Things Fall Apart Ikemefuna Quotes

What happens if traditions are not held within a culture? In every culture, there are certain societal expectations that the people live up to but when they are challenged, cultures collapse. Things Fall Apart illustrates how cultures evolve when new ideas are presented, as seen in the arrival of the British or the “whites” in the novel. Achebe uses Okonkwo's two sons, Nwoye and Ikemefuna, to contrast different viewpoints on popular Igbo traditions such as gender and religious beliefs. In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses Ikemefuna and Nwoye to challenge traditional Igbo traditions. The character of Ikemefuna conveys the importance of the roles of Igbo traditions and customs while showing how he influences Okonkwo’s and Nwoye’s rich character development. Ikemefuna is an unfortunate little boy who comes from another tribe as a peace offering. As a result, he becomes Okonkwo’s adoptive son whom he’s fond of --- “inwardly of course” since he thinks that showing affection meant showing signs of weakness which he loathes with a passion (Achebe 28). Ikemefuna considers Okonkwo's thoughts very well by going to “big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts” and that makes him rise in popularity in the clan which is exactly …show more content…
They are so afraid of what would happen if Okonkwo finds out that they enjoy such feminine stories so they just sit with Okonkwo when he tells them “stories of the land” that is very inclusive in “violence and bloodshed” (53). Nwoye and Ikemefuna bonded over the folk tales from the village Ikemefuna comes from and finds it funny how “the proper name for a corn cob with only a few scattered grains was eze-agadi-nwayi” (34). This proves that even though living up to Igbo traditions is important, youth is too. It reveals that the two boys have many similar interests while still having