preview

The Civilization Of Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

Good Essays

Civilization of Nigeria in Things Fall Apart Africa was always a savage place with no civilizations or so the white man thought. When the British first came to Africa to colonize it, the British writers wrote about how it was a savage land and had no makings of a civilization. That was completely wrong. A group of people cannot survive for thousands of years without some aspects of civilization. The novel Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe) talks about and shows examples of all seven elements that make a civilization. Things Fall Apart shows some aspects of civilization such as religion, government, and social structure. In the novel, Achebe shows the Igbo culture is a fully functioning civilization. In the time that the novel took place, Nigeria had a religion in each of the villages. In Things Fall Apart, there was a Oracle of the Hills and Caves called Agbala. People from all around would go to Agbala to discover what their future was, and to consult with the spirits of their departed fathers. The priestess Chielo talked to the Oracle and asked it for guidance. Chielo told the villages the will of Agbala ,and she would take part in religious ceremonies. Agbala was the chief god of Umuofia but in other parts of Nigeria, the villages would have a different chief god. Also, every man in the village had his own personal god, and everyday he would pray to him. In the man’s obi, he would set up a shrine to worship his god ,and if he did something wrong or had a bad

Get Access