Things fall Apart

I am so intrigued by the book. I love learning about other cultures. This is my first time reading anything from Achebe and did a good job depicted the African villages. One thing that pulled at my heart was the constant of mention of babies dying and killing kids. As a mother I couldn't grasp my mind around losing a child or even sacrificing a child for a purpose. Not by any means downing their culture, but I couldn't understand why. It kind of made me think with many African Americans calling to go back to their motherland and their roots could they honestly make it in their culture?

I was also intrigued by the way the wives and other women all knew their role and what position they played. It is interested to read about a man having many wives. I wonder how the women felt about being part of a triad or a quad of women. I guess you only know what you are raised with. One thing that did seem cruel was the beating of the women. I know that may be protocol, but that is a little inhumane to constantly beat on your wife, and their are certain times when you couldn't. It goes back to every society or clan is different.

The missionaries that came into the village. Why? Why disrupt the village by trying to convert them to a religion that they wanted. I was disturb with that. Why did he feel it was necessary to come into the village and tell them there way of believing was wrong and they were going to hell. It frustrates me so bad when people try to put their beliefs onto someone else. The people were in the village not bothering anyone and he comes disrupting their natural order of things. If someone wanted to worship a tree and their foot why is that people's business. They found something that works for them. When it comes to religion if you are not following the mainstream religion then you are destine to go to hell. Just leave people alone

Another topic that was introduced in the novel was the idea of polygamy. Many religions and cultures have embraced polygamy and it is not a foreign concept. One of the most popular and followed religion, Islam, has permitted polygamy among their believers.

Polygamy in the Quran
The Muslim scripture, the Quran, is the only known world scripture to explicitly limit polygamy and place strict restrictions upon its practice:
“… marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one.” (Quran 4:3)
The Quran limited the maximum number of wives to four. In the early days of Islam, those who had more than four wives at the time of embracing Islam were required to divorce the extra wives. Islam further reformed the institution of polygamy by requiring equal treatment to all wives. The Muslim is not permitted to differentiate between his wives in regards to sustenance and expenses, time, and other obligations of husbands. Islam does not allow a man to marry another woman if he will not be fair in his treatment. Prophet Muhammad did not tolerate discrimination between the wives or between their children.

Also, marriage and polygamy in Islam is a matter of mutual consent. No one can force a woman to marry a married man. Islam simply permits polygamy; it neither forces nor requires it. Besides, a woman may stipulate that her husband must not marry any other woman as a second wife in her prenuptial contract. The point that is often misunderstood in the West is that women in other cultures - especially African and Islamic - do not necessarily look at polygamy as a sign of women’s degradation.
Even though we see the clear permissibility of polygamy in Islam, its actual practice is quite rare in many Muslim societies. Most Muslim men feel they cannot afford the expense of maintaining more than one family. Even those who are financially capable of looking after additional families are often reluctant due to the psychological burdens of handling more than one wife.

Being a Muslim woman I will not enter into a relationship with a man and another woman. I feel as if I will not be able to handle the burden of my husband juggling two women. I know Muslims women that are in polygamist relationship I don't know if they are happier or not. I do know that is not for everyone and I do not condone nor condemn anyone that wants to practice polygamy.

www.islamicity.com/mosque/w_islam/poly.htm