How does ‘Evil Forest’ symbolize in ‘Things Fall Apart’?

In this story, the “Evil Forest” is mentioned 22 times. Sometimes the Evil Forest is mentioned as a specific place, and other times it is mentioned as a type of Spiritual Village leader. In both the references, the “Evil Forest” is full of mystery and darkness. We can examine the “Evil Forest” as a place and as the name of a religious elder. By doing this, we can gain a deeper understanding of how the “Evil Forest” represents fear, evil and death.

The first time “Evil Forest” is mentioned in “Things Fall Apart” is when Okonkwo is remembering his father’s death. Since his father died from swelling of the limbs, it was forbidden to bury him in the earth, so he was dragged to the Evil Forest to rot. As Okonkwo is remembering his father, he also remembers a story about a man who was led to the Evil Forest because he was dying. The dying man found a way back to the village because he did not want to die in the forest. The people forced him back to the forest and tied him to a tree. The first example paints the “Evil Forest” as a place that is closely involved in the cultural norms of Igbo culture. Later in chapter 17, this idea is restated when the “Evil Forest” is described as, ‘An evil forest was where the clan buried all those who died of the really evil diseases, like leprosy and small pox’.

When the missionaries come to convert the villagers, we see the “Evil Forest” again. The missionaries want a piece of land to build on. We learn that they did not really want them near the clan, and so they made them that offer which nobody in his right senses would accept. The leaders offered the “Evil Forest” to the missionaries. Uchendu says “Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory”. Both of these comments reveal that “Evil Forest” is a place of mysteries evilness. The fact that the elders want the missionaries to build on the “Evil Forest” reveals their negative feelings towards the missionaries as well as the worrisome nature of the “Evil Forest”.

The “Evil Forest” is a land beyond the village considered desecrated by the Ibo. In the same way twins who are born in Umuofia are seen as a sign of evil as well, and thus are taken to the forest and left to die of exposure when they are born. This practice is one of the traditions that turns Okonkwo’s son Nwoye, away from the Ibo and into the arms of the newly established Christian Church.

There are two uses for “Evil Forest”. The first is a forest where the unwanted are cast to leave the rest of the village pure. If a men dies from a horrible disease his body is cast into the “Evil Forest”. This prevents sickness from spreading to the rest of the village, so it has practical aspects. Religious outcasts are buried in the “Evil Forest”. When twins are born considered an abomination. They are mutilated before their bodies are cast in the forest. Ekwefi’s Ogbanje are also cast into the forest after they die.

Evil Forest is also the head of the nine egwugwu. He represented the village of Umueru (children of Eru) eldest of the nine sons and the first father of the clan. Okonkwo’s egwugwu was not “Evil Forest” but he represented his village. These nine egwugwu made up the judges of the Igbo court. CHAPTER-11

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