Compare and Contrast Paragraph

Ayluonne Tereszk
Humanities
Compare and Contrast Paragraph
March 25, 2010

Through contrasting the Ibo tribe of Things Fall Apart against the Shona Tribe of Great Zimbabwe one can see that their versions of economy differed greatly. Whilst the wealth and economy of the Ibo tribe was based on the personal achievement of obtaining a flourishing farm and the exclusive trading of yams within the circle of households, the Shona Tribe’s economy was similar to modern times and was based on the expansive domain of their trading post and profitable resources of gold and ivory. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the economy seemed to have revolved around the agriculture of the land and thus a man’s wealth was gained through successful obtainment this attribute. The exhibition of an ideal wealthy Ibo man is Okoye, whom “had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. And now he was going to take the Idemili title, the third highest in the land. It was a very expensive ceremony and he was gathering all of his resources together” (Achebe 6). The possession of a bountiful yam farm allowed an Ibo man to purchase a multitude of brides and afford the elaborate ceremonies needed to accept the honor of a title. In addition, the only trading or distribution of a form of currency was in the form of yams and at times bags of cowries, and the exchange was within a group of Ibo households. When Okonkwo was beginning his farm he acquired yams from men in the tribe, such as Nwakibie who exclaimed, “I shall give you twice four hundred yams. Go prepare your farm” … “[Okonkwo] hoped to get another four hundred from his fathers friends at Isiuzo” (Achebe 22). The exchange of the Ibo’s form of currency was limited to other Ibo households or neighboring villages. However, Shona Tribe’s form of economy consisted of purchasing and trading the lucrative resources of their land and therefore involved correlation with outside sources. They founded their wealth upon the trade of gold and ivory and in fact when the abundance of these two resources was discovered, Great Zimbabwe became one of the most powerful and flourishing trading posts on the coast of the Indian Ocean (Great Zimbabwe). The civilization gained its wealth through this trade and “by the thirteenth century the hilltop village had become a major gold-trading center, located advantageously between the gold-bearing plateau and numerous African and Arab trading posts on the Indian Ocean coast…The presence of such luxury items [gold, china, pearls] from so far away demonstrates Great Zimbabwe's valuable connections with traders on the east coast of Africa” (Great Zimbabwe). The Shona Tribe gained and distributed wealth through associating with foreign civilizations and thus could be considered more economically advanced then the yam-exchanging civilization of the Ibo. In conclusion, the economy of the Ibo tribe was dissimilar to the Shona Tribe of Great Zimbabwe due to the fact that the Ibo’s economy focused on agriculture, yams and exchanging with the limited circle of Ibo’s while the Shona’s economy was based on trading gold and ivory with the world beyond theirs and resembles the exporting economy of the modern world.