Impressions of Ibo people (In general) P Superstitious nature 1. Obanje E 1.

When Ekwefi's son, Onwumbiko, died the medicine man was called to mutilate the child and then bury it in the Evil Forest, done to discourage the obanje's return as they believed that 'after such treatment, it would think twice before coming again' A 1. This shows their superstitious nature because they believed in the supernatural, which were the obanje, or spirit of the wicked children. Moreover, the practice of the medicine man mutilating Ek dead child so as to break the curse seems to be a rather heartless and inhumane.

2. Evil Forest as an example of their ostrich mentality

2. Unoka who had a swelling in his stomach was left to die in the Evil Forest as it was believed that the sickness was an abomination to the earth The Ibos name the "Evil Forest" evil because they have yet to explore it and are thus fearful of what they think might be in there Evil forest alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness

2. The Ibo people do not understand and cannot cure such a disease due to the lack of technology and education in Ibo society, hence out of fear that the disease is "evil" and will cause harm to the community, they abandon him in the Evil Forest. Hence, they do not know. The evil forest is seen as a place of abomination thus is a burial ground for ppl with diseases hence the author uses rich symbolism (language). In chapter 17, the Evil forest was referred to as a "dumping ground". This practice of abandoning people in the Evil forest is rather dehumanising because people who contracted such a disease are treated as unwanted objects abandoned to die by their society. More than that, it shows how Ibo people have an ostrich mentality where they do not find out about what they do not understand instead choose to hide what they are afraid of and to exclude them for the good of the mainstream. Therefore imply that the Ibos believe that any unknown is a form of danger and that they are afraid of unusual happenings for the fear that it may be a threat to the harmony and unity of the village. Twins are seen as unnatural products of some crime because of the lack of medical knowledge and so twins have to be disposed off to ward off evil befalling on the family and on the community. Even so, such superstitions are rather inhumane that leads to men like Obierika questioning such practices and the Whites to think of Ibos as inhumane and barbaric. 3. Ibo people have so strong a belief that these superstitions and beliefs are very real and will chase away the missionaries and even laughed at the prospect of it.

Twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest

3. Deep trust in the power of their superstitions.

3. Gave the missionaries a plot of land which nobody in the right senses would accept and expected the missionaries to be dead within four days

Ignorant

Never seen a bicycle before, and called it 'iron horse' ,the bicycle, at that time was probably a widely used invention, yet the Ibo people had no idea what it was the white man was riding. Chap 17 Villagers told the missionaries, there was no king rather men of high title and chief priests and elders Chap 2 Village gathering at market place, to condone a decision, when a woman from Umofia was killed by a neighbouring clan. 'every man and woman came out to see the white man' When Ofoedu entered Obierika's hut, it was clear from his twinkling eyes that he had important news but 'it would be impolite to rush him', so Okonkwo and Obierika both had to wait until the ceremony with the kola nut was over. This is seen when Uchendu, okonkwo's uncle, spoke 'quietly and deliberately, picking his words with great care' when addressing his family

This shows that live in a closed society with a lack of contact with the rest of the world as they are limited in knowledge due to the lack of interaction with the world, thus, the only knowledge that they have has been passed down through many generations, this explains their primitive knowledge which reflects their ignorance towards the world.

Democratic

People are ruled by a consensus, because every Ibo man has to vote on and support a decision. Power and decision making do not reside with just one person rather with the community. This is to prevent any disagreements in the clan over a decision so that unity and harmony is not disrupted in the clan

Curious

This show how inquisitive they are as they were very eager to see who a white man was for the first time in their lives. This showed that they were patient as they were able to suppress their eagerness and have learnt to wait calmly. This is a form of respect also to the messenger in Ibo culture, to let a person speak when he is ready so that one does not appear to be impatient and rude. This shows social sensitivity and therefore helps to prevent fights and quarrels, allowing harmony in village to be maintained.

Patient

Polite

The Ibos choose their words carefully so as not to say something that might offend the other party or hurt their feelings while being able to convey the message to others. This showed that the Ibos are very courteous and diplomatic.

Courteous seen by high level of social sensitivity

Speaker is using veiled language when making comments about himself without being arrogant to his Expressions such as Eneke audience and appear to be modest as seen by how the bird says that since Nwakibie uses a bird to represent himself, in this men have learnt to shoot context, he tells Okon how he has become wise and without missing, he has stingy with his seeds after years of experience of yam learnt how to fly without planting. However, he does not use "I" so that it does perching (said by not appear like he is always complementing himself. As Nwakibies) such, this symbolic language also represents a high

level of social sensitivity. Tolerant When the white men had told them that their' gods were not alive and cannot do anything them [you] any harm', the people of Mbanta had thought 'these men must be mad', however, they said this to themselves and did not voice their thoughts Right before the burning of the church after the Enoch incident. For his (Mr. Brown) sake we shall not harm his brother They are strangers and they are ignorant. But let them pass The Ibos kept their insults to themselves, not openly retaliating to the missionaries; even though the white men insulted their gods by saying they were 'not alive'. They still felt the need to be gracious and refrained from being impolite by ridiculing the white men openly, and calling them 'mad'. This showed that they were very tolerant and forbearing committed to harmonious relations because in this way, conflicts will be avoided.

Peace loving

The Ibos were very lenient towards Mr. Smith. They do not want to punish the ignorant, showing that they are not only fair and reasonable but kind hearted people who are not blood thirsty savages. They are also appreciative of Mr. Browns effort which is why they spared Mr. Smith. Lastly, through how reasonable they are. The Ibos held the anger down so that we can talk to you(Rev Smith) They do not want bloodlust rather want to settle the issue diplomatically and with reason. They have no intention of desecrating Christian practices but they would burn the church as a symbol of justification for the crime Enoch committed. They still accepted the setting up of the church, despite bearing great disdain for the church because it had blatantly blasphemed their traditional gods, calling them 'false gods'. They refrained from driving them out and refusing guests (not in their nature to say no) who are courteous enough to ask politely as the Christians did. This suggests that the people of Mbanta were hospitable and accepted the Christians, willing to live peacefully and were tolerant enough to condone the behaviour of the white men as long as they do not disrupt the way of life of people or 'overstep the boundaries'. Unity is conveyed as the people called her a 'daughter of Umuofia, this showed that they see themselves as a family. In addition, this unity is indicated by unanimous willingness for war and revenge, showing that everyone was in agreement. All this over a woman even though in the Ibo society, women were not held in high esteem and had low status. They are united as the Ibo people are often seen celebrating events together and everyone would make a conscious effort to join in the celebrations as seen by

Hospitable

The Ibos did not really want them in their clan but since like Uchendu said, they want a piece of land to build their shrine... We shall give them a piece of land

United

Their unity is shown by the way they sit during gatherings, they always sit 'in a big circle on the ground', facing each other.

When Uchendu's youngest son, Amikwu was marrying a new wife, the daughters

of the family 'were all there', some of them 'having come a long way from their homes in distant villages', there were twenty two people, and it was a 'full gathering' Pious During the Sacred week, when Okonkwo failed to maintain his peace, he had to offer up sacrifices to Ani, the Earth Goddess to ask for her forgiveness otherwise she 'may refuse to give them[us] her increase' ,the crops will not grow and they shall all perish Burning of church after Enoch incident. 'moved like a furious whirlwind and 'reduced it to a desolate heap' The outcasts, osu lived in a special area and could not attend an assembly of the free born. Use of diction and repetition of taboo.

how almost everyone in the family was present at the wedding. This shows that the ibo people are united as they support one another and that kinship is of utmost importance. With kinship comes close ties, the people live in harmony, leading to unity.

The Ibos treated religious ceremonies as a very important affair for they believe that ani was responsible for all livelihoods, thus felt an obligation to uphold these religious events seriously.

Would avenge their gods

They would not let enoch and the christians off since he has killed an ancestral spirit that they all respect and worship. Thus they marched in fury to enoch's compound and burned it.

People who ostracise

The village layout seems to be demarcated with what is acceptable and what is not in Ibo society. This illustrates how outcasts are ostracized and not welcomed by the rest of Ibo society, which is why they have to remain within the boundaries of their own kind in a different place. Moreover, they do not have the equal rights or respect given to an Ibo person since they are not considered free born as such, have a much lower status than the rest of the community. Men who are titleless are not respected in Ibo society and looked down upon by other people.

Okon playmate told Okon his father, Unoka was an agbala causing Okon to suffer from embarrassment.