StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Religion in Things Fall Apart - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
There are several theological conceptions that are talked of in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart. This has a lot to do with the fact that the novel talks of the pre-colonial and colonial cultures that prevailed in Africa. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.8% of users find it useful
Religion in Things Fall Apart
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Religion in Things Fall Apart"

of Religion in Things Fall Apart There are several theological conceptions that are talked of in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart. This has a lot to do with the fact that the novel talks of the pre-colonial and colonial cultures that prevailed in Africa. This can then be connected to ideas of the society of the time and the ways in which life was led in those times in Nigeria amongst the members of the Igbo tribe. All of this is told to the reader through the narrative of Okonkwo’s life that culminates in a tragedy that involves in it forms from various genres and cultures. The novel is one of the most influential of twentieth century works of literature and is considered to be one of the landmark novels in English literature and postcolonial literature. What constitutes a man in the novel can be seen from the description of what constitutes success within the Igbo tribe, according to Achebe. This would include worldly success as well as spiritual ascent. This is indicated through a variety of gestures within the novel on the part of the writer and the other members of the society that the novelist is a part of. The different aspects of the way in which Achebe and Igbo life looks at man is seen in this passage from the novel He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. (Achebe) This idea of the man is then derived not only from the material aspects of life but also from the spiritual; aspects of it. This can be seen from the fact that Okonkwo is also assigned spiritual responsibilities as a result of the social position that he held. He is assigned the responsibility of taking care of Ikemefuna, something that becomes very important as far as the progression of the plot is concerned. Apart from this, the fact that Okonkwo is a part of the Igbo priesthood is also very significant as it points to his position within the spiritual society of the Igbo community. His removal from the priesthood is also accompanied by a fall in his social status and this points towards a connection between religion and society in the material sense of it as far as the Igbo community was concerned. The aim of life in such a society is to regenerate the society itself through a flourishing of human lives. This is what the religion also enjoins as is seen from the high price that it places upon the crime of murder. The price that Okonkwo has to pay for the one mistake that he makes is enormous. This can also be seen to be a worldview that he shares in when he says, “my children do not resemble me. Where are the young suckers that will grow when the old banana tree dies?” (Achebe). This emphasis on the regeneration of the society and the urge to see oneself in the future generations can then be seen to be the basis of a social form of religion in Things Fall Apart. These lies are the story of how Okonkwo is unable to be satisfied with his own son and often compares him to his father who he felt was not somebody who had led a productive life. What is true and what is false, is also something that like traditional western religions, do not have their basis entirely in rationality and scientific beliefs. The beliefs that are upheld are often arbitrary and the very nature of the traditional religion supports this kind of an ambiguity in the ways in which religion works within traditional African society. This is then the result of a great many years of ossification of the traditional structures of religion. Such structures are then broken down in the face of colonialism within the novel. As important as an analysis of the traditional structures of the religion is the idea of the changes that were brought about in these ideas of tradition by the notions of colonial modernity that were predominantly Western. This can then be connected to Okonkwo’s inability to adapt to the Western models of living and religion. The notions of arbitrariness can be seen in this conversation- "The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger," Okonkwo said. "A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm." "That is true," Obierika agreed. "But if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it." (Achebe). The importance of these lines lies in the fact that it reveals the strength that religion held over the minds of people. What was true or false did not matter. What mattered were the arbitrary decisions that were taken by religious institutions. Notions of suffering were not peculiar to human beings. Gods too could suffer under the Igbo dispensation. For instance in this passage, It was well known among the people of Mbanta that their gods and ancestors were sometimes long-suffering and would deliberately allow a man to go on defying them. But even in such cases they set their limit at seven market weeks or twenty-eight days there is an attempt at making the true nature of the gods known. Suffering for the gods was not an eternal experience. This was similar for men as well. This stability is changed with the appearance of the colonizer who would then be unable to accord respect to the native religion. The sufferings that the people underwent as a result of their religion would then be connected to their notions of honor that would need to be avenged. This passage makes clear some of the notions regarding death within the Igbo tribe. "It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offence against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. That is why we ask your people to bring him down, because you are strangers." (Achebe) This pas sage makes it clear that there were associations of impurity that were made with death in the tribe. The committing of suicide was not without its implications for both the society and the person who had committed the sacrilege. Death is thus, an event that is both social an individual. To look at the theological aspect of it, there is an assertion that death is an important part of the life of a human being. It is also given the status of the event that regenerates the society as the entire death is fashioned in the form of a social tragedy. Death becomes a form of retribution for the actions of a person and the society that that person was a part of. This can be seen explicitly in the death of Okonkwo. The various questions that are answered in Things Fall Apart are not answered through the perspective merely of a person who is a follower of traditional Igbo religion. Achebe was a follower of Christianity and was influenced by its tenets when he wrote this book. The analysis of religion in this novel then needs to be a nuanced analysis. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Religion in Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1467838-religion-in-things-fall-apart
(Religion in Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1467838-religion-in-things-fall-apart.
“Religion in Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/religion-and-theology/1467838-religion-in-things-fall-apart.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Religion in Things Fall Apart

The role of the missionaries in Achebe's Things Fall Apart

hellip; Missionaries play various roles in Achebe's things fall apart.... As a matter of fact, it is though the imposition of a new western culture to the Igbo people through force; that ‘things fall apart'.... The second role of missionaries in Achebe's things fall apart is complementing colonialism.... This is because, the African communities throughout the continent had social, political and cultural values that served them just fine, and therefore they did not need to be saved from the uncivilized culture, through the intrusion of new religion that was forced and imposed on them against their wishes....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart

What's more, our reading of the white European in things fall apart is further complicated by Achebe's insistence on remaining hidden behind a further layer, that of his narrative voice.... This essay "Chinua Achebe - things fall apart" focuses on a story of colonialism and of the imperial conquest of Nigeria.... This feeling, that the white man and his religion were somewhat foolish is only confirmed when those members of the tribe who join the new religion are precisely those who are considered lowly in Agbala society: Chielo, the priestess of the Agbala, speaks of these lowly ones as “the excrement of the clan, and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Tone and voice in Things Fall Apart

In the paper “Tone and voice in things fall apart” the author analyzes a watershed novel in which artistic achievement and cultural reeducation form a perfect balance.... The following passage exemplifies Achebe's use of tone and voice in things fall apart: "You say that there is one supreme God who made heaven and earth," said Akunna on one of Mr.... (Achebe, Chinua, 1994) All told, both major and minor symbols and imagery are expressed, in the main, through proverbs: "Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten" (Achebe, Chinua, 1994) The literary analysis of things fall apart reveals one of the novel's attractions: Chinua Achebe's technical style....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Things Fall Apart

in things fall apart, the only thing that falls apart is Okonkwos life, because of his stubbornness to adapt.... ?That sense of balance between good and bad, assures an agreement with the laws and punishment for those who risk into impunity that things fall apart by Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe's things fall apart tells about the Igbo Land in the eastern part of Nigeria, in the turn of the twentieth century.... n things fall apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a perfect Igboman and principally concerned with the obsession of authority and its impacts among the Igbo tribe....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe

things fall apart by Chinua Achebe provides an insight into how religion played a significant part in the lives of people in Nigeria.... They believe that the supernatural being could help them in their troubles and give them good things.... He explains how missionaries influenced Ibo's religion by bringing in a new religion – Christianity.... … The influence of missionaries on the religion of Ibo during the pre-colonial period was seen to invoke a sharp resistance from the Ibo people....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Religion & Discrimination In The Workplace

From a legal position, there is a line that highlights the relevance of non-discrimination as it comes to religion in the workplace.... nbsp;… As the years go by and people continue to evolve, some things remain a constant force throughout modern society.... The paper "religion & Discrimination In The Workplace" highlights that to have the right to earn a living while being able practices the religious beliefs desired, is something that many find within themselves a sense of identifying with each other one....
12 Pages (3000 words) Coursework

Descriptive Definition of Religion

It does seem as though Jainism is not so much a matter of community as it is about self-development … Hinduism, on the other hand, conforms most readily to the given definition of religion in that it expresses a clear doctrine that informs a “way of life” and the rituals involved.... "Descriptive Definition of religion" paper states that the overlapping nature and similarity between the previously considered religions make it difficult to understand glaring differences among them....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Religious Tolerance

Hinduism is not a religion in the classic sense since there is no single founder, the center of the origin, or single scripture.... This research paper "Religious Tolerance" discusses religious tolerance that is inbuilt into the teachings of every religion.... As elaborated in the paper every major religion asks for peaceful coexistence with others.... Few consider that it has nothing to do about Islam but it is a war between fundamentalists and moderates irrespective of the religion....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us