How Does Achebe Show Two Different Cultures In 'Things Fall Apart'?
Freddie Bell 10B
How Does Achebe Show Two Different Cultures In ‘Things Fall Apart’?
Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” Shows us the huge cultural difference between Umuofian and western society. Many of the religious differences and the difference between the role of a man and a woman would not be widely acceptable for the Missionaries. The main Character in the novel is Okonkwo, a typical stereotype of the African people. Achebe does his best to show the reader that there is some reasoning behind is vicious nature.
One custom of Umuofia that is very different from the Missionaries is the custom of marrying many wives. This is allowed, and even encouraged in the nine villages of Umuofia. In fact, the more wives a man has, the wealthier he is supposed to be. One wealthy man described in Things Fall Apart, had nine wives and thirty children, Okonkwo himself has three wives and eight children.
The Missionaries teach that having only one wife, instead of several, is the correct form of marriage. Whereas in Umuofia it is practiced and even encouraged by the majority of its people.
Another difference between the two cultures portrayed in the novel is the worship of more than one god. The people of Umuofia even have their own personal god, or chi. "A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi" (page 131). It is practically compulsory to make sacrifices to the gods, as Unoka reveals in the novel, "Every year... before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice A cock to Ani, the owner of all land. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams" (page 17). This shows the importance of religion in Ibo society. It is believed in Umuofia that your crops will fail if you do not pay respect to the earth goddess Ani.
Modern Christians believe in only one god, who created the universe and everything in it, and they do not offer sacrifices to their god. In umuofia, there are many gods, butt there is one “supreme god”, Chukwu, because according to Ibo religion, he made the world and all the other gods.
