Abstract:

The popular novelist, Chinua Achebe has won great accolade for the immense and meaningful use of proverbs and folktales. In the light of the observation that the phraseology of many of our proverbs have been influenced by our natural environment which, in turn, influences our cultural attitude and systems of value (Obiefuna 1978: 156), and in the context of the expectation and belief that Igbo proverbs are drawn from wide gamut of Ibo cultural experience which include folklores, beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, emotions, system of thought, natural elements as well as Ibo flora and fauna, (Ruth Finnegan 1976: 422), it is necessary to appraise and project the fulfillment of these great aspirations and expectations by Achebe’s proverbs and folktales. This work, therefore, examines the relevance of the popular folktales and proverbs in Things Fall Apart to Ibo word view.

The Ibo Race:

The Ibo race occupies the present South- Eastern Nigeria which is made up of Imo State, Enugu State, Anambra State, Abia State and Ebonyi State. Its geographical spread, however, extends into the northern part of the Rivers State, and into the western parts of Delta and Edo States (Debe Osaji 1984:

2). The Ibos live in peaceful autonomous communities made up of villages ruled by village heads who, in turn, supervise family heads who maintain discipline in the smaller nuclear family units made up of the father, mother and children. The Ibos are law-abiding and God-fearing. To them, the secular and the sacred, the natural and the supernatural form a continuum. Their cultural life is enhanced by the tradition of story telling through which the people’s myth, legend and tradition are transmitted from generation to generation. Proverbs, folktales, and beliefs are greatly propagated and projected during the story-telling and moonlight sessions. It is therefore a little wonder that great adherents to tradition and culture can emerge from such a geographical cum socio-cultural background.

A Brief Biography of Chinua Achebe

Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born on the 16th of November, 1930 in Ogidi in Idemili clan which is in the present Anambra State of Nigeria. After his primary education, he gained admission into government College Umuahia in 1944. In 1948, he entered the University College, Ibadan where he got his first degree in 1953. He worked with the Nigerian Broadcasting Service in 1954 and by 1957 he became the Head of the Talk Section- a position that enhanced his promotion to the post of Controller Eastern Region in 1959. He was appointed the Director of External Services in charge of the Voice of Nigeria in 1961. He received a Rockefeller grant in 1960, and a UNESCO award in 1963. He is married and has three children. He has written many novels among which are Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), Chike and the River (1964), A Man of the People (1966), Girls at War and Beware Soul Brothers. He has written very profusely on African culture, politics and social life.