have already mentioned the crime by Okonkwo that occurred against the Earth goddess, but I will discuss a couple more. At the festival the villages held for Mother Earth, clansmen would portray many of the dead ancestors. "One of the greatest crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu (the clansman impersonating the spirit) in public, or say or do anything which might reduce its immortal prestige in the eyes of the uninitiated" (Achebe 186). The most demeaning of oneself, however, was to take own's own life: "it is against our custom...it is an abomination ...and an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansman. His body is evil and only strangers may touch it.... We shall make sacrifices to cleanse the desecrated land" (Achebe 207-208).
             Although many tribes and villages believe differently in some aspects, they still all hold a single deep-rooted belief that the dead may lie in the ground. The dead will continue to be the true fathers that hold their fertility and authority of the village. The
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