In Things Fall Apart, what is the punishment system in the Igbo tribe?

The punishment system of the Igbo presented in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is apparently comprised of a series of customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. There are two instances in the novel in which Okonkwo is reprimanded, and both punishments are based on customs. During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo gets into an altercation with his wife, and he must sacrifice a goat, a hen, and other items to appease...

The punishment system of the Igbo presented in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is apparently comprised of a series of customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. There are two instances in the novel in which Okonkwo is reprimanded, and both punishments are based on customs. During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo gets into an altercation with his wife, and he must sacrifice a goat, a hen, and other items to appease the gods. Interestingly, Ezeudu bemoans the fact that the punishment for breaking peace has become less serious over time:

“My father told me that he had been told that in the past a man who broke the peace was dragged on the ground through the village until he died. But after a while this custom was stopped because it spoiled the peace which it was meant to preserve” (31).

Even though the customs surrounding punishments seem like static, long-held customs, they have in fact changed over time.

The major moment in the novel that demonstrates how customs dictate punishment occurs when Okonkwo inadvertently kills a young member of the tribe. Here, readers see the arbitrary nature of a facet of the correctional system of Umuofia:

“Violent deaths were frequent, but nothing like this had ever happened. The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land. The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years” (124).

Thus, the Umuofian punishment system is largely based on customs and traditions.