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Rujjanavet Peeraya

Mr. Schelz George

English 12

4 December 2018

False Beliefs in the Society

Thomas Wolfe once said, “Culture is the arts of the elevated to a set of beliefs”. Things Fall

Apart is the novel written by Chinua Achebe. The book illustrates the society in the African village

named Umuofia. The clan has their own culture that people in the village have to follow, and one of

them is the belief in the oracle. People in the village believe that the fate and the future of Umuofia

depend upon the Chielo who is the priestess and the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. She is the one

who plays the important role in guiding people through any incidents and telling them what the

future of the clan will be. Moreover, there are other beliefs that are related to everyday life. They

regard as the spiritual anchor and help them get through the tough and find happiness. In Things

Fall Apart, people trust in false beliefs because there are no scientific or technological ways to view

the world.

Achebe use of agricultural reinforces that the culture believe are wrong and people just

assume it from the past. There is a belief in Umuofia which everyone has to follow in order to get a

good crop. Unoka was a failure man. He never success to do anything. He had gone to consult with

Agbala, the priestess. He told the priestess that he follows almost every belief that will make him

get a good crop such as kill a cock to sacrifice it to Ani, the owner of all land, but why his harvest

was not good as he wanted it to be. The priestess told him that it’s because of his weakness and

laziness. If he only stays at home and offers sacrifices to a reluctant soil while other men work to

get a good harvest, he won’t get a good crop. According to the text, “Go home and work like a

man”(18). This implies that Unoka didn’t put any effort into his work. He only depends on his life

on belief while others depend on their implementation. An example of this can be found in a book,
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The Pattern of New Testament Truth which states “George Eldon Ladd traces the origins of this

dualistic interpretation of Christianity to Greek philosophical influences that were all too readily

embraced by the Christian church in the past and unwittingly assumed today”. The quote shows that

in the past we just accept the idea of Christianity and we just follow the practices fortuitously. In

fact, those beliefs we still practice might not be right as we just assumed it from the past. Any

consequences doesn’t matter from the spiritual beliefs but instead it causes by one own action.

Through sickness, Achebe examines that people have false beliefs in things that can not be

proven scientifically within Things Fall Apart. In chapter nine, Ezinma, Okonkwo and Ekwefi’s

daughter, was sick. Ekwefi was very scared that Ezinma will die like other of her children. Ekwefi,

Okonkwo’s first wife, always lost her children after they had borne. Okonkwo wonders why it

happens to Ekwefi. So, he went to see the medicine man who also Afa Oracle and this man told him

that the child was an ogbanje. This belief was called to the wicked children who entered the wombs

to be born again. Aga oracle also suggests the ways to prevent the loss of his child. On page 77, the

text refers to, “Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man, who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle, to

inquire what was amiss”, which demonstrates that African tribe has been isolated from the science

world. There is no doctor who can use the scientific way to cure the sick people. So, they rather

think that the sickness came from the spiritual and invent the way to heal their discomfort. In the

present day, the parent possibly takes the child to the doctor or give them the medicine. One article

states that “Beliefs can be considered as the inner causes that provide for describing and predicting

a person’s behavior”. It shows that the beliefs only make people feeling better as it’s something that

people can look up to. In reality, it’s not practical and it only affects the feelings of those people. We

might say that it is impossible to change people’s traditional belief as there are no scientific ways of

proving whether it is right or wrong.

In Things Fall Apart, people false beliefs lead to the destruction of society. Obierika came to

visit Okonkwo after he was exiled from Umuofia in the second year. They talked about their life
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and Obierika started talking about the wipeout in Abame. This wipeout happened because people in

the village killed the white man who came to the village. The white man came during a planting

season and riding on the iron horse. The villagers saw him and some of them ran away. The elders

of the clan consulted with the Oracle. The Oracle told them that this man would bring the

destruction to the villages. So, the clan killed the white man and tied the iron horse with the tree.

This is demonstrated by “Never kill a man who says nothing”(140). From the quote, we realize that

it doesn’t make sense at all to kill the white man because he didn’t do anything. The villagers just

trust the Oracle from that prediction because after that the white men came to the village and wipe

out all the people. Therefore the result from having a false belief can lead to a big problem

afterwards.

In conclusion, people misbelieve their ways of life because they haven’t been proven by the

scientific or technological ways. Portraying through agriculture, people aren’t aware of the bad

result that comes from their own actions because of the misbeliefs they have. They have strong faith

that life depends on the spiritual belief and that everyone’s destiny was already fixed. This false

belief makes people unaware of the results which eventually cause the destruction of the society.

Thus, Things Fall Apart illustrate how false belief affect people in society by giving them

misunderstanding.
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Bibliography

1. ACHEBE, C. (2018). THINGS FALL APART. S.l.: PENGUIN BOOKS.

2. Ladd, G. E. (1968). The pattern of New Testament truth. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

3. Belief and Illness. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2018 from https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/

volume-20/edition-6/belief-and-illness