Essay on the Ibos Sacred Relationship in Chinua Achebes Things Fall A

The Ibo's Sacred Relationship in Things Fall Apart The Ibo people had a very sacred relationship with their landscape. Their entire existence depended on their environment and nature was sacred to them. This is unlike the English who came to the lower Niger with imperialistic goals of "civilizing" these "primitive" people. The Europeans were more technologically advanced, but in this progression they lost touch with nature and the spiritual connection with this significant aspect of the world. The Ibo on the other hand personified nature and turned to deities as well as ancestral spirits for guidance in their survival against unexplainable and often uncontrollable forces. When hardships arise they attempt to appease their gods and their spirits through sacrifice and ritual. Nature is a major theme of the religion of the Ibo and spirituality is very closely associated with the earth. Nature was also consulted in times of conflict between tribesmen. When Uzowulu was accused of beating his wife excessively her family took the case to the egwugwu, or the spirits of the nine sons, of the original father of the clan, which gave rise to the nine villages in the clan. These spirits were in reality men in the tribe wearing masks, but all of the villagers put their faith in the idea that these bodies are in fact occupied by spirits of ancestors who will offer advise in a time of hardship. With the commencement of the hearing of Uzowulu before these masked spirits he touches the ground as a sign of submission to the higher powers. While Uzowulu will only listen to the decision of the egwugwu because they are beyond any mortal, he overlooks the fact that these decision-makers are really his fellow villagers. This fai... ...landscape in which these people live. To kill a royal python is such an unfathomable crime, that there is not even a punishment prescribed for the act, and when the convert kills the python the people do not even think that it could have possible been done intentionally. This reveals the significance of nature as sacred. All aspects of the landscape were made sacred because these people greatly depended on nature for survival and many aspects were inexplicable, so they were given supernatural explanations to aid in an otherwise unattainable resolution. This people were greatly misunderstood by colonialists who sought to "civilize" them and attempted to thrust Christianity upon an uninterested audience to aid in the control and "pacification" of a people that apparently already had a worthy explanation and understanding of the world in which they lived.