in Umuofia, Nigeria culture and traditions played a big role in their lives. The Ibo people were very hard working people and wanted to be warriors. Much like in today’s time they were view as more powerful if they had a bigger family and a bigger hut to house them in. In today’s times we often judge peoples wealth by the size of their homes. The Ibo people believed in the Oracle, who they asked for help or advice from. They also believed in Chi who was a personal god that decided their faith.

Religion is something really big for everyone daily. Especially in the book Things Fall Apart. People in this book believed in all sorts of gods for everything like an earth god or rain god. They worry about them, and they are trying to live a good life so the gods do not punish them or disturb them. Also when the white missionary men came to their villages to teach them about Christianity. Christianity, and the Igbo are two types of religions, they are very different from one another and, so it would be hard to try to do something like that. The two groups have a hard time understanding each other by their beliefs. Also the Igbo people claim that their ancestors are like gods, and that they worship them, that they are very important, and they pray for them for guidance, or help. Especially when the missionaries came in, and try to teach another religion. It made him fierce he did not want his people changing their beliefs, and how they were raised. Whenever the missionaries bring up the main god who made heaven and earth, the Igbo people have a supreme god like that and they

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the Igbo culture experienced tremendous changes before, during, and after the colonial period as clearly illustrated by the writer. For instance, at first, we notice that there were well established social-economic and political structures in Nigeria based on their traditional customs. They had clansmen, members of the can and village elders. Each of these individuals played a particular role in the community. The Igbo people had a unity of purpose as well as a strong believe and faith in their traditional way of life. However, this was not the case when missionaries invaded their ancestral land. Enormous changes were witnessed. Among them include the conversion of people from their traditional beliefs and customs to Christianity, building of schools so as to introduce education to Nigerians, interference of roles, and gender relations among various families members just highlight but a few. Thus, in this paper, my primary objective was to vividly explore the changes that were experience by the Igbo in the Things Fall Apart during colonization and antithetically compare them in a very comprehensive manner with the concept of international development in the contemporary society i.e., past the colonial period. I have therefore made a hypothesis that the changes which took place in Nigeria Igbo community during and after colonization were of two types: there were those that significantly contributed to development, as well as those whose

Through the development of a judicial system implemented to solve societal problems, Igbo culture is depicted as civil due to the enforcement of an unwritten legislative system. This further proves the society as civilized because, without the application of law, the community would feel as if there is no need to abide by anyone’s rules; thus, producing prolific amounts of chaos. Revealed by the clan’s actions throughout the book, it is lucid that the enforcement of the law betters the community’s development into a civilized

Our values are what defines us; it’s an integral part of our lives, the way we live, the mores, traditions, and customs that dominate our lives are all a part of our culture. No society can exist without a culture. Our culture is what binds us together with other people. Customs and Traditions are important in many cultures, and example of this is in Chinua Ache novel “Things Fall Apart.” This essay will analyze the role of traditions and customs of "Things Fall Apart" and consider why these may be vital to this culture of the Igbo society and how their customs changed after the whites have colonized the land.

This article starts off my questioning the readers “does the white man understand our customs about land?” this paper also talks about struggles between family, personal beliefs and customs, these customs are confronted by the white missionaries. This paper also talks about the important aspects in the traditional Igbo culture, the white man’s inability to speak the people’s language. This article will help me articulate my points better on my view of the tradition of the Igbo people and better understand why the changes was hard for the Africans. Also by understanding their tradition I will be able to see how drastic of a change the missionaries did.

Achebe interprets the Igbo culture through the perspective of the protagonist, Okonkwo. Achebe lets his audience acknowledge that in the Igbo culture

Due to the christians’ arrival, igbo society is disunified and weakened. This weakness provides a ripe opportunity for the colonialits to rise to power sharply. An illustration of this scnario can be found in Nwoye, Okonkow’s son, who is greatly displeased by the culture surrounding him. Nwoye’s dissatisfaction motivates him to look towards the missionaries for an alternative route. Obierika is another example of an Igbo person who doubts his own culture.

For instance, the colonial administration introduced the cash crop production and indirect rule in Igbo land. The processes and relationships which revolved around the cash crop production tends to support the Theory of Imperialism’s claim, that the real motive of the British colonial incursion in Igbo land was primarily for selfish economic reasons. Whereas, the introduction of the cash crop production and indirect rule, and other colonial policies in Igbo land; was (is) not only wrongly portrayed as a civilization project but also produced ‘meanings and identities’ as propounded in the North-South Relations theory (Doty