12 July 2012
African Culture
This novel gave amazing detail about the African way of life at the time. It showed a lot of things that I don't think I would have heard about otherwise, like the trial with the egwugwu being the judge and jury, or like the belief that everyone has a personal god, or chi, that determines their fate. After learning as much as this book shows about the culture, it really sets up for the tone of anger and hate even at the end because the white people are destroying all of the tradition that was set forth. It makes you wonder how many other cultures in the world have been supressed like this one. . .
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7 comments:
I couldn't agree more with Logan. I didn't expect the novel to take the turn of domination of the town. I was so surprised about how the natives were treated and how many responded to the new ways of the missionaries so quickly and gave up on their traditions that are thousands of years old. But on the other hand the elders of the clan could not disagree more with the new religion. I can kind of draw a parallel of our society now, older people have trouble accepting the new generation's beliefs. Anyways,it would be very interesting to learn more about the suppression of African tribes.
totally agree. The first half of the book really allows you to appreciate and learn about an African culture and it definitely causes the reader to sympathize with them at the end of the book. It's a great example of how the more powerful man pushes his views that he thinks are correct rather than respecting an opposing way of life.
I love the topic of cultures. Since I am unable to figure out how to make my own post, I am going to comment on this one because it is the closest to the topic I would like to discuss; religion. This book did a wonderful job of depicting the biggest issue that I have found is true with "religion". That being that it is taught and not truly believed by those who blindly follow it, until challenged. For example, the Igbo people have been taught a very specific way of life ever since they were born. They lived a life of polygamous gods and had a social standard which reflects one of high powered men. Up until the Missionaries came to throw their own religion at the Igbo people, they knew of no other life. To even mention a different way of life would be quite audacious of someone to do. Then the missionaries came and preached about a new life and it was only then that the Igbo people began to even question their previous lives. My point being here is that I believe this book to do a fairly good job of pin pointing the topic of religion. Except for the fact that I actually believe the book to have under-exaggerated how harsh they missionaries were. As I had mentioned earlier, religion is not faith, its a way of life taught by the elders in one's life. Naturally, people are pretty solid in their beliefs this way. As much as Christians like to preach that they are an open church who welcomes all kinds (example in the book being the outcasts of the villages) they are not open minded to others beliefs. Religion brings out the stubborn in people which can be a good thing, I admire a strong faith in people. But what people don't understand is that people in other religions are in the same boat, just as stubborn in their beliefs as the others. Where I'm going at here is that the Missionaries, although they were harsh, I think it was probably even more harsh in real life.
I agree with Morgan. Something I have noticed is that from the outside, every religion is crazy. The missionaries thought that having more than one God was blasphemy, while the Igbo people thought Christian life style was insane. The book focuses on different views of religion. Achebe does not write from a bias view point and it helps keep a good understanding of what it was really like.
I definitely agree with you, Logster. Achebe gave us great incite on Igbo culture. What I found the most intriguing about their culture is that their currency is yams. I've never heard of any society using food as money - and people can just grow it, almost as if it were a money tree that people wish existed today. And their entire diet is based on yams just like the natives in North America's diet was based on corn.
I agree with everyone in the fact that the book does an amazing job at describing the Igbo culture when it's something I've never even heard of. While the numerous gods they demand to respect get confusing, you begin to realize what different religion they have from the Christianity that's so typical in our society. We simply worship one God. It blew me away that with certain situations they oblige certain rules to respect certain Gods. As with Okonkwo's fathers death, he had to specifically be buried in the "evil forest" to avoid upsetting the earth goddess. They also must talk to the Oracle before going to war. They enjoy being a peaceful society and don't want to upset the gods and the harmony if there isn't a reason. On the topic of what Adam said on the basis of food, I also found it interesting that the only gathering snack they share is always the palm wine and kola nuts. To them it is a recurring sign of peace and friendship. They always start every gathering whether it be controversial with the same snack. It's almost as weird as using food as money.
I think that being introduced to a new culture is almost always a good thing. We, as Americans, tend to sit in our own bubble and think Society revolves around us. For most people the Setting is not as important as say the characters. I believe it is the opposite because a Setting that you can visualize your self in helps out tremendously when trying to understand the deeper meanings of a book.
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