Igbo Society In Things Fall Apart

Societies rise and fall; They destroy and are destroyed. The disadvantage of one may cause the prosperity of another. This leads to an unfortunate way of life, where the winners naturally get to tell the story of their triumphs, and those conquered do not. One example of this would be Britain and Nigeria during the late 1800’s, when missionaries began converting Ibo people to Christianity, forever changing their way of life. Things Fall Apart, a book by Chinua Achebe, covers this tragedy. We see Ibo culture and life being quickly dissolved by the missionaries in less than a few years, all in the perspective of the Ibo people. Achebe sums the book up perfectly in one quote: “Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always …show more content…
America always had a second hand look into their culture, told by the Europeans that had colonized there. They would describe the society as primitive, uncivilized, and ignorant; but we now see that, on the contrary, Ibo culture was incredibly complex. They had laws, classes, titles, and many more societal structures, just as we do. They had an elaborate religion, used currency, and even had guns. It was not at all a primitive society. Unfortunately this was not the mindset of most missionaries. In Things Fall Apart, we see the very beginning stages of conversion. In part two, we see Mr. Brown, who is the first white missionary in Umuofia and Mbanta, is a kind, understanding man with respect for Ibo people. He took the time to understand Ibo religion, and kept an open mind. Later, however, he is replaced by Reverend James Smith, who was strict and intolerant. “He saw things as black and white. And black was evil.” He blatantly disrespected Ibo culture and even considered it the work of the devil. This may be symbolic of how the general respect of Ibo culture declined as the missionaries gained more converts. As the missionaries continued to change Ibo people, they became crueler to the ones who stayed loyal to their own …show more content…
Even the roles one has in that community is an important component of the culture. We see a myriad of examples in Things Fall Apart. The society is heavily based on kinship, a strong bond with family members, as well as ancestors. It was also a patriarchal society, where men and women had strict roles. Men were hunters and farmers, while women cared for their children and did housework. For their environment, technology, and location, this structure worked. It was no less complex than any other civilization. Their gods had stories and origins, and there were laws and rules. There may have been more superstition, but that isn’t necessarily bad. These people weren’t the most advanced society to exist, but they certainly had an incredibly complex