The Role Of The Ibo Society In Things Fall Apart

The definition of civilized is a place or a group of people in the stage of a social, cultural, and moral development that is considered to be more advanced. The Ibo are advanced in many of their ways and how they live together as a community. Through reading Things Fall Apart and other related articles, it is clear for one to see Ibo society has some uncivilized moments, overall it was civilized as seen in their governmental systems, role of women, and traditions and rituals. The Ibo societies way of of governing their people was through ancestral spirits, egwugwu. In the novel, a man’s wife and children, with the help of the women’s three brother, ran away from him because of his abuse. This issue was to be resolved with the help of the

Women most of the time lived to serve their husbands, the novel describes Okonkwo’s family as, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper”(2.13). Men in Ibo were the leaders of their families and were expected to lead strongly to raise good children to leave a legacy. Women were are always seen as lesser so much so that items that were weaker were considered feminine. Okonkwo explains, “His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop.”(3.23). “Women crops” were the easier growing and smaller crops like beans, but “men crops” were tougher like yams because in Ibo culture only a man had the capability to grow these strong plants. There is a whole festival dedicated to one goddess, “It was an occasion to give thanks to Ani,the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. Ani played a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She wa the ultimate judge of morality and conduct”(5.36). The reason for this festival it to have a new start by throwing all the old yams out and eating the new yams and the harvest to honor Ani. Although most women were seen as objects for men to use, a select few like goddesses were seen as more and

One ritual they practiced was praying to their ancestors to help them in their lives. The book explains, “As he broke the Kola nut, Unoka prayed to the ancestors for life and health, and for protection against their enemies.”(1.6). Okonkwo asked the family before to help his family stay healthy and for safety from people trying to hurt them. The Ibo people never went out at night time, unless it was a full moon, to protect themselves from bad spirits. Okonkwo says, ”It was the time of the full moon. But that night the voice of children was not heard. The village ilo where they always gathered for a moon-play was empty. The women of Iguedo did not meet in their secret enclosure to learn a new dance to be displayed later to the village. Young men who were always abroad in the moonlight kept their huts that night. Their manly voices were not heard on the village paths as they went to visit their friends and lovers. Umuofia was like a startled animal with ears erect, sniffing the silent, ominous air and not knowing which way to run”(23.196). On the full moon, all of the villages would meet to sing, dance, and talk with one another. Another tradition in Ibo society was one man having many wives. The Ghana Website said, “Family is generally a patriarchy with polygamy. Okonkwo has multiple wives including Ekwefi, his second, and Ojiugo, his third.” The people had many wives to