In “Things Fall Apart”, religion
is an important aspect in the two different cultures, it characterizes also the
direction and the order in those cultures.
In the novel, especially in Umuofia, religion is represented in the agriculture;
on the other hand, in white men’s world, Christian religion is represented by
education, they believe in the holy trinity whereas Ibo’s believe in spirits.
The “Ibo” gods are a representation of nature, and all the elements it
contains, that’s why we can see it through agriculture, because it rests on depending
the natural seasons of the year. “Ani”, for instance, is a female goddess
representation of earth; Ibo people offered her sacrifices of animals that are
spiritual and physical symbols, which represent life, sacrifices are strongly related
to ask for some favors, a strong harvest, fertility, spiritual forgiveness, and
also to be in good terms with their idols. The devotion they have to divinities
let them to be aware of evading sins.
The aspect that took my attention was the fact that they asked and
consulted their ancestors, (acting as spiritual deities) about what they have
to do, what they have to take in account, what decisions they must to define
and come up with. Religion for Ibo people, has been passed from generation to
generation, that’s why it helps to maintain the traditions and values.
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ResponderEliminarPaulina I consider your opinion very interesting. However, I would like to offer a few elementes regarding Achinua Achebe's own vision of religion.
ResponderEliminarFirst, it is important and intresting to notice that even Achebe's parents were converted into Christianity and then missionaries traveling around the country, and Achebe himself was taught under the Christian religion. He was taught in the religion of the foreigner. But at the same time, Chinua realizes that during his entire life he had not questioned himself. He noticed that Christianity was valuable and good, but after a while he began to feel that the story that he was told about Christiany was not complete, there was somthing missing, partly because he was taught to dismiss the Ibo religion without even understanding it.
So, in a way in the porcess of describing a nation that is incapable to stand by its own, to evolve and move forward, to be authentic again, to value its customs traditions without being afraid or ashamed, also involves embracing their own religion as important, and I think that that is one of the messages that Achebe was trying to convey with his book.
Pauina, I think that religion is a really interesting topic in Achebe's novel because he tries to represent his own African and Nigerian culture. As you put it, traditional African religion believes in spirits, and other divinities as well as the veneration of ancestrors. I think this culture is very similar to what we have in Chile. Mapuche's religion believes in a "machi" a kind of "shaman", an elderly woman who cures diseases, wards off the evil, etc. Mapuche's religion is also oral rathen than written (for example Christianity with the Bible).
ResponderEliminarFurthermore, mapuches believe in the conception of good and evil, and the names are:
Ngen: Essential spirits.
Pillán: benign masculine spirits.
Wangulén: bening femenine spirits
Wekufe: malign spirits. Wekufe: Espíritus malignos.
Pu-am: the representation of the soul or universal soul.
Am: the soul or soul of the human beings.
To sum up, I considered that mapuche culture is very similar to the African culture and we should appreciate it more as Chinua did with his culture.
Thanks both of you for your comments, Susana I really appreciate the way you add some new elements to my entry, it helps us to understand a little bit more about this interesting topic, and Vania, I really liked the relation you found between those two religions, once I read the book, I thought also about the Mapuche religion, and how important it is for them. Thanks also for writing the names of the spirits, I did not know them.
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