The Book: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Term Paper Example

English Literature ic and Modern) Tradition and Customs in Things Fall Apart The book en d, Things Fall Apart is written by Chinua Achebe in 1958 (1-148). This book circles on the life of Onkonkwo, an influential man in an Igbo village and the struggles he was confronted with which eventually resulted to his dreadful plummet (Achebe 1-148). This paper aims to focus on one of the themes in the story specifically the Tradition and Customs encompassed in the book. The Definition of Tradition Tradition is the handing down of beliefs, opinions, customs, stories and the like of parents to children and generation to generation (Friesz 209). Friesz (209) also emphasized that it is a transmitted or inherent way of discerning or acting which involves unwritten laws that had a tendency to evolve to fit men’s own choices over a period of centuries. Conversely, Nelson (84) defines tradition to imply a body of long-established and generally accepted authoritative forms of thought and behavior. The term is also given the meaning of a situation where knowledge, belief or custom is handed down frequently by word of mouth through successive generations bound in some common activity or form of social action (Nelson 84). Shils emphasized that tradition is a dimension of social structure which is lost or hidden by the temporal circumstances which now prevail in the social sciences (7). Moreover, Shils stressed that the prominence of tradition and its immense influence are too great to be disregarded entirely, which is evident in the literary work entitled, Things Fall Apart wherein the impact of tradition to the male protagonist named Onkonkwo was too imposing that he followed it strictly. Furthermore, the tradition of the villagers guided their decision in every predicament that would arise in their community. The Definition of Culture Whenever the theme of Tradition and Customs are discussed, another concept known as culture usually arises. Traditionally, anthropologists have defined culture as the way of life of a people (Matthews 1). Culture refers to the creation and use of symbols which distinguish a particular way of life whether of a people, a period or a group or humanity in general (Baldwin et al. 4). Likewise, Pohlong added that culture as a way of life includes many components such as technological inventions and devices, customs, folklore, religion and value system, laws and norms, language, art, science, etc. (92). Furthermore, it refers to the totality of these various domains of life and displays the complexity and unity of life; as a result, in a culture various actions and interactions are noticed which in a way people can call the way of life of a people (Pohlong 92). Thus, every action has some purposes or meanings in some way or another; human action has to be judged from the point of view of value rather than factual judgment or as mere collections of facts or patterns of behavior (Pohlong 92). In the work entitled, Things Fall Apart, the people of the village of Onkonkwo deemed that every action has a purpose and each decision chosen and action performed could result to a variety of consequences. The Definition of Custom Custom as defined by Webster is the usage or practice typical to many or a particular place or class or habitual with an individual (308). It is also described as a long established, repeated practice considered as unwritten (Webster 308). Conversely, it is also illustrated as the whole body of usages, practices or conventions that regulate social life (Webster 308). In the aforementioned literary work, the life of Onkonkwo revolved around the customs of their tribe and it was his guiding force in making decisions and which also aided him in everything that he does. Igbo Culture and Theme on Traditions and Customs The Igbo or Ibo people form one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, with about 15 million living in Nigeria and another million living outside; their farming communities are broadly situated between the Niger River in the west and the Cross River in the east, stretching from delta swampland near the southern coast through tropical rain forest to open grasslands to the north (Achebe xix). The Igbo language has dozens of dialects, which came into being for the reason that Igboland was an aggregation of self-contained towns and villages, separated from each other by dense bush; before the twentieth century, it would have been incorrect to speak of the Igbo as a single people; they were composed of over two hundred separate groups (Achebe xix). Although their customs and languages were obviously associated, each group could have been considered a distinct society, consisting of perhaps twenty or thirty villages; an Igbo person who travelled thirty miles in Igboland might have had extreme difficulty in making himself or herself understood (Achebe xix). However, during the colonial period, many Igbo people journeyed far from home and congregated in urban centers, at the work place, and in institutions of higher learning; many realized that what they deemed were diverse languages were discrete dialects of the same language and that all Igbo-speaking people had the same fundamental culture and sociopolitical organization (Achebe xix). Hence, in this view, the notion of a common Igbo identity is a result of the twentieth century (Achebe xix). The Igbo people believe in a supreme god who created all things and demanded obedience; religion has long been an integral aspect of Igbo life (Achebe xxi). Igbo people have smelted and forged iron for centuries and their oral traditions are rich with accounts of iron working and iron use (Achebe xxi). The extensive utilization of iron tools enabled the Igbo people to make better use of the forest (Achebe xxi). The Igbo agricultural system was based on shifting cultivation, a type of rotating cultivation where the same fields were planted for several years in succession and then were left fallow to regain their fertility (Achebe xxi). Crops did best on forest land cleared for the first time, but some people, either reluctant or incapable of handling the back-breaking amount of work needed to clear virgin forest, planted their yams persistently on old farm lands and repeated poor harvests as an outcome (Achebe xxi). Based on the religious tradition of the Igbo people, it was a custom for them to pray to the gods for a good harvest; however, in the story, Onkokwo’s father was depicted as a lazy man who only prayed to the gods for a great harvest, however, his prayers were not granted for the reason that he does not do anything to yield a bountiful harvest; in simple terms, he lacked the initiative so his wish was rebuked (Achebe xxi). The Igbo tradition and customs as shown in the story portrayed a theme that suggests intricacy of societal structure. An apparent feature of the Igbo customs which is also a striking feature of Igbo society was the absence of centralized political structures; the Igbo resided in autonomous villages and towns, governed by their elders (Achebe xxi). With a few exceptions, they organized themselves in patrilineages—lineage groups organized along lines of descent from father to son (Achebe xxi). Relationships were grounded on blood ties, and each person trace his or her descent to three groups namely: uno or house, which is the smallest social unit consisting of a man, his wife or wives, and their children; umunna or lineage, which comprises of a number of related houses and obodo or compact village or town, which encompasses a group of lineages (Achebe xxiii). Such structures were proven to dominate the life of Onkokwo; everything that he does was in accordance with what will benefit his village at the same time, what will be pleasant in the eyes of his village. The literary work also centralizes on the collision of cultures: the Whites and the Africans. Both encompass a variety of customs and traditions. The work showed similarities and differences between them. They both underestimated one group in comparison with their own, for example, Reverend Smith in the story supposed that the Igbo people were savages while the Igbo people deemed that the Whites particularly the Christians and the missionaries were stupid (Achebe 1-148). Such perceptions claimed untrue by the literary work and posed that each culture may have had the wrong notion of another. The literary work also highlighted the inflexibility of the characters and the consequences brought about by such stringency. Onkokwo, for instance, blindly followed their tradition and did not take into consideration what is righteous; thus, it resulted to his self-annihilation, which is accelerated by the arrival of a new culture, that is, the Western culture (Achebe 1-148). In contrast with the trait of the male protagonist of the story, two characters had proven to be intelligent and reasonable in making decisions showing that both cultures can be open-minded to one another. Mr. Brown and Obierika, who is the best friend of Onkokwo, showed how amenable they were to changes that could be good for the majority. Mr. Brown gained the trust of the Igbo people for the reason that he respected their traditions and norms and allowed modifications during the exchange of cultures; likewise, Obierika did not show any prejudice to the foreigners, for the reason that, he is open to the fact that not all changes would be harmful to their village, he deems that such alterations are necessary for their development not only as a society but also as an individual. The two cultures with their tradition and customs both possess diverse traits. For instance, since there is no centralization in the Igbo society, they did not unite and took a stand when they are invaded by foreigners; on the contrary, the British or the White culture is united and moved by a similar aim that is to be able to convert the natives and to provide illumination of the beliefs and misconceptions that the natives have. Finally, it can be concluded that the literary work entitled, Things Fall Apart, is comprised of a rich theme on tradition and customs employing similarities and differences that resulted to a variety of outcomes. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Johannesburg, South Africa: William Heinemann Ltd, 1958. Baldwin, Elaine, Scott McCracken and Greg Smith. Introducing Cultural Studies. United States of America: University of Georgia Press, 2000. Friesz, M.E. The Last Word. United States of America: Xulon Press, 2005. Matthews, Gordon. Global Culture/Individual Identity: Searching for home in the Cultural Supermarket. London: Routledge, 2000. Nelson, John S. Tradition, Interpretation and Science: political theory in the American Academy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986. Pohlong, Basil. Culture and Religion: a Conceptual Study. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications, 2004. Shils, Edward. Tradition. United States of America: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Webster, Merriam. Collegiate Dictionary. United States of America: Merriam-Webster Incorporated, 2004. Read More