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Hyperbole
Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Ibo Language:
Idiom is perhaps the most frequently used literary device in Things Fall Apart. Moreso perhaps than for European languages, native Ibo (Igbo) speakers appear to structure and communicate their thoughts principally through idiom, allegory, and storytelling/myth.
In Chapter 3, Achebe utilizes idiom to describe Okonkwo's uneasiness after being made to recall his father:
Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo, who laughed uneasily because, as the saying goes, an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. Okonkwo remembered his own father.
Okonkwo is uneasy because, like the old woman whose "dry bones are mentioned in a proverb," the subject matter at hand forces him to think about a deeply uncomfortable subject. The dry bones remind the old woman that she will die soon; and the men discussing Obiako's dead father remind Okonkwo of his own father, of whom he is deeply ashamed.
This frequent use of idiom and figurative language in everyday speech proves to be a significant cultural difference between the Ibo speakers in the novel and the White, English-speaking Europeans. The District commissioner remarks on this difference in Chapter 25:
The Commissioner did not understand what Obierika meant when he said, 'Perhaps your men will help us.' One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words, he thought.
The Commissioner is an outsider who does not understand local culture. Instead of acknowledging the cultural significance of idiom and figurative language, he dismisses these speech patterns as "superfluous."
Related Themes:
Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis—The Ibo Language:
Idiom is perhaps the most frequently used literary device in Things Fall Apart. Moreso perhaps than for European languages, native Ibo (Igbo) speakers appear to structure and communicate their thoughts principally through idiom, allegory, and storytelling/myth.
In Chapter 3, Achebe utilizes idiom to describe Okonkwo's uneasiness after being made to recall his father:
Everybody laughed heartily except Okonkwo, who laughed uneasily because, as the saying goes, an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. Okonkwo remembered his own father.
Okonkwo is uneasy because, like the old woman whose "dry bones are mentioned in a proverb," the subject matter at hand forces him to think about a deeply uncomfortable subject. The dry bones remind the old woman that she will die soon; and the men discussing Obiako's dead father remind Okonkwo of his own father, of whom he is deeply ashamed.
This frequent use of idiom and figurative language in everyday speech proves to be a significant cultural difference between the Ibo speakers in the novel and the White, English-speaking Europeans. The District commissioner remarks on this difference in Chapter 25:
The Commissioner did not understand what Obierika meant when he said, 'Perhaps your men will help us.' One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words, he thought.
The Commissioner is an outsider who does not understand local culture. Instead of acknowledging the cultural significance of idiom and figurative language, he dismisses these speech patterns as "superfluous."
Related Themes:
