Ethics, Law and Justice in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

All human societies, except perhaps, the Hobbesian state of nature, are preserved through a complex network of laws, ethics and the enforcement of justice. Whether couched in unwritten customs and traditions by which primeval peoples organized their lives, or in standardized penal codes of 'civilized' cultures, laws and their enforcement are expedient for meaningful interrelationships, social order, peaceful coexistence and economic growth of any society. By sifting out the distinctive imports of ethics, law and justice system in the ordering of pre-colonial Igbo (African) society, exemplified in the life of Umuofia, the author sought to illumine the readerson the wits of Achebe's Things Fall Apart in presenting a well-ordered society, as against Western criticisms. Specific events / cases which projected these vital societal structures were identified. Instances where the colonial system of adjudication conflicted with that of the natives were rife.A suggestion that like communities of other climes, their ethical, legal and justice systems were open to evolution was highlighted. Findings revealed that even though Achebe did not engage himself directly in the polemics of the derivable value of the white man's action in Umuofia, his disclosures underscored the genesis of bribery and corruption-a twin monster which have blossomed in people's psyche today.