Things Fall Apart Analysis

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The Ibo tribe is a very culturally dominant and traditional community of people. The novel, Things Fall Apart, was written by Chinua Achebe. His purpose of writing this book was to change the way the world saw African culture through his main character Okonkwo. The novel focuses on Okonkwo’s adult life and how it is plagued with hardships. When discussing why he wanted to write this book, Achebe states “I had to be a writer. I had to be that historian. It’s not one man’s job” (Brooks). In his book, Achebe describes several death rituals in the Ibo village of Umuofia. Chinua Achebe portrays the death of infants, well-respected men, and those who commit suicide very differently. As it was common for children to die in infancy, in some situations the child was not believed to deserve a proper burial or death ceremony. In the novel, Okonkwo’s second wife Ekwefi loses nine children in infancy before her saving grace, Ezinma lives. After Ekwefi had lost two children in their early years, the third through ninth infants she lost did not receive a death ritual. These children were…show more content…
The death of Ogbuefi Ezeudu, one of the elders in the village had even more ceremony because he was also an oracle of their main God, Agbala. According to Ibo tradition, “the honor of the death varies dependent on the background, title, gender, relationship with family and circumstances around the death” (Brooks). Many people from surrounding villages made trips to pay their honor to Ezeudu. Because he was thought of so highly, a week of peace was declared in the village. As it was a warrior's funeral, “from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups” (72). No work is done during the week of peace and the villagers are supposed to visit with neighbors and share palm wine. Ezeudu was honored with the playing of death beat drum songs. There is much ceremony in the death ritual of a well-respected
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