Merits And Demerits Of Igbo Culture
Merits:
1. Igbo society is an epitome of meritocracy as it gives the even remotest and segregated individuals to climb to the highest ladder of the society. Our hero Okonkwo, whose father Unoka was certainly not a great man but due to his son's persistent hard work and determination, he achieved a high status in his society.
2. Igbo people respect their traditions and religiously follow it. And cultural traditions bind people together and give them a sense of identity and dignity. Even an arrogant person like Okonkwo bows before the priest, Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess when he punished him for beating his wife during the week of peace.
3. Their Justice system is efficient to deliver justice to its people. There are no arbitrary decisions made by their law. Even a high-status person gets the same punishment for an offence as a poor one does. As it happened to Okonkwo who unintentionally killed the son of an elder person. For punishment, he had to leave the village with his family for seven years. He was a powerful person but still, he had to accept the verdict, unlike the western system where there are some loopholes which rich and eminent members use to save themselves from getting punishment.
4. Igbo tribe are quite liberal in comparison to the Christian people who begin to interfere in tribal lifestyle. The tribe provided them a place to build a church. But the Imperial people proclaim their own culture as superior and wreak havoc in the lives of Igbo on its own land. They used their popular method of divide and rule. It appears that those who claim to be civilized are the ones who are "savage" in nature.
We have seen the bright side of Igbos, now it's time to see their shortcomings.
Demerits:
1. The society depicted in the novel is patriarchal where women are supposed to live as a supporter of the men. Men are supposed to grow the king of crops, yams whereas women grow Cassava, coco-yams and other minor crops. Even the term "agbala" meaning woman is used as a derogatory term for a man who holds no title. All crucial positions of power are held by men and only the eldest wife of a person can wear the number of titles which her husband holds.
2. The culture of Igbos holds them together but it's full of malpractices and unreasonable acts committed on behalf of carrying-out their established norms. One such practice of butchering twins upon their birth. And the practice of leaving a person suffering from a swelling in stomach or limbs for dying in the Evil forest without any medical treatment. Another belief of tagging some newborn as "ogbanje". The killing of Ikemefuna without any concrete cause was another of their unreasonable superstition.
1. Igbo society is an epitome of meritocracy as it gives the even remotest and segregated individuals to climb to the highest ladder of the society. Our hero Okonkwo, whose father Unoka was certainly not a great man but due to his son's persistent hard work and determination, he achieved a high status in his society.
2. Igbo people respect their traditions and religiously follow it. And cultural traditions bind people together and give them a sense of identity and dignity. Even an arrogant person like Okonkwo bows before the priest, Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess when he punished him for beating his wife during the week of peace.
3. Their Justice system is efficient to deliver justice to its people. There are no arbitrary decisions made by their law. Even a high-status person gets the same punishment for an offence as a poor one does. As it happened to Okonkwo who unintentionally killed the son of an elder person. For punishment, he had to leave the village with his family for seven years. He was a powerful person but still, he had to accept the verdict, unlike the western system where there are some loopholes which rich and eminent members use to save themselves from getting punishment.
4. Igbo tribe are quite liberal in comparison to the Christian people who begin to interfere in tribal lifestyle. The tribe provided them a place to build a church. But the Imperial people proclaim their own culture as superior and wreak havoc in the lives of Igbo on its own land. They used their popular method of divide and rule. It appears that those who claim to be civilized are the ones who are "savage" in nature.
We have seen the bright side of Igbos, now it's time to see their shortcomings.
Demerits:
1. The society depicted in the novel is patriarchal where women are supposed to live as a supporter of the men. Men are supposed to grow the king of crops, yams whereas women grow Cassava, coco-yams and other minor crops. Even the term "agbala" meaning woman is used as a derogatory term for a man who holds no title. All crucial positions of power are held by men and only the eldest wife of a person can wear the number of titles which her husband holds.
2. The culture of Igbos holds them together but it's full of malpractices and unreasonable acts committed on behalf of carrying-out their established norms. One such practice of butchering twins upon their birth. And the practice of leaving a person suffering from a swelling in stomach or limbs for dying in the Evil forest without any medical treatment. Another belief of tagging some newborn as "ogbanje". The killing of Ikemefuna without any concrete cause was another of their unreasonable superstition.