Igbo Culture

People won't always get along with one another. There's no getting around it. They form different beliefs and ideas that will inevitably clash with and contradict other people’s ethics. Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart taken place in 1890’s Nigeria, the Ibo people inhabiting the many villages have a distinct culture and way of living. The principles of which they live by may seem strange and irrelevant to those of an outside society. In Achebe’s novel, the European white people intensively integrate themselves into the Ibo’s land and bring their own culture with them. The white’s standards of living are of course divergent and very foreign to the Ibo people, but the Europeans permeated themselves with such sovereignty that many of them

The Europeans came into the villages of lower Nigeria and took over the governmental ideas of the traditional Ibo, forcing them to participate in their own system and desert the former structure. Before the invasion of the whites, the Ibo people relied on the elders, the Egwugwu, and the Oracle to make decisions for their society. The elders consist of respected men who are wise and knowledgeable. When the elders cannot make a decision, the Egwugwu, or spirits of the founders of the villages, are called upon to decide. These decisions are based upon the Oracle, however, as the Oracle is seen as a godly figure who the Ibo people wouldn't dare oppose. It is said the have supernatural powers and insight into the future. There are several examples of this system of government throughout the story. While explaining the elements of Umofian culture, the narrator states that “it (Umofia) would never go to war unless its case was clear and just and was accepted as such by its Oracle- the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves,”(Things Fall Apart,

In the beginning of chapter 4, it is said that the elders had decided to have Ikemefuna stay in Okonkwo’s care as his adopted son, and near the end of chapter 14, it was the elders who determined the exile of Okonkwo and his family after killing Ezeudu’s son. The Ibo’s government is distinct to itself and can be closely related to religious beliefs as well. The Ibo tribe functions based off of the decisions made by the elders, oracle, and occasionally the Egwugwu. When the white men came and took over the Ibo’s land, they changed the government greatly. They created a court of law where they judge cases and administer justice just as things were done in Europe under the ruler of a queen. Even though this seemed absurd to the Ibo, they were being involuntarily forced into participating in this system. The District Commissioner acted as if this should be no problem for the traditional Ibo, as he says “We shall not do you any harm, if only you agree to cooperate with us. We have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that you may be happy,” (Page 194). Although, this seems as if it was said in a sarcastic tone, insulting the Ibo and flaunting the fact that they