Achebe spends the majority of the first part of the novel depicting Igbo traditional culture. He accomplishes this by describing various festivals and religious rituals, such as a wedding, a funeral, and the Week of Peace. Additionally, the roles of men and women are represented through the main character's (Okonkwo) relationships with his wives and children. This provides a framework to not only identify the changes and devastation brought to Africa by the British invaders, but to also recognize internal tribal divisions and different thinking patterns. By describing many aspects of the Igbo culture it is possible to perceive how Okonkwo manifests many of these values, but also transgresses several of them, resulting in his own demise.
             Igbo society is both hierarchical and patriarchal. Social status is achieved in the community through the earning of titles. This process is first described early in the novel when Okoye who had loaned Okonkwo's father, Unoka, 200 cowries came to Unoka's hut to reclaim the borrowed funds. Okoye was requesting repayment because he intended to take a title in the near future. Because he was taking the third highest title in the land, it was "a very expensive ceremony" and Okoye was "gathering all his resources together" (Achebe 7). Thus, we learn that titles, and consequently social status, are gained through the returning of part of one's personal accumulated wealth to the community. In order to rise in the social hierarchy, it is necessary to work hard and accrue prosperity and property. Hence, the importance and centrality of the value of hard work and diligence to Igbo society is represented in the way by which one can gains social status in the community. These economic indicators allow those who are not born into wealth such as Okonkwo to amass fortunes through hard work and gain a prestige that is not based on inheritance or nobility.
             Thi...