A harsh wind blew through the brush. The sky suddenly turned dark and a deep rumble echoed through the village. Suddenly, the rain poured down from the open sky, signaling the end of the dry season. In cold, hard droplets, they fell from the sky, and with them came life itself. Vegetation sprung up from the ground and birds chirped happily in the trees. As the rain began to fall more soberly and in smaller liquid drops, children sought for shelter, and all were happy, refreshed and thankful.
During the dry season, the people of the Ibo tribe prepared for the planting that would come with the rain. They patched their roofs, cleaned the walls of their huts, and built up the walls of their compound. In the dry season the ground was hard and dry. Dust flowed freely and the trees are often layered with dirt.
As soon as the first rain fell from the sky, the farmers set out to plant their crops. Men prepared the yams, the main crop, and created the mounds that the yams would be buried in. The women planted the rest of the crops, such as melons and beans. They were also in charge of weeding the farm during certain periods of the yam’s life. After the plants were interred into the earth and the small sprouts began to grow, the wet season took its toll. At times, rain poured down from the sky with ferociousness, and the people took shelter within their dry huts. Families came together then, with stories and a warm fire to cook food. Ikemefuna, the sacrifice that Okonkwo’s family was asked to look after, truly felt like a part of the family the first time he experienced that time with his hosts. |
|
The tribe of Umuofia is rich in tradition and culture. The wet season in Africa is the only time of the year when water is abundant. The wet season is also a time to farm. Yams are extremely important, not only as a farm crop, but also as a cultural symbol of wealth and prosperity. A man’s position within the Ibo tribe is determined on the success of the yam harvest. The more yams produced, the wiser and more hard working the man must be, and that in turn shows that he can “care” for more wives and children.
Okonkwo’s tribe did not determine the worth of a son based on his father's legacy. "As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.” Okonkwo's hated his father's idleness and because of that, worked hard to prove he was nothing like his father.
Okonkwo proved his strength by defeating the Big Cat in a wrestling match. He became a warrior and a leader of Umuofia and gained two of the four titles of power that the Ibo people reserve for the highest members of their society. Okonkwo's fear of being week made him to be unyielding in family matters, which his son, Nwoye, interpreted as cruel. Okonkwo was known as the raging fire because of his strength and overpowering rage. A rage fueled by fear and the pressure that he felt from the tribe on what it meant to be a man. "Let us not reason like cowards,” said Okonkwo. “If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does." Okonkwo felt he was responsible to look after and protect his tribe since he was seen as their champion strong man. Even though he did what he felt was right and the best for the tribe and his family, he let his fear of failure overtake him. Fear of weakness and of disappointing the tribe caused him to make many rash decisions.
Okonkwo’s tribe did not determine the worth of a son based on his father's legacy. "As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.” Okonkwo's hated his father's idleness and because of that, worked hard to prove he was nothing like his father.
Okonkwo proved his strength by defeating the Big Cat in a wrestling match. He became a warrior and a leader of Umuofia and gained two of the four titles of power that the Ibo people reserve for the highest members of their society. Okonkwo's fear of being week made him to be unyielding in family matters, which his son, Nwoye, interpreted as cruel. Okonkwo was known as the raging fire because of his strength and overpowering rage. A rage fueled by fear and the pressure that he felt from the tribe on what it meant to be a man. "Let us not reason like cowards,” said Okonkwo. “If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does." Okonkwo felt he was responsible to look after and protect his tribe since he was seen as their champion strong man. Even though he did what he felt was right and the best for the tribe and his family, he let his fear of failure overtake him. Fear of weakness and of disappointing the tribe caused him to make many rash decisions.
"As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings."
-Chinua Achebe
-Chinua Achebe
In the Igbo tribes, a woman's largest responsibility was to give birth to healthy children. Childbirth was an extremely dangerous process for both mother and child. Twins were seen as cursed beings and were not allowed to be kept. Instead, they were put in the Evil Forest to be taken back to the evil spirits that brought them to the world. When a child was born to a woman who had suffered the lost many children before, the child was known as an ogbanje. That child was thought to be the same one the mother had carried before, that repeatedly died to torment the mother.
It was thought the only way to get rid of an ogbanje was to mutilate the body of the dead ogbanje and bury its iyi-uwa, an artifact of its previous life. When the ogbanje is born again and lives, they must find their iyi-uwa to prove that they will no longer torment their mother. Ekwefi, the second wife of Okonkwo, suffered from her many miscarriages and infant deaths. Not only did she feel the pressure to provide a living child, but she also suffered the physical pain of childbirth and the emotional pain of losing the child. In a culture where the only duty for a woman is to produce children, Ekwefi struggled internally with her purpose.