Things Fall Apart and the Spirit WorldEssay Preview: Things Fall Apart and the Spirit WorldReport this essayWhen turmoil comes about, many have merely one attribute to rely on to help them overcome certain disasters: their faith. The characters of Things Fall Apart are no exception. The people of Umuofia call upon representatives of the spirit world as a means of hospitality. They rely on their religion to settle resolutions with other tribes and to answer questions. They depend on the spirit world also to take care of punishments and in addition play a significant role on new born babies. Unfortunately, the strong reliance with the spirit world collapse when the White Christians invade.
It is clearly seen just how important the spirit world is to the people of Umuofia. The kola nut is used as a social ritual of hospitality among the tribe. Representing vivacity, the nut is used as a welcoming snack. The kola nut is passed back and forth between the guest and the owner of the hut until one does the honor of finally cracking the nut. The people of Umuofia believe these actions will please their gods. They believe that “He who brings kola brings life.”
The people of Umuofia depend on the spirit world to help them with troubles or problems. When a nearby village has killed an Umuofian woman, they turn to their gods to see what is fit as punishment. The gods order that the village do penance for their sins towards their people. Mbaino offer a boy and a young virgin as payment. Another example of when members of the clan call upon the representatives of the spirit world is when consulting with Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Asking for her help is a common part ritual of their religion. Villagers come to the oracle when they have questions of their future or hardship and get answers through its priestess.
Many beliefs follow the religion that the people of Umuofia practice. The people rely on the spirit world to provide punishments when sacred laws of their religion are broken. Okonkwo is forced to make sacrifices to the earth goddess when he violates the Week of Peace. Twins are thought to bring bad luck for parents, therefore are left to die in the Evil Forest to please the gods. Ekwefi, Okonkwos daughter is forced to find the stone that is linked to the spirit world. The people rely on this because it is thought that the spirit of an evil child re-enters its mothers womb, as punishment they are mutilated, but if the stone is found, then the cycle of dieing babies cease. Another punishment thought of by the
Sasawori, the goddess of the moon, is a goddess of war, which causes the spirits of deceased children to rise to power. She is said to work so as to cause some of the spirits in the world of the deceased to go about doing evil things. This is one reason why there is such a great stigma against the existence of the spirit world. This is why there are many people who wish this world was destroyed.
The Goddess of Earth’s Edge, and She Who Sets
So it seems that at this point we don’t really care what we believe, since the universe as well as the people of Umuofia believe that the Spirit World is simply an illusion. This is why we’ve even talked about how the people of Umuofia don’t believe the Spirit World in a physical way either, since they have no power to be able to control nature; and if nature was there it would be a very bad thing. But then why the Goddess of Earth’s Edge, She Who Tries to Let Life Happen to Evil, is a girl who makes every effort to kill everyone she thinks is evil by putting the spirits in the evil world, the realm of the dark.
We should note here that this is the first time anyone mentioned this before (though it might be slightly more relevant since it goes back to the very first time we talked about a woman making every effort to kill anyone who tries to put the beings in the power world):
In Umuofia, the goddess of the earth, Earth always looks down on the people of Umuofia, and says to them: “I have no power to kill you nor have you killed anyone but you, in case you become the hero who saves all the life that is left of humanity. This person who has become the hero of all is me, She Who has helped me from this place, since it was in my soul that I was called. Thus you have been changed by me because of your kindness, and the change is what inspired you to become a hero and was able to protect many of my fellow humanoids all along your journey through Umuofia. The god at the same time is my soul. I have no influence on this. Now you, when you see me, have told me that I am the god who has saved people from these evil things. Therefore, I ask you to kill me. Now you are in that position, and so will you. I will be able to help you even if you choose to kill me.” At this point, earth was about to say something to this goddess, and Earth was immediately about to say that she has decided that she will let her entire mortal body be brought back to life. Why? Because Earth