Things Fall Apart Essays (1362 words) - African Writers Series

Things Fall Apart The culture of the Umuofia society before the colonial infiltration, may be hard to understand but we are forced by Achebe to realize it has traditions and customs that make it work. Although, looking at it from our Judaeo-Christian point of view we may be appalled by some of their practices. We also have to realize that they have strengths. Things Fall apart is the idea of balance and interdependence, earth and sky, individual and community, man and woman or different perspectives on the same situation. The central image of this balance is contained in the Ibo concept of chi, which occurs throughout the novel. A persons chi is their destiny, his inner self, you wouldn't challenge your chi to a wrestling match, as did Okonkwo when he assisted in the killing of Ikemefuna, whom he loved and who called him father. Okonkwo sins not only against the earth goddess, protector of family relations, but also against his inner most feelings or his chi. Any bad luck that occurs, people of this c ulture would say that you have a bad chi. Okonkwo's destiny is marked by bad luck, one reason may be that he is so driven by the fear of resembling his father that he struggles to express part of his personality with predictably afflicted results. This was a society where a man was judged by his own achievement and not that of his fathers. Yams were the primary crop of Umuofia. A sign of manliness was if you could farm yams to feed your family. Okonkwo is respected because of his hard work. The complex patterns of Umuofia's economic and social customs materialize throughout this novel as we see Okonkwo compelled to rid himself of any similarities that his father had. Unoka had no titles, was lazy and when he died was greatly in debt. Some may wonder how a society like the Ibo's functioned, how they enforce its laws with no kings, no organized police force, and no standing army. Indeed this is something our modern culture could study. These things were accomplished through the functions of the masked spirits. The Egwugwu, represents the village's highest spiritual and judicial authority. The masked spirits are believed to represent their ancestors. This supports the myth The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. There was a coming and going between them, especially at festivals and also when an old man died because an old man was very close to the ancestors, as we saw when Ezeudu died. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transitional rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors. The Egwugwu is made up of the titled men of the village, they have legal, moral and religious authority. They have a working system of peace and order. this is demonstrated by t he trial of Uzowulu for beating his wife. They had a sense of community, the week of peace came at the end of the carefree season and before the harvest and planting season. During the week of peace Okonkwo broke the peace and was punished, as was the custom, by Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess. He told Okonkwo, even though his wife was at may have been at fault, he committed a great evil. During the Week of Peace you are to live in complete peace no matter what the circumstances, the evil he did could ruin the whole clan. The feast of the New Yam is similar to our Thanksgiving, it was held every year before the harvest began, to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. The second day of the new year was the day of the great wrestling match between Okonkwo's village and their neighbors. Okonkwo's second wife Ekwefi, loved this festival. Many years ago when she was the village beauty, Okonkwo had won her heart by throwing the Cat in the greatest contest. She did not marry him then because he could not afford he bride price. In this culture they bargained over a bride price in Ekwefi's case it had been a cow, being a symbol of wealth