LEC052009,Annette Sebastian.Exploring Hybridity in the Character Ma of Sacrificial Egg by Chinua Achebe

 

Cultural hybridity is an ambivalent state resulted from the meeting of two cultures. It is a obvious phenomenon in any colonized world. Sacrificial Egg by Chinua Achebe looks at the conflict between the Umuru culture and the western culture sprouted from the colonization. The imperialism aimed at looting the native resources have used education and religion in creating binaries. According to post colonialist critic Homi Bhabha it resulted in a ‘third space’ and from it a hybrid culture. A hybrid colonial subject is in a ambivalent state of adhering to both Eurpoean culture and native culture. This is very much evident in the Ma character.

Colonization across the globe was justified for its civilization mission and it created superior -inferior culture, colonizer-colonized binaries. They used the means of education, religion to conform their values to the natives with their consent. However, despite their education, the boundaries of binaries never blurred. This signifies that colonizers aim was to exploit the resources rather than their civilization mission, which further leaves colonized as inferiors. Homi Bhabha’s concept of Hybridity and Mimicry is pivoted on the non-essentialist understanding of culture gives postcolonial theory a different approach. According to him culture is not static, it is in a flux. Thus, undermining the binaries that is based on fixed culture. The new new space formed by the fusion of European culture and native culture results in a third space and the colonial subjects arising from the it will have a hybrid culture, combination of two cultures.In this regard, Umuru, is a hybrid location of this culture.

The British rule over Nigeria was recognized in 1885 in a conference held in Berlin and Nigeria was administered by the then Royal Company of Niger. In 1914 the country became a official colony. Umuru is a small village in Africa and the story is set in Igbo market. Igbo natives worship a variety of deities, who they believe can influence human affairs and provide them protection.The imperialism has resulted in converting them to Christians and ‘re-educating’ its youth from their superstitions in native culture. Julius Obi, an educated youth from a nearby “bush village” who comes to works at Niger Company is an example for this. The intersection and domination of his western education puts him into a disposition to disbelieve the native culture though at hard moments they influence him.

Ma character in Sacrificial Egg can be considered as another character who can be considered a product of the hybrid culture. Ma is the future mother-in- law for Julius. She is a devout Christian. Her adherence to Christian principles is strong, which is evident from Julius statement that he was approved to Janet, her daughter, only because Julius sang in the church choir. But in her a collision between two religion, Igbo faith and catholic beliefs, is visible though she is ignorant of it. In her case it is the religious ambivalent state between two religion that opened the “possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy(Bhabha 4).” She believes in the existence of mammy-wota, goddesses of water, goddessess of crossroads and danger of the Kitikpa. Julius couldn’t even question her native belief . Her belief was strong and he knew “ït was a bad policy to argue with Ma on such points”(Achebe 98). On the other hand Ma also asks Julius to stop visiting them until this thing(Kitikpa) is over by the power of  the Jehovah(Achebe 98).” This clearly states her hybrid religious culture. 

Colonization made Umuru a third spaceand it ruptured the binaries and held a hybrid culture. The colonial subjects remained in an ambivalent position receiving and rejecting both the foreign and native culture. Ma had her own rules of faith, which is a combination of catholic and Igbo beliefs. The acceptance of her catholic belief  or dominant belief was a way to survive in a hostile colonial culture. Even though she doesn’t acknowledge this hybrid culture is a part of her reality. 

Works cited

Achebe, Chinua. “The Sacrificial Egg.” Tales to Remember: An Anthology of Short Stories.” edited by Leesa Sadasivan, Oxford University Press2010, pp. 96-99.

Beya, Abdennebi Ben,“Mimicry Ambivalence and Hybridity” ” Postcolonial Studies at Emory Pages,last edited Oct.2017, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/mimicry-ambivalence-and-hybridity/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2021.

Bhabha, Homi, The Location of Cuulture, Routledge Classics 1994.

Course Hero. "The Sacrificial Egg Study Guide." Course Hero. 13 Dec. 2019. Web. 3 Feb. 2021. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Sacrificial-Egg/>.Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.

“Country Profile: Nigeria, July 2008.” Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/profiles/Nigeria-new.pdf. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.