In his song "Things fall apart", Carrothers Benedetti singings about the causes and reasons why things fall apart in our constant search for self.
I think that Soren Kierkegaard was right
We worship a god hidden from our sight
I seek to live a good life, but I don't know where to start
So I remember that things fall apart
Our destiny is writ in stars and innards
Our lives are like a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd
When fate and will clash like a pound of lard and your heart
You can expect for things to fall apart
Like any good religion, the Igbo religion comes with many superstitions. Personal chi is one of the superstitions in the Igbo tribe. Chi can be a personal fragment of the Supreme Being, unique for each individual. It determines much of a person's success and character. "When a man says yes his chi says yes also" (27). But at the same time a man does not challenge his chi. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish" (30).The synergy between Igbo spirituality life suggests that harmony among members of society was just as important as harmony with the spirits. It may be that Achebe was presenting a possible Igbo interpretation of how their society "fell apart" with the devastating colonization of the British. What part of their decimation was the result of free will among the Igbo, and what part was the result of fate? Okonkwo's own struggle with free will and fate may symbolize this question.
Okonkwo is initially introduced as a proud, hardworking, successful warrior. He is described as "clearly cut out for great things" (8). But he is the son of a ne'er-do-well father; though genial and inoffensive, Unoka must certainly have been considered a failure. He is lazy and does not provide for his family. Not only is this disgraceful, but life-threatening as well. He is dependent on other members of the cla...