In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the African culture is depicted by following the life of Okonkwo, a rather customary and conventional African villager.
Achebe wanted to write a novel that portrays accurately the African society in the mid to late 1800s in Nigeria, at the time the novel is set. As a child, Achebe spoke the Ibo language, but he was raised in a Christian home. Achebe used the knowledge he gained from the African life to put together history and fiction into a novel that he believes correctly illustrates the African culture before and after the arrival of the Christian missionaries.Thus, the reader is given a taste of the “African-ness” of the novel through Achebe’s use of Ibo language and his depiction of culture, religion and folklore in Africa at the time.
The first way that Chinua Achebe uses to give the reader an accurate taste of the African and Ibo tribe is through language. By introducing numerous Ibo words and phrases in his novel, Achebe proves that some of these terms are too complex to be directly translated to English. Hence, Achebe emphasizes the richness of the Ibo language and contradicts all misconceptions that discredit the African language.While some of the Ibo words might be confusing at first, the reader grows to learn some of the basic terms at the end of the novel. Achebe also provides a glossary of Ibo words that a reader can refer to for definitions. Furthermore, the author stresses the presence of various versions of the African language at the time.
For instance, Mr. Brown’s translator is ridiculed by the Ibo villagers when he uses a language that has slight variations to theirs. Aside from the everyday words of the Ibo tribe such as nno meaning “welcome” and iba meaning “fever”, most of the terms that Achebe uses are terms that have religious or cultural denotation.For example, he uses the term egwugwu to refer to “a masquerade who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village” and the term nso-ani to refer to “a religious offence of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally the earth’s taboo”.
It is clear that the definitions of these words relate and pertain to the African culture only and would not be used elsewhere. Proverbs are also an important part of African oral culture. They are included in the novel by Achebe to highlight the wisdom of the tribe.For instance, Okonkwo uses the following proverb to explain his capacity for ard work: “The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did”. Therefore, by using Ibo language and proverbs in his novel, Achebe widens the reader’s idea of the African society at the time, and thus contributes to the African aspect of the novel. On the other hand, Achebe also uses folklore and traditional Ibo stories that contribute to the “African-ness” of the novel.
For example, Ekwefi, one of Okonkwo’s wives, tells her daughter Ezinma, a story that explains why the tortoise’s shell is not smooth.In the story, a tortoise struck by hunger sees birds having a feast in the sky. He convinces them to give him two feathers in order to join them in the sky. The tortoise joined the fest and ate most of the food.
The birds got angry, took away his feathers and disobeyed his request by telling his wife to bring out all the hard items in the house for his landing. When the tortoise jumped, he landed on all of the hard items in his yard and his shell broke into pieces. The pieces were glued back together but the shell was no longer smooth. Another Ibo story that the reader witnesses in the novel is the one brought by Okonkwo.
It is one of several West African tales It explains why mosquitoes buzz irritatingly in people's ears. These stories serve as simple and creative explanations to the different occurrences in the world. They are also part of the African culture and its folklore. These Ibo stories originated and belong to the tribe and they are passed from generation to generation. Achebe includes these traditional stories in his novel to give the reader an insight on their ideas and their way of thinking. The African folklore of the Ibo society also flourishes in events such as the celebration of Uri which takes place one day before a wedding.
Traditional dances are witnessed and African music is played. Therefore, the African folklore, the body of expressive culture, is represented by Achebe in this novel through tales and celebration. This adds to the African aspect of this novel. Achebe also uses social structure and statuses to picture to depict the African culture and life. In the Ibo social structure, the villager harvest yams every year and then purchase titles with the yams they harvest.
This is how men became prestigious in the village of Umofia.This system is used to encourage hard work in the Ibo society, and thus, the wealth and importance of a man is measured by the titles he holds and the yams he harvests. Moreover, to be a strong leader in this African society, one had to possess the Ibo values. Achebe expresses these values through the different characters in the story. For instance, through the character of Okonkwo, who was considered a successful man and a leader in his tribe before his exile, Achebe proves that the ideal Ibo values are hard work, stamina, physical and emotional strength, courage, cooperation and personal worth.Achebe also shows that in this Ibo society, men play a major role in governing the village and are given most of the privileges.
Apparently, polygamy and wife beating is accepted in their society and women have little to no saying in the decisions mean take. Consequently, by describing the African social structure of the village of Umofia, Achebe gives the reader an insight into the politics and the lives of the Africans at the time. With the arrival of the Europeans, there is an emphasis on the remarkable difference between the social lives and structures of the African and that of the Europeans.Finally, Achebe also depicts the traditional religion accurately in Things Fall Apart, especially before the arrival of the Christians in Nigeria.
The traditional religion of the Ibo tribe is part of the highly valued African culture. In the religion portrayed by Achebe, several Gods are worshiped ranging from Chukwu to one’s personal God, known as Chi. A person’s Chi determines his fate and evidently one of the Ibo proverbs says: “When a man says yes his chi says yes also”. A man’s Obi, the living quarters of the head of the family, is devoted to his Chi.
One of the goddess that the Ibo tribe of Umofia worship the most is the goddess of the earth known as Ani. The Ibo people also have a traditional Week of Peace to honour goddess of earth “without whose blessing, our crops will not grow”. Okonkwo committed a crime by beating one of his wives during the Week of Peace. The goddess of Earth imposes strict punishments for committing sins. Moreover, the Ibo village consult Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. This Oracle represents a major part of the Ibo religion.
The villagers consult the Oracle to get answers for important questions in their lives. On a smaller scale, the ritual of the kola nut is one of great importance in the religion of the Ibo society. The nut is passed between host and guest. The host does the honour to crack the nut. They believe that offering the kola nut brings life, and pleases their gods and ancestors.
Chinua Achebe depicts the Ibo culture with great accuracy in Thing Fall Apart. He gives the reader an insight into the African culture at the time hoping he would rase all misconceptions about Africa and specifically Nigeria at the time.The “African-ness” in the novel is brought about by the use of Ibo language and proverbs and by portraying the government, social structure, and the religious beliefs in this African tribe. Through the use of detail in the novel and with the help of the knowledge he gained when he was part of the Ibo society, Achebe succeeds in giving a right image of an African tribe in the 1800s in Nigeria and in painting his novel with “African-ness”.
