How do weather and religion play roles in Things Fall Apart?
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
The tribe has an enormous dependence on rain. The lack of rain affects their crops, which make up their food supply. An overabundance of rain also affects their food supply by causing flooding. The Igbo need adequate rain for their crops to grow, and they also need the rain to fill the river that they use for drinking water. Thus rainfall is the lifeblood of the tribe.
Much of their culture and rituals revolve around the harvest of the yam, which is only possible with the right amount of rain. There is the Feast of the New Yam before the harvest and the wrestling competition after the harvest. When a man cannot grow yams and feed his family, it strips him of part of his masculinity. When a man is able to grow successfully, it boosts his perception of himself, particularly in Okonkwo's case.
Weather symbolizes change. It is used to show the changing moods of the tribe, both its members and its traditions. It is also used to symbolize the change that is about to come, in the form of the colonizers and missionaries from Mbanta.
The actual drought that takes place symbolizes the drought of love that Okonkwo has in his own heart, which results in his inability to love his own son and his lack of emotion when participating in the killing of his adoptive son.
Religion plays a huge role in the Igbo characters' lives. They rely on a multitude of gods, as well as their ancestors, to help them make decisions. In fact, gods and ancestors are consulted on almost everything. This provides an interesting contrast to the Christian religion that will be brought in by the missionaries. In the Igbo religion, Ani controls the rain, and as stated above, that directly affects the tribe's ability to feed itself and men's ability to feel like men (especially Okonkwo). When the goddess is angered, the rains don't come. Thus there are ceremonies dedicated to her. There is also a week of peace dedicated to the gods as a prayer for good weather. The Igbo believe that when the tribe does something wrong, they are punished by the gods (usually through drought). When Okonkwo accidentally kills Ikemefuna, he furthers his emotional drought and also believes that he has caused a bad omen for his people.
The changes in the weather ultimately provide a contrast between the Igbo people's traditional lives and the changes that are about to come through the white missionaries and colonizers. As the Igbo start to abandon their customs, they experience more drought.
How do weather and religion play roles in Things Fall Apart?
Rain and drought become symbols of spiritual and emotional emptiness, especially for Okonkwo. Weather, particularly rain, is essential to the livelihood of the Ibo people. Without rain, the yams cannot grow, & without yams, a man cannot feed his family. Therefore he is not a man. For Okonkwo, this drought comes to reflect his inner drought, a metaphorical sterility in his heart. He feels no love for Nwoye, his first son, & he has difficulty expressing any kind of feelings for any other members of his family.
The Ibo are a polytheistic society, & they believe in particular gods for various aspects of nature. Often, they identify the source of a drought as some sort of blasphemous act that has occurred on their soil. It is much the same with Okonkwo. His blasphemy was the murder of Ikemefuna, which led to his own internal emptiness. In order to restore the rain & the land, one must make a sacrifice of some kind, a penance for sin, if you will. Okonkwo does this through his suicide. It becomes the ultimate offering for the village and the gods, atoning for the sins he visited upon the society.
What role does weather play in Things Fall Apart?
Weather is important primarily because the Igbo are an agrarian society. As such they are immediately dependent on weather for their livelihood, and their religious beliefs are connected to the role of the elements, with the “rain-maker” conducting rituals at particular times. Achebe likens severe deviation from the expected conduct of the world to madness. In regard to the novel’s plot, a bad year of drought alternating with excessive rain plays an important role. Despite Okonkwo’s tremendous work ethic, just putting in more time cannot save the yams (Chapter 3).
Okonkwo, determined to act on a large scale, obtains 800 additional seed-yams from Nwakibie and 400 from his father. Initially, he sows his own plants. Unfortunately, this turns out to be
the worst year in living memory. Nothing happened at its proper time; it was either too early or too late. It seemed as if the world had gone mad.
For two months, the people endure a drought, watching their crops wither and parch in the field. Okonkwo had held back some plants, and now he sows those. Now, the rain comes, but too much.
But the year had gone mad. Rain fell as it had never fallen before. For days and nights together it poured down in violent torrents, and washed away the yam heaps.
The ground becomes so saturated that trees are uprooted, and the torrents create deep gorges. Things have progressed so far that human intervention will have no effect (Chapter 4).
[E]ven the village rain-maker no longer claimed to be able to intervene. He could not stop the rain now, just as he would not attempt to start it in the heart of the dry season, without serious danger to his own health.
What role does weather play in Things Fall Apart?
In Things Fall Apart, Unoka, Okonkwo's father, loves the weather and the changing of the seasons because he is an artist, not a farmer. Okonkwo, though, wrestles with the weather like he wrestles "The Cat" and fights his wives and the white men.
Examine page 1:
Unoka loved the good fare and the good fellowship, and he loved this season of the year, when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. And it was not too hot either, because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the north.
The repeated imagery of the west wind, the harmattan, in the first half of the book foreshadows the coming of the Westerners in the second half of the book. Okonkwo struggles to grow yams to make up for his father's debt and to provide for his family and tribe. Yams are difficult to cultivate, and the weather of West Africa makes matters worse. But, Okonkwo is a better farmer than he is a husband, father, and leader of men. He finds a kind of balance in nature. So says Enotes:
As a farmer, he readily accepts the unpredictability of the weather, thus affecting his crops, but he cannot accept the unpredictability of human nature, whether it is his son or the British colonial officials. Rage erupts when he is crossed.
What is the role of weather in Things fall Apart? How does it work symbolically or otherwise in relation to important elements of the novel such as religion? are rain and drought significant?
The effect of the weather and its spiritual implications are shown in Part I of the book. One of the chief beliefs of the Igbo people is that of "chi". "Chi" is the "personal god-force or fate" of a person. A person with weak chi can only succeed by working extremely hard. Unoka, Okonkwo's father, had weak chi, and was said to be a failure. Okonkwo believes he has inherited his father's weak chi and therefore, he works very hard. This idea also give Okonkwo an excuse when things go badly for him. He does not have to take personal responsibility for his actions; bad things are a result of the bad chi he inherited from his father. Therefore, when a drought destroys Okonkwo's harvest, he blames it on his chi. The next year, he survives because he works extremely hard and possesses an iron will. Okonkwo's will and determination are characteristics that help him survive in the beginning of the novel, but his failure to change his traditional beliefs will eventually destroy him.
How significant is the role of natural phenomenon/ weather in relation to other element in causing Okonkwo’s downfall in Things Fall Apart?
I would have to answer that the weather is not as significant as other factors in Okonkwo's downfall. The coming of the British and the changes they have wrought upon Ibo culture, in addition to Okonkwo's own stubbornness and arrogance, have a far greater impact on his life than natural phenomena. In fact, the only time weather plays a role is during times of drought. These dry seasons only strengthen Okonkwo's resolve. Although they create hardships for him and his family, he remains more determined than ever to prove a success. Yet this does not lead to his eventual suicide. That is a result of events over many years, mostly beyond Okonkwo's control. He could not stop the missionaries from coming to Umuofia, and try as he might, he could not stall their influence on members of the village. Some might argue that he himself could have changed, but the resoluteness was ingrained in his personality. So, it led directly to his tragedy.
Although it is not directly related to Okonkwo's situation, weather, particularly rain, is essential to the livelihood of the Ibo people. Without rain, the yams cannot grow, & without yams, a man cannot feed his family. Therefore he is not a man. For Okonkwo, the times of drought reflect a sterility in his heart. He feels no love for Nwoye, his first son, & he has difficulty expressing any kind of feelings for any other members of his family. These are the true causes of his downfall.