Friendship and Solidarity in the Igbo Communalist Living: Issues in Selected Nigerian Texts

Abstract

The spirit of oneness and togetherness are distinct traits in the culture of the Igbo people. The Igbo communal living fosters closed relationships in which people empathize and get involved in the concerns of one another. Friendship and fellow feeling in the form of solidarity are valued as much as of blood relationship. It is therefore no wonder, also that the women (among the Igbo) unreservedly rally support for one another at times of need. And so the Igbo ideology of friendship and solidarity is found as one of the hallmarks of the people coexisting with less strife and high regards for their kinds and kins. Friendship is an important relationships through a person’s life span, and is therefore highly valued and upheld among the people. Narratives in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God; Flora Nwapa’s Efuru, and Ifeoma Okoye’s Behind the Clouds reveal the bonds of friendship, women helping women and fraternal supports among the people. Although these texts have been critically studied by literary scholars, this work veers a different direction to examine the issues of friendship among the men and women helping women solidarity. Using the framework of African Communalism as a moral philosophy and way of life that promotes cultural values, relationships, rights and responsibility, this paper makes a literary analysis of the patterns of relationship among the key characters in the selected texts. Specifically, the paper highlights the roles of women supporting women, and fraternal love among the men in stabilizing distressed individuals in the texts. The paper advances the Igbo ideology of togetherness that teaches the individuals in the community to have the moral attitude of contributing to the well-being of others, especially at the times of need.