Cultural Themes in the Characters of "Things Fall Apart
Cultural Themes in the Characters of "Things Fall Apart"
The book Things Fall Apart is about Okonkwo, a strong man whose life is dominated by anger and fear. It is about the rise and fall of this great man due to unforeseen events that occur. In my paper I will discuss the cultural aspects of the book, the themes of the story, and my personal opinions of the book itself.
The story takes place in a village, located in Nigeria, named Umuofia. Umoufia is the most feared village in Nigeria and is know for its strength and for war. The people of Umuofia were of the Ibo religion. They believed in one great god, called Chukwu, lesser gods, and ancestors. They would worship these gods and ancestors for various reasons such as for better harvests, fertility, to get out of debt, and for health. Society in Umuofia was built on status. To obtain high status in this community, one must possess the qualities of strength, wealth, and war. One must also have taken at least one of the four titles. Men who had not taken a title were considered agbala, meaning a man with no title, or a woman. Men were the head of the households and often had more than one wife. The man and his wives would stay on the same compound, but in different huts with their children. The women would clean, cook, and raise the children, while the men worked on the harvest. If women helped with the harvest, they would grow small crops such as rice and beans, while the men grew yams. And this is how it was; this was village life before the European invasion.
One of the important themes of this story was that of overcoming adversity within oneself and stepping out of someone else’s shadow. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was lazy and incapable of thinking about the future. He was irresponsible with money, often spending it on wine. He was always in debt and owed everyone money. Unoka was a failure. Unoka was poor and his family would sometimes go hungry. He was also a coward and hated war.
Okonkwo hated his father and was ashamed of him. He had become the exact opposite of him. Okonkwo was cut out of great things. He thrived on war. He had won fame...