Similarities Between Igbo And Things Fall Apart

In Igbo and Hispanic culture there is a huge emphasis on family and community. In Hispanic culture family is incredibly important for example, Día de los Muertos is a cultural holiday in which families honor their relatives who have passed. This is comparable in Things Fall Apart by how there are large families through polyamory which is exemplified by Okonkwo having multiple wives, “…and had just married his third wife” (p 8). His family and many others in the Igbo culture is like Hispanic culture because it is a very family-oriented culture. Another similarity is that both cultures have rituals that are crucial to the community. In Igbo culture there is the Feast of the New Yam, where they give thanks to the earth goddess in preparation for harvest as described in the

Okonkwo is seen going to his own private house where he can pray to his god and ancestors, “He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut, food and palm-wine” (p 14). This insinuates that even though they are polytheistic, but they also worship alone which is different within Hispanic culture by how people don’t worship alone but instead gather at a church and come together as a community. Their religious customs are even different like, for example, how the Igbos treat death. When Okonkwo dies, his life becomes meaningless because of the way he died and it is seen as an evil act upon the land and the others must cleanse it, Obierika tells the Commissioner when they see Okonkwo’s body, “We shall make sacrifices to cleanse the desecrated land” (p 208). The Igbos see Okonkwo’s death sin-like and must go through a process, in Hispanic culture death is very religious and there is an entire process where most importantly it mainly takes place in a church and everyone gathers to mourn no matter the way the person has