Things Fall Apart Religion

Chinua Achebe was educated in the West, though he hails from an African tribe. His exposure to both African and Western thinking gives him a unique perspective on the colonization of Africa, which is argued to be barbaric by some, but beneficial and necessary by others. In “Things Fall Apart,” Achebe perspective comes through as he masterfully describes a pre-colonization African tribe, and how colonization percolated through it. His authentic accounts of the positives and negatives of both tribal society and colonization leave the reader to answer the question of whether imperialism was morally justifiable or not.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tries to bring back up cultural, social, and spiritual basics of traditional Igbo (Ibo) existence from the year 1850 and 1900. The novel cannot be fixed like other societal and political old times of Ibo society since it is a fictional novel. However, the novel describes disagreements and anxiety that occurred in Igbo society. It also shows changes initiated by colonial ruling and Christianity. Colonialism affected the people in the Ibo society by destroying of their family’s relationships, friendships, their religion or even created fights between the tribes. Additionally, Christianity attracted the people of the Igbo society. Igbo and other societies were changed considerably due to this variety of

“That was a source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan; but many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man’s god would not last. None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in the assembly of the people. None of them was a man of title. They were mostly the kind of people that were called efulefu, worthless, empty men” (Achebe 143). Little did the people of Umuofia know that, oftentimes, people whom one individual may consider insignificant, there is someone else who will see their significance. All it takes is one person to make a difference, and eventually, those numbers will begin to multiply to make incredible changes.

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe tells a story set during the British colonialism of Nigeria in the late 19th century. Of the descriptions that Achebe makes, one of the most significant is the British District Court officers and the egwugwu. There are several superficial similarities between the District Court officers and the egwugwu. These similarities include their relationship with the people of the culture. The egwugwu are masqueraders who impersonate the gods of the Igbo culture and settle disputes of the people of Umuofia. Most of the time the impersonators are local leaders of Umuofia. While the District Court officers work in the courts of the British Empire and settle disputes of the people and enforce the laws

Prior to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Africa had been viewed as a one dimensional entity, opposed to the amount of diversity it contains. Africa is the second largest continent behind Asia. This massive size, and varying terrain must encompass people as diverse as the landscape. These people can not be deduced to a stereotyped term of being “African”, because each African does not fit the preconceived image of what an african is. It is not a country it is a land mass with people, animals, and vegetation, that differ by all the many regions. This outline that has been constructed of what makes up an African is due to underrepresentation in the media. Achebe demolished this notion for his readers, by creating a world the reader can

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.

“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” (“Mahatma Gandhi Quotes” 1). The culture of a certain tribe, clan or group of people is not found written anywhere but it is found in the knowledge of its people because that is what they’ve grown up to learn. To them that is the only way they know. In Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, the people of Umuofia keep their culture close to what it was when it was discovered by their ancestors. The only changes that they made were made to fit the community as time had changed since their ancestors had been alive. However, their beliefs and morals remained relatively the same because that is what they have been taught for as long as the Ibo tribe has been around. These beliefs are all they know and they all live by them. Throughout Achebe’s piece, it is evident that he wants to emphasize the distinct Ibo culture in this book. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe stresses the importance of culture to a community by using cultural aspects such as, the Ibo language, their religion, and the traditions of the Ibo people.

In Things Fall Apart, the witch doctor’s many unorthodox forms of treatment for Ekwefi’s ogbanje, or evil spirit, show how the values of religion and society can lead the members of the Igbo tribe to commit atrocities. After the witch doctor diagnoses the cause of death, he gives Ekwefi many treatments for getting rid of the ogbanje, one of these being the mutilation of a baby’s corpse in order to keep the evil spirit away. The witch doctor then throws the scarred body of the child into the Evil Forest, where it presumably rots away and is eaten by wild animals. Unnecessary violence like the murder of twins, and the murder of Ikemefuna is not the fault of an individual, but the result of a society that has told African people these acts of violence are not only good, but necessary in order to maintain order.

Throughout the course of the book Achebe frequently uses African worlds and phrases to describe and show the different aspect of Igbo culture. The familiarity in, which the narrative focuses on the African language creates a sense of authenticity to the writing. What is unique about the narrative tone found within the book is that not only does the author frequently insert the african language within the diction, but the way he translates or explains the words in plain english so the readers who are unfamiliar with the language can still follow, for example: “ ‘Agbala do-o-o-o! Umuachi! Agbala ekene unuo-o-ol’ It was just as Ekwefi had thought. The

Chinua Achebe starts out his book by showing the thriving Ibo culture in all aspects in Umuofia. He starts out by describing what the culture is mostly about he does this by following the life of Okonkwo who lives by the Ibo culture. This is shown when he talks about the respect Okonkwo has gotten. “Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered.”(Achebe pg.8) This quote shows the basis of the Ibo culture. The people of Umuofia lived by their achievements and was judged on what they accomplish. Among the cultural interactions between the people they believed in an oracle who made decisions that they had to follow. Everybody in Umuofia followed these decisions either why’s they would make the oracle/gods mad. “Yes, Umuofia has

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

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.

In my reading of Things Fall Apart, it has better informed me of a culture that I did not know of before, and by reading it helped correct some broad misconceptions that I previously held of the people and their cultures of Africa. Reading the novel also gave me another perspective on the effects of imperialism/colonialism by the Europeans on the Africans. I believe Achebe has succeeded in enabling the West an opportunity to have them "listen to the weak" (Achebe interview), but whether or not Western society decides to listen will come down to the individual within the society--if they do choose to listen to the call of the "weak." In this essay I will share

To start off, Achebe uses proverbs throughout the novel. A proverb is a short saying or story that tells the truth or a piece of advice. In Achebe's case, proverbs are used to tell the traditions and explain the culture of the Igbo tribe. These proverbs tell of traditions, culture and history. For example, a passage in chapter one tells us a story about Unoka and his neighbor Okoye, in which Achebe describes a custom of the Igbo tribe. In the proverb, Okoye brought Unoka a kola nut which is supposed to "bring life" (Achebe, 3). The proverb then goes on to say that "Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health, and for protection against their enemies" (Achebe, 3). This

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.