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The Struggle between Change and Traditions

In the 19th century when imperialism played a big role in the world, many little countries in Africa were terrified. Africa, especially, was concerned by this movement. Many tribes had been conquered by world powers in those days. However, imperialists did not only want to have the African resources, they also wanted to show the “underdeveloped” Africans how much better the European culture was, in particular, their countries. Many Africans saw this very critically because their culture did not play a role in their lives anymore. __Things Fall Apart__ by Chinua Achebe reflects these times very well. His novel talks about the big conflict between change and tradition and how Okonkwo, the main character, handles this intervention.

Culture plays a huge role in the novel. The Igbo have many rituals, which show the solidarity of their village. However, their traditions are not only celebrations, gods, get-togethers or dancing around the fire, like most people would think. Igbo traditions affect and include the family structure, gender roles and, of course, society and religion. A big part of the Igbo religion is the gods. Achebe shows very often in his novel how much the gods bear a meaning for the Igbo society. Okonkwo, especially, cares about his reputation and through that also about his //chi//. Religion is one of the most important elements of the Igbo culture. It controls their whole life; most of the Igbos orientates their live to the religion. Also one important component of our and the Igbo’s lives is the family life, which connects to the religious life. The families have clear structures, which affect their daily routine; women have to take care of children and household, compared to the European society in that time, the Igbo people have a really old point of view of a family life. For outsiders, it looks like the more wives, huts and children a man has the higher his reputation and wealth. But the Igbo do not emphasize their wealth or other statuses; they also care about their family. “ And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace.”(29). However, brutality is also a big issue in the community and combined with traditions it is much worse. The Igbo society has also rules like us, but sometimes they are the most brutal rules and that makes it so hard. Okonkwo set a good example for this. This is the time where he struggles the first time with his won religion. ““Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. They will take him outside Umuofia as the custom, and kill him there. He calls you his father.” [...] Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna." (57;63) However, as you can see traditions are hard to follow and brutal, but they are still a part of their life.

Proverbs also belong to important parts of their society. The proverbs are important to the village to increase their knowledge, built up a wealthy community and the knowledge nourishes. In the novel, Okonkwo has a father he is not really proud of; his father was lazy, untrustworthy, and he never earned titles like nearly every man in the tribe did. Okonkwo never wanted to be like his father and tried to live the complete opposite. Achebe shows this also through the proverbs how this issue affects even the society. "If a child washes his hands, he could eat with kings.” (8) Okonkwo has washed off his background; he is now the complete opposite of his father. Now he is a wealthy farmer, has two barns full of yams, has three wives and a distinction as the best wrestler.However, there are not only proverbs which consist out of one sentence. Sometimes the mothers tell their children stories which lecture them. A good example for this is “The Story of Tortoise”. Tortoise is a convincing speaker who converts the birds to take him along. He tells every one to take a new name for the feast. He is choosing the name “All of you”. The men in the sky explain they had prepared the feast for “all of you”, meaning all of the birds. However, since that was the name which Tortoise had chosen, he ate the best portions of food and drank two pots of palm wine. They were very angry and left Tortoise in the sky without wings. Tortoise sent a message with Parrot asking his wife to put soft things around his home so he could fall and land safely. However, Parrot told Tortoise’s wife to put hard things around their home. When Tortoise jumped from the sky, he crashed. He did not die, but his shell broke into pieces. The lesson you can learn out of this story is that even if you are a good convincer, you can be beaten with your own game. This story shows some similarities between Tortoise and Okonkwo. "Tortoise saw all these preparations and soon discovered what it all meant…he was full of cunning" (96). Both have great importance to accomplishment, that the praise of others and inclusion in their activities was one of the most important achievements to strive for during his life. Theproverbs reflect the life of the Igbo people, in this case Okonkwo’s life, and they have moral in it. The moral is very important because it can spare you many mistakes.

This leads us to the laws of the Igbo society. The Igbos have clear rules, which have to be followed. Okonkwo struggles very much with this part of his society. He is a strong man and a man who wants to show this. However, sometimes he scandalizes with his behavior. A big rule is that when the gods of the Igbo people determine something, for instance, the death of Ikemefune, Okonkwo’s adopted son, the tribe have to comply with it. Also one of the most important rules is not to betray its fatherland. But Okonkwo encounters this problem very soon in the novel. “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It is a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who mitted it must flee from the land […] that night he collected his most valuable belongings into head-loads.” (124; 125) It is a little bit like today. When a person committed a crime, he or she get punished for it and in this case Okonkwo gets punished by leaving his fatherland. All these traditions and the rules are quite hard to follow for Okonkwo but in the end we will see how hard it is to live in a totally different culture and that this is even harder.

In the last part of the book Achebe shows the struggle between his traditions and the change, which is embodied by the moving and the English imperialists. Okonkwo struggles very much with the idea of the changes of the Imperialists. His fatherland was always something that symbolized concealment and no change. Now his world crashes down by this change. His fatherland his not the home he knew anymore. The English changed their religion, culture, the thinking of people, traditions and the lifestyle. “Okonkwo’s head was bowed in sadness as Obierika told him these things. “Perhaps I have been away too long,” Okonkwo said, almost to himself. “But I cannot understand these things you tell me. What is it that happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?” Okonkwo thinks this change only happened because he left his fatherland and thinks he is responsible for everything. He cannot believe that his friends and family gave their self away so easy and if he should also believe in these things or if he devote his own believes. His struggle between change and traditions begins.