Things Fall Apart

Why are traditions so important to a culture? Do the traditions of any society do more harm than good or vice versa? Things Fall Apart is a fiction novel written by Chinua Achebe in 1965. He writes about Okonkwo a wealthy and respected warrior who sees his biological son Nwoye just like his failure of a father Unoka. He soon takes in Ikemefuna a 15-year-old boy and sees in the son who will not disappoint him. When a time comes that Ikemefuna must die because of the oracles Okonkwo makes the boy believe they are visiting his mother, but little did he know he was about to be killed. He tried to get Okonkwo to help, but Okonkwo just decided it was better to obey his tribe’s traditions rather than obey his own beliefs. So he joined in on the killing of Ikemefuna. Throughout the novel the role of tradition is incredibly important and it determines the fate of everyone in the village. In the novel tradition seems to harm the characters more than do them some good. …show more content…
In the novel, Okonkwo is attending a funeral of Ogbuefi Eseudu the elder who warned him about the oracles and his gun explodes and kills Ogbuefi’s son. It is due to the tradition that killing a clansman is a crime. Therefore, the incident leads to Okonkwo and his family going into banishment for seven years. Also because of tradition when they leave for exile Okonkwo’s buildings and possessions must be burnt to cleanse the village of his sins. When it comes to their traditions Okonkwo’s family had to leave their life for seven years because of an accident done by one person. The traditions in the culture of the Umuofia clan hold a lot of power in the tribe and they also decide the fate of everyone even if you have not committed the sin or