Moral Complexities in Things Fall Apart by C. Achebe Essay

Things Fall Apart is one of the greatest novels in Africa and is widely read across the world. The author wrote this novel in order to help demystify the myths that the African culture was primitive and needed civilization. The novel is considered to be a classic tragic novel, as we see the main character that is Okonkwo raises high in the society but at the end of the novel he kills himself. This is because he was trying to fight against the invasion of his culture by the British. The Umuofian culture was complex and its invasion would bring its disintegration. In this society morality governed the lives of the people and the society at large. Every action that was taken was controlled by the moral values that helped to control the community. These moral values were quite complex, for example at the end of the novel when Okokwo kills himself, the people in the community cannot touch his body. In spite of the fact that he was one of the greatest men in Umuofia and a leader of his community he was hence not given the burial ceremony that he deserved as an Umuofian leader. The Umuofian culture therefore had a lot of moral complexities. This paper will discuss the moral complexities in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I will use the definition of morality as, one’s ability to judge what is right or wrong, or good or right conduct.

Discussion

Things Fall Apart is a novel that has a lot of intrigue in the sense that the reader is left with so many questions about the Umuofian culture, Especially since the story is told by a third person narrator. The complexity of the Igbo community is highlighted in their moral values and the general way that they conduct their lives. Hence certain actions that were to be taken by the society were silently questioned by some of the community members. Obierika, For instance questioned the killing of the twins. But he could not complain about this tradition to anyone. This is because ancestral spirits, gods and goddess, governed the society and as such they could not be consulted with such issues. Obierika wondered whether it was good to throw away the twins or not, on one hand it was seen as a way of protecting the community but the individuals who were forced to throw away the twins, like obierika suffered from this action. These are some of the moral complexities highlighted in Things Fall Apart.

Morality in the Igbo community is governed by the will to do good in the society. Moreover, there are certain traits that one should possess in order to be recognized by the community. For example, Okonkwo who is the main character hated his father since he was considered to be lazy. He hated everything about his father, but this does not mean he did not have good qualities because he did. Okonkwo should have at least admired some of the positive traits that his father had but his desire not to be like him clouded his judgment. Some of the positive qualities that Okonkwos father possessed include “and his happiest moments were…when the village musicians brought down their instruments…Unoka would play with them, his face beaming with blessedness and peace”. He also loved nature: “He loved this season of the year, when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty” (pg. 4). The society through its moral traditions had forced Okonkwo to hate everything about his father, for example, his father was gentle and caring but these were seen as feminine qualities. Okonkwo did not show any affection as this was taken as a “sign of weakness” and therefore he kept any positive comments to himself. Okonkwo never showed any emotions except those of anger since showing affection was seen as a sign of weakness. It would have been reasonable for him to show emotions but according to his traditions this was not acceptable. Another instance where Okonkwo refused to show any emotion was when Ikemefuna died. Okonkwo even went ahead and participated in killing the boy later it is said that he was feeling distracted but his moral values would not allow him to show any emotions or signs of weakness. Okonkwo put off his feelings by asking, “when did I become a shivering old woman?” (pg. 59). Even during death of a loved one, a man was not allowed to openly show his emotions. Okonkwo believed that it was bad to show his soft side openly, and so he kept these feeling to himself. This further explains why Nwoye could not say anything about Ikemefunas death, he knew that what was happening was wrong but he could not dare raise his voice.

Moral complexities in the Igbo community are found in several other areas. For example while as killing was forbidden, those people who committed these offences even accidentally were severely punished. Hence Okonkwo had to be banished from his community after he accidentally killed Ezeudus son. The punishment is highly questioned by Obierika. The community aim is to preserve and protect life but what if certain actions are accidental, do they warrant such severe punishment? Hence a reader feels that Okonkwo did not deserve such punish since the action was witnessed by everyone that it was accidental. But due to the complexities of their moral values Okonkwo had to be punished.

Morality in the Igbo community was decided by tribal traditions and verbal sayings. These tribal traditions were also complex in that, in order to avoid war between two communities, the offending community had to sacrifice a boy. One mistake was followed by yet another. Even after Ikemefuna had stayed in Umuofia for so long and had already been integrated into the community, the tribal traditions still demanded that he should be killed. This action was meant to appease the earth goddess. Morality of the Igbo community demanded that the good of the community should be put first before the feelings of an individual. For example, Nwoye Okonkwos son was so much against the killing of Ikemefuna. This is because Ikemefuna had lived with them as a brother and he could not understand why he had to be killed. Such traditions were somewhat harmful to some people in the community but still they had to be done. The feeling or well-being of an individual were not considered since the Igbo community believed the wrath of the goddess would befall the whole community but not the individual. This is why the feelings of Okonkwo would not be considered, as he had loved Ikemefuna as a son.

In spite of this, the Umuofian culture valued life and the position that one acquired through hard work. These values were safeguarded by sayings such as “Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break” (pg. 17). These values were meant to discourage unfair treatment and unnecessary competition. This is why the Umuofian culture encouraged hard work regardless of his age. This saying emphasized this moral principal “If a child washes his hands, he could eat with kings” (pg. 8). Therefore the Umuofian culture did not judge people by their past but rather their present. That’s why Okonkwo was able to work his way up in his community. Hence the main reason why Okonkwo was able to work his way up in his community despite the misfortunes that he had, starting from a lazy father, being banished from his community and his son converting to Christianity. His community still gave him a chance to work his way up.

Family cohesion was highly regarded in the Igbo community and so it was governed by the laid down structures. Anyone who deviated from these structures was punished; this explains why Okokwo beat his wife during the peace of week. Though breaking the peace of week was not acceptable, punishing those who broke the cohesion of the family was acceptable. Polygamy was also accepted in this community, and the cohesion between the wives and their children had to be maintained. Hence the elder wife was allowed to send the children of the younger wives to run errands. It was also acceptable for any of the wives to look after the children if one wife was absent. For example, Nwoyes mother fed Ojiugos children when their mother went to plait her hair and did not make the afternoon meal (pg. 27). That was the acceptable conduct of the wives. It is also noted that younger wives would not receive anything brought by the visitors before the first wives, this is clearly illustrated when Nwakibie younger wives had to stand outside and wait for the first wife to come and drink the palm wine (pg. 18). The family cohesion was achieved by this strict adherence to etiquette. Another example of moral complexity in the novel Things Fall Apart is highlighted in the marital bond between a husband and the wife. This is given in the story of Ogbuefi Ndulue and his wife Ozoemena. This story shows that there is supposed to mutual dependence between a husband and a wife, Obierika mentions that “It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind…I remember when I was a boy, there was a song about them. He could not do anything without telling her” (pg. 62). The main character Okonkwo, who thought this was a sign of weakness, questioned this bond.

Morality is not easily understood or questioned; this is why certain actions had to be taken in the Igbo society regardless of them being good or bad. This kind of actions explains the moral complexities in Things Fall Apart.

References

Chinua, Achebe. Things Fall Apart, London: Anchor Books. 1994.