Jacob Ashcraft
Savic
ENGL 2309
10/16/2016
Tradition: It’s Who We Are It’s Who We Were
What are traditions? Traditions are beliefs or behaviors passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. (Green). Traditions are what many cultures lived by since the dawn of man. It kept the people in touch with their ancestors. Things Fall Apart is a story about the fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Ibo culture and traditions. Okonwko was man who lived his life based on tradition. His whole life was consumed by it. The novel ends with Okonkwo taking his own life. But why would a man whose entire life was based around his traditions defy them by taking his own life? Okonkwo and his people devoted their life to their great traditions and supreme beings. (Alam, para 9). In Ibo society, a man is known for his own achievement a man who fails at this is seen as an ‘agbala’ meaning a woman. (Alam, para 5). Okonkwo despised weakness in anyone especially in himself and his sons. Weakness was for women. When his people began to give up their traditions, he saw them as weak. Okonkwo’s had faith that when the time came his people would rise up and go to war with the white man in order to win back their livelihood. But when the time came “He knew that that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape” (Achebe, Page 205). Okonkwo saw that his people had …show more content…
He stood for what the Ibo were. He followed the beliefs and traditions closely. His values of strength and bravery are the values of the Ibo people. (Alam). When the white man came with their religion, the culture began to change. Okonkwo who was set in the old way reacted as such. He was so set in his ways that he couldn’t adjust to all of the changes. So he dies. His death symbolized the end of the way of the Ibo of old. Sadly, it will never be remember as
Savic
ENGL 2309
10/16/2016
Tradition: It’s Who We Are It’s Who We Were
What are traditions? Traditions are beliefs or behaviors passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. (Green). Traditions are what many cultures lived by since the dawn of man. It kept the people in touch with their ancestors. Things Fall Apart is a story about the fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Ibo culture and traditions. Okonwko was man who lived his life based on tradition. His whole life was consumed by it. The novel ends with Okonkwo taking his own life. But why would a man whose entire life was based around his traditions defy them by taking his own life? Okonkwo and his people devoted their life to their great traditions and supreme beings. (Alam, para 9). In Ibo society, a man is known for his own achievement a man who fails at this is seen as an ‘agbala’ meaning a woman. (Alam, para 5). Okonkwo despised weakness in anyone especially in himself and his sons. Weakness was for women. When his people began to give up their traditions, he saw them as weak. Okonkwo’s had faith that when the time came his people would rise up and go to war with the white man in order to win back their livelihood. But when the time came “He knew that that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape” (Achebe, Page 205). Okonkwo saw that his people had …show more content…
He stood for what the Ibo were. He followed the beliefs and traditions closely. His values of strength and bravery are the values of the Ibo people. (Alam). When the white man came with their religion, the culture began to change. Okonkwo who was set in the old way reacted as such. He was so set in his ways that he couldn’t adjust to all of the changes. So he dies. His death symbolized the end of the way of the Ibo of old. Sadly, it will never be remember as