Things Fall Apart

Emily Leverone

Modern World History

Mr. Booker- F

Things Fall Apart

Cultural:

'No work was done during the Week of Peace. People called on their neighbors and drank palm-wine. This year they talked of nothing else but the nso-ani which Okonkwo had committed. It was the first time for many years that a man had broken the sacred peace. Even the oldest men could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past.

The "Week of Peace" was one of the means of unification for the people of the Ibo village in Nigeria. It was a sacred week observed before the planting of crops and appeasement for the gods in control over the crops. During this week no work is to be done. People are to be at peace with one another, inflicting no violence at all. It is also a time of fellowship with each other in their huts. Okonkwo defies this week by beating on of his wives for not being there to cook dinner for him. He was punished, as was the custom, by Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess. This was significant in being the first offence to his culture and the start of his breakdown to the Igbo society.

Political:

"We have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that you may be happy. If any man ill-treats you we shall come to your rescue. But we will not allow you to ill-treat others. We have a court of law where we judge cases and administer justice just as it is done in my own country under a great queen."

The District Commissioner for the white missionaries talked to the six leaders of the Umuofia about their ways towards others and that they would no longer tolerate it. These actions made by the white missionaries progress the plot in which by their takeover and conforming the Ibo tribe into their own ways. The missionaries take their beliefs and show them to the tribe trying to convince especially the younger, more susceptible members that their old ways can't fulfill their desires for things that the past did not agree with. The missionaries use their political force over the Ibo people as a means of evangelical teachings to further their cause.

Social:

"I am calling a feast because I have the wherewithal. I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash my hands with spittle. My mother's people have been good to me and I must show my gratitude."

Okonkwo had been exiled from his native land for murdering a sixteen-year-old boy. He had been well received in the land of his mother and taken good care of with farming by his extended family. Although he was in good hands, he was very