Theme Of Superstition Expressed In Things Fall Apart Praket Venkatasai Akshantala 10th Grade

“What the mind doesn't understand, it worships or fears” (Alice Walker). This quote by Alice Walker, a prominent writer, delineates how ideologies and beliefs are often created with a lack of evidence - commonly referred to by the term superstition, which is a recurring theme in Chinua Achebe’s realistic novella, Things Fall Apart. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe delineates the different perspectives of Igbo culture and belief through the main character, Okonkwo, a very valiant, established, and revered individual in his village of Umuofia and its neighboring villages. Because of the fact that the overall setting of the novel is in a small and closely knit village in northwestern Africa without any external influences, the village is rich in culture and is adamant on maintaining and preserving traditions that individuals’ ancestors took part in, and preserving Igbo culture from other influences. It is no surprise to see that the majority of Igbo culture and its faiths strongly rest upon the theme of superstition, the most prevalent theme throughout the entirety of the novel, the majority of these superstitions passed down by word of mouth. Achebe’s work reveals the theme of superstition through whistling, Ezinma’s iyi uwa, and the...