The title, Things Fall Apart, suggests a departure from these ancient tribal practices. But the Igbo past includes a great deal of tribal violence. Okonkwo is an incarnation of that past. Achebe is indicating that three forces made for the departure from these violent practices: the sentiment of the village, Okonkwo's own inner humanity and sense of right, and the introduction of Judeo-Christian values.
Such are the realities that a Christian missionary must confront and work to replace with God-centered worship and values. The practices that the text presents fall under the strong Biblical condemnations of and warnings concerning idol worship. The tragedy is of course compounded when the white man comes to exploit the peoples for his own material gain (as so often happened under colonial rule), and when Christian emissaries takes an uninformed and heavy-handed approach to their task.
In the very first chapter, speaking of Okonkwo's father, we read: "Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten" (7). We also note in the text the insertion in italics of Igbo terms. Note what this indicates about the Igbo people. They have a linguistic sophistication and a vivid imagination. Attractive as these qualities may be, their imaginative activity generates much superstitious speculation concerning the spirit world. In this they fall prey to Satanic suggestions and practices.
Chapter 7 presents the heart-wrenching episode of the killing of Ikemefuna. We are first told of how thoroughly the boy has been integrated into his adopted family and become an object of the strong affections of Nwoye and also of Okonkwo. The fact that he had been brought into the family from another tribe as a compensation for that tribe having killed one of the Igbo girls, and that his presence was an alternative to an act of revenge, seems forgotten. But the law of an "eye for an eye" must be satisfied, and Ezeudu, a village elder, comes to announce that the time had come for Ikemefuna's killing. The Oracle had so decreed. Although stunned by the announcement, Okonkwo capitulates, joins the procession of village warriors that takes Ikemefuna to his fate, and in fact himself executes the child. Why would he do this? The decree of the Oracle must be obeyed, and he must maintain his image as the village strong man.
The text dwells upon the sense of shock and severe reactions of both Nwoye and Okonkwo. What is being suggested about Achebe's own attitude? He seems to be highlighting the severe affront which such practices offer to natural human emotions and sense of right.
Chapters 8 and 10 show tribal practices in settling issues and disputes. The first has to do with the negotiations between the respective families of a bride and groom that arrive at a bride-price agreeable to both. Chapter Ten presents the Igbo version of a court of justice, in which nine egwugwus meet in a designated house, elaborately costumed, to settle a dispute between a violent husband and a frequently beaten wife. The mystery surrounding the egwugwu house and the frightening costumes of the judges enforce the significance and authority of the judgments rendered.
Among the superstitions the Igbo's entertain to explain some of the occurrences of life is that of the ogbanje: when a mother loses a baby, the explanation is felt to be that the spirit of the child was one that desired to return to the spirit world. Ekwefi, one of Okonkwo's wives, has had the misfortune of losing several babies, and when Ezinma is born she is especially solicitous concerning the child. Ezinma becomes a favorite child of Okonkwo as well. Both hope that at last the child's spirit, the ogbanje, will decide to stay, because the child's iyi-uwa had been found by the village medicine man (80, 81). The scene of the mystified child leading the procession by a circuitous route, imaginatively supposing where the mysterious stone must lie simply because she has been commanded to do so, has a whimsy and charm of its own.
Chapter Eleven begins with a pleasant family scene of evening story-telling. But it is suddenly interrupted by Chielo, the village priestess of the earth god Agbala, who demands to take Ezinma to present her to the god. Mother and father are both seized with great consternation and protest the child is sleeping and should not be disturbed. But the priestess will not be deterred, and takes the child on a lengthy journey into the night, with the frightened mother following, as also, we learn later, did the father. To their great relief, the priestess returns Ezinma unharmed.
Given the agony and fear that such practices create among the people, how is it that the tyrannous commands of the gods are so slavishly obeyed? The answer lies in our fallen humanity. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that God put eternity in the heart of man: people have a deep psychological need to be at peace with the supernatural. Human nature is such that it seeks for the meaning and significance of life, for inner satisfaction, and for a sense of security, and these must come from outside the self. Pagan peoples on this quest, under demonic suggestions, imagine their idols and are deeply convinced that meaning, satisfaction, and security are to be found in obeying them, or horrendous consequences will follow.
Christians have Biblical Revelation, and find true meaning, satisfaction, and security in their relationship with God in Christ. They also have the command to share the Revealed Truth. Hence Christian missionary activity. Our reading underscores its importance.
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