Sacrifice In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Although there are many incidents of sacrifice in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the boldest ones are the aspects of sacrifice in Igbo culture, and Okonkwo’s reasons for being extremely masculine. Sacrifice is largely shown in the book, as it the center point for most events.
As the Igbo culture has numerous specific traditions, many include rituals of sacrifice. The sacrifices can span from fruit to animals to people. The Igbo people saw these as spiritual symbols- they believed that the body itself was part of the living world but first started in the spiritual realm. Increasing good health and helping with child birth were some possible benefits of sacrificing believed by the Igbo. In fact, it could even aid with defeating -“And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna,” (Achebe 8). They also used sacrifice for respect- they give visiting people a kola nut and palm wine. “After the kola nut had been eaten Okonkwo brought his palm-wine from the corner of the hut…” (Achebe 19). This show also how when they drink the wine there are special rituals that resemble sacrifice. Sacrifice is …show more content…
“…when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna,” (Achebe 62). Okonkwo wants to be the opposite of his father, so he never has a touch of feminism in him. He keeps a hard front and acts without out thinking which gets many people hurt. “Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy- inwardly of course,” (Achebe 28). Okonkwo only shows his feeling internally and wants to keep his image as strong, emotionless, and successful. This causes him to make many decisions he regrets later. Okonkwo has to sacrifice all that he believes is right just to show that he is different from his father; he want to be the opposite of