Things Fall Apart, Chapter 13&14 - 'Funeral Dos and Dont's'

"Ezeudu was a great man, and so all the clan was at his funeral. The ancient drums of death beat, guns and cannon were fired, and men dashed about in frenzy, cutting down every tree or animal they saw, jumping over walls and dancing on the roof. It was a warrior's funeral, and from morning till night warriors came and went in their age groups. The all wore smoked raffia skirts and their bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal" (Achebe 121).

In all the nine villages they were waiting to see what has happened when they heard the sound of the ekwe. Then when they announced that something that happened in the village of Umufia, Okonkwo was and everyone else was curious as to what happened and finally it was announced that Ezeudu who was the oldest man in the village had died. Ezeudu was a very important man in this village so they threw him a proper funeral for a warrior where guns and cannons were fires and the men of the village would kill any animal or tree they saw. This traditional culture for the village of Umuofia would likely be challenged by imperialism because in an imperialist country such as England they would have a grand funeral for someone as important as Ezeudu was but they would not have done some of these crazy things like kill every animal or tree they saw, fire guns and cannons, or have their bodies painted up. People at a funeral in an imperialist country would be dressed in black from head to toe giving their respects to the departed at any time with their families and not with people in their age group.