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Chinua Achebe was born in Ogidi (Nigeria) in 1930, where he grew up and was educated. He graduated in English Literature in London and moved to the US where he wrote and published Things Fall Apart in 1958. The novel helped create the Nigerian literary renaissance of the 1960s and provided a real vision of what Europe had openly ignored. “The African people have varying behaviours, mannerisms, beliefs, thought patterns and way of interaction and all of these differences formed their culture and impacted their way of life. However, with the coming of the Europeans to Africa came cultural infiltration, pollution as well as alteration” (Tobalase Adegbite O. in “Review Masculinity and cultural conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”). Chinua Achebe was able to show the Ibo society and the effects of European colonization.
The African clan of Umuofia in Things Fall Apart is clearly divided by gender. Men and women had strictly different roles. In the Ibo society, men can have as many wives as they can afford to keep. “His development as a successful and powerful person of the clan and his fall as a man covers all patterns of gender discrimination. A successful and powerful person must have more than one wife. This is the symbol of power, prestige and after all success.” (Gatta G. Sawant in “Patriarchy in Things Fall Apart: A Study of Gender Discrimination”.)
There are many tasks men do not do. For example: making dinner. Women are supposed to make dinner for their husbands and their children, usually at a certain time. When this task is not succesfully accomplished in the novel, it creates tension between Okonkwo and one of his wives, Ojiugo. Although it was the Week of Peace, when any kind of fighting is forbidden, Okonkwo beat her. As as consequence for his offense, he must make sacrifices and offerings to the Earth Goddess. Women discrimination is well portrayed by Chinua Achebe. “The female gender is often presented in literature as the sexually domesticated being; a weak vessel whose duties are to produce children and prepare food for the family. A man who fails to fulfil his roles in society is usually referred to as a woman, which demonstrates the underlying attitudes towards women.” (U. Ijem & Isaiah I. Agbo in “Language and Gender Representation in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”).
Men also have set roles in everyday life. They are in charge of laws, except when punishment is ordered by the Earth God through his messenger, Chielo. They are warriors, protectors and providers. Agriculture dictated Ibo society. They depend on the weather. If a man is not capable of providing enough food for his family with his farms, he is seen as not a man. Okonkwo’s father could not support his family, what made him less of a man. He was in debt and a coward. That is why Okonkwo’s biggest fear is becoming his father. Therefore he acts strictly even around his family. Despite men and women both take care of crops, they grow different ones. Women are in charge of “women’s crops” such as beans, cassava and melons. They also take care of the farm animals like goats and chickens. Meanwhile men do “men’s crops” like yams.
Regarding inheritance, only the sons inherit from their fathers. They are also the only ones who help their fathers in their farming work. The daughters cannot inherit and do not help their fathers in the farms. In the novel, Ezinma is Okonkwo’s favourite child, but she is a girl. Consequently, she cannot inherit from her father. She wants to help his father but Okonkwo does not let her. Okonkwo laments that Enzinma was not born a boy.
The art of conversation is important for the Ibo culture and Chinua Achebe portrays this with the use of proverbs in the novel. For instance: “Looking at a king’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast” (chapter 4). There is a ritual in which the visitor is always the first to drink. Then the men and at last the women. Unlike in Europe, there exists a bride-price ritual in which the future wife’s parents have to pay a dowry to marry their daughter. The ritual was performed with broomsticks, taking and discussing the amount of cowries the broom family will take. No money matters are mentioned.
Regarding religion, they are polytheistic. They adore several gods instead of just one like other Asian and Western cultures. These gods control their lives and world. Every god has his or her own ritual and custom. For instance, the Week of Peace is celebrated in order to honor the goddess Ani. They adore her so she will bless their crops. Furthermore, there also oracles that represent the gods on Earth. The are possessed by the gods from time to time and they tell humans what they ought to do.Another sad convention of the Ibo society was the consequences of twins being born. Both babies were put into pots and thrown away in the forest because they were seen as evil spirits.
The Ibo language is also an important part of their culture. Although the novel is written in English, Chinua Achebe introduces many Ibo words into his story. For instance: “egwugwu”, spirits who wander the Earth; ”nso-ani” which is the ending of the Week of Peace and “ilo” which is the village playground. The European missionaries spoke English and needed the help of interpreters, which gave them a bad impression. The missionaries that could speak Ibo language were better received. Not speaking the language is the most dividing thing there can be between two cultures.
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