It turns out that some of our biggest differences highlight our underlying similarities.

.....If only time and the schedule of my AP English class could have allowed me to read Things Fall Apart on my recent trip to West Africa (instead of Wuthering Heights, but we won't get into that one).  What an interesting coincidence that would have been!  The events of this novel by African native author, Chinua Achebe, take place in the Igbo village of Umuofia, in Nigeria.  Coincidentally, I happened to be within walking distance from Nigeria at many points throughout my trip, and many of the societal structures, beliefs, and cultural practices that I experienced firsthand were similar to those reflected in Things Fall Apart.  One example of a common belief was the belief in animism.....   

 In many ways, I think it is safe to say that animism is not very relevant to the life of the average resident of south-western Pennsylvania.  To my knowledge, evil spirits and demons do not control how we do business and conduct our lives.  However, as Achebe shows us in his novel Things Fall Apart, all over West Africa and especially in the regions in and around Nigeria, the fear of demons, evil spirits, and other possible non-human entities affects almost every West African either directly or indirectly.  This factor, the belief in animism, is yet another difference between West African culture, and American culture.

        Achebe, in his novel, very clearly demonstrates how the avoidance of unfavorable interactions with evil spirits by people of the Ibo tribe is deeply woven into the fabric of this African society and the cultural practices of the people.  In chapter five, we see how when Ekwefi is inside the hut, and a voice calls out her name, she responds with, “Is that me?”  Her people practice this response when there is uncertainty regarding the caller’s identity, as the caller may be an evil spirit.  Therefore, to thwart any bad intentions of the evil spirit, they respond by questioning their own identity.  A more elaborate practice to stop what is known to the Ibo as “ogbanje” (An evil spirit that deliberately plagues a certain family) is followed.  They believe that this evil spirit purposely invades the womb of a mother and causes her children to die repeatedly in order to provoke family despair.  They stop this by cutting and mutilating the dead children to harm the spirit that possessed it, or by finding the evil spirit’s “Iyi-Uwa.”  Igbo culture is very careful to combat the effects of evil spirits.  Although their medicine and belief systems would seem strange to any outsider, it is for the well-being of their people.

        Similarly, the people of the Fulani tribe of West Africa are affected by this fear of spirits.  Fulani parents are infamous for being apathetic towards their first-borns.  If a Fulani parent sees their first-born child reach for a hot coal to touch it, the parent will not stop the child.  It becomes the responsibility of the other villagers to teach the child these things.  Although this may seem careless and irresponsible, the motivation behind this action really does have the well-being of the first born in mind.  The parents, loving their children as they do, know that the evil spirits would love nothing more than to target the first-born children (because they are so valuable in Fulani society).  Therefore, the Fulani parents act like their first-born are not even their children at all to fool the evil spirits into not singling out that child for harm.  Parents also adorn all of their children with certain bracelets and waist bands called amulets to ward off evil spirits.  The Fulani also care deeply for their animals and protect them too against evil spirits by spitting in every opening of the animal’s body to fend off spirits.  At night certain animals commonly associated with evil spirits, like snakes, assume different names so that the evil spirits do not know what the Fulani are referring to.  For example, at night, a snake may be called a “winding stick," instead of a serpent, or snake.  Just like the actions of the Ibo, at first look these precautionary actions may seem straight up weird.

        Frequently, in my opinion, humans are baffled by the actions of other humans.  However, if we could look deeper into the actions of others, whether they be from another culture, or just have another way of thinking, we would gain a better understanding of those actions, and more often than not, identify with their reasoning, as humans as a whole tend to have similar desires.  Do mothers and parents want the best for their children, and for their loved ones?  Do we as humans have an aversion towards that which could do us or the people that we love harm?  Does this change drastically depending on whether or not you live in an African village, are an animist, or speak a different language?  It's possible to learn about, and gain a new respect for other people when we understand them more completely.