Magic of Medicine

One very confusing thing I noticed in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the “medicine” that was mentioned. The “medicine” was first mentioned in Chapter Two, it was referred as an incredibly powerful and fearsome weapon of the village. When I read that, I assumed that the “medicine” literally meant medicine. I assumed that the author was using a metaphor when he called the potent war-medicine an old woman. However, as I read further into the book, I began to doubt whether it’s really a medicine or not. I went back to the previous text and reread them. After going back again, I wondered why a medicine would be called “fearsome”. I would understand if the author called the medicine helpful or powerful, but to describe it as “fearsome” was strange. I also noticed in the later passages that a man had said a village can be strong because its “medicine” is powerful. I analyzed this and conclude that the “medicine” couldn’t have been a real medicine. It most likely refers to a form of “magic” or “spiritualism” of the villages.