Daily Life and Marriage
Daily Life
The Ibo people live in collections of villages that form a clan. They can have anywhere from a couple hundred to a few thousand habitants. In the novel, nine villages form the clan of Umuofia.
The villages are not ruled by a king or designated leader. Old men and men who have taken titles lead the villages together, they are the most respected figures in the Ibo society. However when decisions are made, they include almost everyone’s opinion. Titles must be paid for, thus money is equivalent to social standing in the village. Men that have taken titles wear anklets to indicate.Old or respected men dress up as the spirits of the nine villages and the dark forest; they are called egwugwu. They hold maximum in authority in settling disputes in the clan.
“Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. It was a rare achievement. There were only four titles in the clan, and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest.”
Men who have taken no titles are called agbala, which is also a word for woman. Feminine qualities are seen as negative and men tend to mock them. In the novel, Okonkwo is pleased whenever his son demonstrates this kind of behavior, mocking the vanities of women.
People live in family compounds. The main hut belongs to the head of the family and is called and obi. In addition, each wife has their own hut where she lives with her children. Male children spend most of their time with their mothers until they become teenagers, which is when their father calls them to his obi for company.
“So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land--masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…”
The main crops of the tribe are yams. Men cultivate the land during the farming season and then rest for the remaining time. Women make different foods with yams. And as a custom, all of a man’s wives must cook him a dish for dinner, which is brought to the men by their children.
“During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue.”
The villages are not ruled by a king or designated leader. Old men and men who have taken titles lead the villages together, they are the most respected figures in the Ibo society. However when decisions are made, they include almost everyone’s opinion. Titles must be paid for, thus money is equivalent to social standing in the village. Men that have taken titles wear anklets to indicate.Old or respected men dress up as the spirits of the nine villages and the dark forest; they are called egwugwu. They hold maximum in authority in settling disputes in the clan.
“Ezeudu had taken three titles in his life. It was a rare achievement. There were only four titles in the clan, and only one or two men in any generation ever achieved the fourth and highest.”
Men who have taken no titles are called agbala, which is also a word for woman. Feminine qualities are seen as negative and men tend to mock them. In the novel, Okonkwo is pleased whenever his son demonstrates this kind of behavior, mocking the vanities of women.
People live in family compounds. The main hut belongs to the head of the family and is called and obi. In addition, each wife has their own hut where she lives with her children. Male children spend most of their time with their mothers until they become teenagers, which is when their father calls them to his obi for company.
“So Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land--masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…”
The main crops of the tribe are yams. Men cultivate the land during the farming season and then rest for the remaining time. Women make different foods with yams. And as a custom, all of a man’s wives must cook him a dish for dinner, which is brought to the men by their children.
“During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue.”
Marriage
Practice of Polygamy: Men have multiple wives. A man can only marry as many women as he can provide for, which is why poor men often marry only once. In the novel, Okonkwo’s father had only one wife because he was poor and owed everyone money. Okonkwo on the contrary is a respected wealthy man who has three wife and many kids.
When a man wants to marry a woman it is the custom to negotiate a bride price. In the novel it is paid in cowries (a kind of shell used as a form of currency). Bride-prices are negotiated, in the novel it is done with sticks. In Okonkwo’s village it is seen as bad a bad custom to bargain for a woman’s bride-price as if she were a piece of merchandise like it is done in other clans.
After a suitor finished paying a woman’s family the established amount, a great party for the whole village is held in celebration of their marriage. The suitor’s family must present a number of pots of wine and the bride’s family often gifts an animal to the suitor’s family. If a woman runs away from her husband, the woman’s family is required to give back the money he ‘paid’ for her.
When a man wants to marry a woman it is the custom to negotiate a bride price. In the novel it is paid in cowries (a kind of shell used as a form of currency). Bride-prices are negotiated, in the novel it is done with sticks. In Okonkwo’s village it is seen as bad a bad custom to bargain for a woman’s bride-price as if she were a piece of merchandise like it is done in other clans.
After a suitor finished paying a woman’s family the established amount, a great party for the whole village is held in celebration of their marriage. The suitor’s family must present a number of pots of wine and the bride’s family often gifts an animal to the suitor’s family. If a woman runs away from her husband, the woman’s family is required to give back the money he ‘paid’ for her.
“Obierika, was celebrating his daughter's uri. It was the day on which her suitor (having already paid the greater part of her bride-price) would bring palm- wine not only to her parents and immediate relatives but to the wide and extensive group of kinsmen called umunna. Everybody had been invited--men, women and children. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her mother.” |
Two Questions
How are the leaders of a village elected?
What gifts do families present each other when a man and woman marry?
What gifts do families present each other when a man and woman marry?
Ana Villarreal