Will,+Lauren,+Jonathon

=Crime and Punishment=

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**Skript**
Crime and punishment What is it? Crimes are actions that people think are unacceptable in society and punishment is consequences for your actions. Crime and punishment is different everywhere because everyone’s believes differ with their culture and religion. In “Things fall apart” the presence of different crimes and punishment helps explain the culture and beliefs of the tribes in Nigeria and in Umuofia. In Igbo Society, Laws were built on internal laws and social destiny. They also had divine laws which if broken are looks at as an offense against the Gods. These laws governed not only Igbo people but also everything in the natural law. In “Things fall apart” Okonkwo commits one of these when he accidently kills a clansman and uses the statement “Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent” on page 124 to describe the different types of crime in Igbo Society. In Umuofia, the villagers believed that their village must be cleansed of a person if he breaks a divine law. Other disputes over small laws are decided between the accused, the accuser and in extreme cases the Egwugwu. The Egwugwu are used as judges in cases between people, For example, in the book they judge a dispute between in-law and then “…two other groups of people had replaced the first before the egwugwu and a great land case begun,” on page 94. In “Things Fall Apart” the author describes some of the crime and punishment in England and uses it as a comparison to Igbo society. The author writes,” we have a court of law where we judge cases…in my own country under a great queen. In 19 century England, Crime levels were rising and punishment revolved around speedy trials and the extensive use of the Death Penalty. In Umuofia and Igbo Society, laws were not written down and neither were punishments but still tribes knew what was right and wrong and what would happen if they broke the law. This unwritten code of law is in practice today with the use of English common law. Common law is also unwritten but is known by most British citizens and is based on what people believed years ago, and still today, was right or wrong. Although cultures and traditions are different everywhere, the sense of what is right or wrong is universal.