What is the moral of the tortoise story in Chapter 11? What’s the point of the “earth and sky” parable in the story (Chapter 7)? Identify other parables that you find informative. What broader moral themes do they convey about the Igbo? Please post your response here as a comment.
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In Chapter 11 the parable about tortoise is told. Tortoise wants to go to a banquet in the sky so he convinces the birds he is trustworthy and they each give him one of their feathers. On the way to the banquet he tells them that all visitors usually take different names and he annonces his is "All of you." Once they arrive the birds elect him as their spokesperson. The sky people bring out the food and tortoise asks who it is for. The sky people say "all of you" and so tortoise tells the birds that it is custom for the spokesperson to seat first and he all the best food. The birds are angry and leave and take back all their feathers. Tortoise realizes he will fall and asks parrot to go tell his wife to put down all the soft things in the house. Parrot goes and tells his wife the opposite and she puts out all the spears and hoes and sharp objects for him to fall on. He falls and his shell cracks into many pieces but it able to be repaired, however now it is always rough.
The moral of the parable is that if each individual works in only his own self interest than no one ends up happy. This is a definate value of the Igbo. In Things Fall Apart the community functions because of its communal nature. When they no longer work together they meet their downfall at the hands of the new colonial presence. Okonkwo expects the community to stand behind him to attack the white oppressors but they are all words and no action and when Okonkwo is left by himself he realizes that their way of life has crumbled and for him that is the end of his being.
I wanted to add to Casey's comment my own thoughts about this parable of the tortoise, and the others that are told in "Things Fall Apart." Looking less at the stories and more how they are used, I am focusing again on the idea of a "General knowledge" within the village. We have said several times in class that we found interesting a lack of written laws or standard practices, but at the same time, when a decision is made, it is by consensus. Examples of this are when Okonkwo is forced into exile for killing a man - he knows, as do all of his friends and family, that he must immediately go into exile, even though the killing was an accident. When his foster son is killed in the beginning of the book, it is at the behest of the oracle, and no one questions her decision. In both examples, everyone in the village knows what must and will happen, even though there is no written law. The use of parables plays into this reliance on general knowledge. In a society with no standard hierarchy, no written laws, and a judicial system of godly men who cannot be approached for questioning, it is important to teach lessons that can be remembered by even young children, and that apply to all adults as well. In the tortoise story, we see the values of humility, sharing, sustinence rather than greed, trust and community. In one level, it is the story of silly tortoise who is tricked by birds, but on another, it is a greedy man who is taught a lesson for his greed and his inability to work as a team.
The parables and stories told by the Igbo convey a much broader picture of their culture by illuminating their societies focus on passing down knowledge. Ekwefi tells Ezinma the story of the tortoise and the birds not to entertain him but to instruct him. For the Igbo these stories, these parables which have been passed from generation to generation are like their history textbooks. The intricacies and the accuracy in Ekwefi’s telling of this complicated parable shows the reverence and respect she has for the story she is telling and the lesson she is teaching.
Commonly, we in American culture tend to value other forms of knowledge as more important than moral lessons taught through kids stories. We value intellect, historical accounts, and scientific studies, but the Igbo values are different. They preserve these stories as treasures, they preserve them because they understand the importance of education. These stories are used to educate the youth of their society and teach them the valuable moral lessons which the society feels are necessary to continuing their way of life.
I find it fascinating the way these stories are held onto for generations. Most of us have issues remembering stories that our friends told us and hour or two after the fact, but the Igbo cherish these stories as some of the most revered forms of knowledge.
The way these stories are passed from one generation to the next is also a small glimpse into the values of Igbo society. This form of transmission of knowledge insures that older generations are respected for their wisdom and that younger generations have the opportunities to learn from the members of their society who have already lived through the issues the younger ones will face.
The use of parables, for teaching and the transmission of knowledge, illustrates a society in which knowledge is integral and respected. These parables are cherished and told not only to share the important messages they convey but also as a way for older members of Igbo society to help carry on the traditions and morals they learned from their parents to the younger generations.
I believe there are two ways to interpret the parable that Ekwefi tells Ezinma. Both of them illustrate the conflict that will go on between the white missionaries and the Igbos.
In the first instance the tortoise represents the missionaries who invade the Igbo's society. The Igbo are the birds that give the Igbo the wings to enter into their society. When the white people overstep their bounds, the Igbo make a statement by burning the church. Like the turtle's cracked shell, the missionaries reputation is tarnished in the eyes of the Igbo. Also like the turtle the white people are soon all mended and on their feet again.
In the other instance the Igbos are represented by the turtle. Like the birds, the missionaries offer the Igbos wings of Christianity, promising them all the benefits that lie ahead if they accept Jesus as their savior. Once the Igbos get to the feast in the clouds however they realize that it is not all that it was made out to be; their wings are not genuine. The parrot lies to the turtle and inevitably the Igbos fall under the influence of the white missionaries.
In either situation the Igbos are fooled and are forced to pay the price of their freedoms. The parable comes across as a cautionary tale from Ekwefi to Ezinma, even though no one but the reader is really able to understand how serious this cautionary tale truly is.
Among the Igbo such folktales about the tortoise and the other animals, which Ekwefi tells Ezinma in Things Fall Apart, are meant to entertain, instruct and edify. And the tortoise, distinguished by its legendary cunning, its extraordinary capacity for hatching intrigues, and sometimes its great wisdom, is perhaps the most prominent feature of such tales. The Igbo actually have an “adage” that roughly amounts to saying that a folktale is incomplete without the tortoise, and Achebe – for good measure – has published two excellent children’s stories, “The Flute” and “The Drum,” in which, like the one in Things Fall Apart, the tortoise is the main character.
In such stories, the tortoise often begins by exhibiting cleverness and trying to take advantage of others and situations only to find out that it is the ultimately loser, which applies to the story that Ekwefi tells Ezinma.
Now that hints at a core Igbo value: respect for honesty – it could be said that the Igbo prize honesty as highly as Okonkwo prized “success” – a value whose transmission from the old to the young through the story in Things Fall Apart is executed obliquely as has always been the practice among the Igbo. For I cannot remember that any of such stories we were told as children was followed by a question and answer session to “tease out” their morals, as some “modern” raconteurs do, which suggests that children in such traditional Igbo societies evoked in Things Falls Apart were expected to infer such morals by themselves. And I can say from experience that they always did.
As regards how it specifically hints at the Igbo value of respect for honesty, which also manifests as loathing for duplicity: the deeply analytical reader of Things Fall Apart would realize that no single character in the entire book tries to profit by duplicity, with the exception of the court messengers, agents of colonial rule, who (in Chapter 23) increase by fifty bags of cowries a fine that the District Commissioner had imposed on the people of Umuofia so they might share the extra among themselves. Here the message is clear, I think, though Achebe conveys it as obliquely as that of the story about the tortoise and the other animals, namely, that corruption in Igbo society was a legacy of colonial rule, of the white man’s unsolicited (and disruptive) interference with that society. I find it profoundly illuminating that the only character in Things Fall Apart who exhibits a similarly fraudulent behavior to that of the (anonymous) court messengers should be the tortoise, an animal.
I really loved the transmission of stories and knowledge though Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. I thought the story was beautifully written and that Achebe easily assimilated Igbo culture into a novel that has meaning both to Africans and the entire world population. I most enjoyed the discussion of morals, parables and themes that the book portrayed about the Igbo society. They were peppered throughout the novel and offered vast cultural insights to the Igbo worldview.
At the end of each night, the wives of Okonkwo return to their huts and tell their children folktales. Ekwefi tells her daughter Ezinma the story of the greedy tortoise in Chapter 11. The moral of the story is to not lie, to not be greedy, not to be cunning and not to be ungrateful. Tortoise is a mischief-maker but he claims to have changed his ways by saying, “I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself” (97). Yet, Tortoise has not changed his ways, and he falls from the sky leaving his shell in uneven pieces. The themes are to be grateful and to not cause mischief, given through an easily accessible medium for children, in a story. We have similar tales in the United States, and folktales are worldwide ways of spreading information.
Here in the United States we have the Tortoise and the Hair to teach children not to just complete jobs as fast as they can. Also, we have the boy who cried wolf, to teach children only to call for help when they need it, and to ultimately not be whiny. I think this is one of the reasons I was so attracted to these stories, they are so relatable and culturally refreshing. The novel also contrasts the idea of masculine and feminine morals and stories. Okonkwo tells the boys stories “of the land-masculine stories of violence and bloodshed” (53). These stories are contrasted to the stories that the mothers tell, usually involving animals and objects that have been personified. The Earth and the Sky parable tells the power of compromise, and of mercy. Also, of folly, as Vulture the emissary for the Earth goofs his mission, and brings floods to Earth instead of rain. I would say the moral of this story is to be careful, observant and agreeable.
I think the Igbo, like all cultures use these stories to transmit information and continue the tradition of knowledge. Like we have been learning about languages, it is the subtleties in the oral and written language that can give us much understanding into the culture of the people. I think the broad moral themes conveyed here are compassion, compromise and gratefulness. In all the stories, if you do not do as you are told, you suffer. Also, if you are not grateful, or if you are deceitful, you will also be punished. I think these are traits that the Igbo highly value, and their social status is reflected by that.
We have learned in class that titles and status were taken according to rank, wealth and respect within a community. It is clear from Things Fall Apart that titles were only given to respectable, hardworking and honest people. Therefore, it is clear that the moral society and the status of people are closely related.
I really enjoyed this book. Not only was it powerful in a literary sense, it is also historically relevant. The novel was full of custom and the daily flavor of life for the Igbo, that lasted for centuries. I think it is a great addition to the class, allowing students to place themselves in the Igbo’s shoes, and learn through seeing their culture.
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