Locusts

Lindsey Lightman
Above is a picture of a locust swarm. The picture portrays how exponential the numbers locusts came in. Specifically in the book, locusts symbolize the coming of white settlers, which blissfully seems tolerant at first but later on surfaces as a troublesome threat. When the locusts first invade, the Igbo people eat them, thinking nothing of it. This, however, foreshadows the activity/hidden agenda of the white settlers, who are parasite-like beings to the Igbo people, using their land and raw materials and resources for their own personal gain and not offering anything in return. This also relates to what will happen when certain Igbos convert to Christianity, carelessly leaving their heritage behind and allowing it to be crushed by the white men. Another foreshadowing of white settlers treating the Igbo people is the force of the swarm of locusts so strong it breaks the tree branches; this hints that the white settlers easily conquer the Igbo people.

 



In other words, the locusts basically represent events to come by the way the Igbos treat the locusts; an equivalent way of how the white settlers treat the Igbos.  http://killerpoke.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/locusts.jpg [|http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/things/graphics/locust02b.jpg] []