The Ibo also had strong family ties. These were shown when Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, came and took Ezinma away from Ekwefi. Even though Ekwefi and Okonkwo both knew they were supposed to stay at home and let the gods control what was going to happen to their daughter, they didn"t think twice about risking their lives for her when they thought she might be in danger. This was especially surprising because of Okonkwo"s reaction. He tried not to show any compassion because he thought it was a weakness, but here he showed that he cared about his daughter very much and would try time and time again to protect her. .

             The Ibo also valued the art of conversation and refer to many proverbs when they speak; this was demonstrated many times during the book. Proverbs ranged from "He who brings kola brings life" to "When a man blasphemes, what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. We put our fingers in our ears to stop us hearing." The Ibo valued hard work, and those who work hard were rewarded by the amount of yams they produce and the titles they were allowed to claim. They also valued time to relax, worship the gods, and celebrate. The book contains many descriptions of festivals or feasts, such as the Feast of the New Yam. The Ibo knew how to enjoy themselves and found entertainment in wrestling matches and dancing and traveling musicians and the dancing egwugwu. All these are examples of how the Ibo culture and its characters were portrayed in a positive way.

             In contrast, there are also many negative aspects of the Ibo culture and the main character Okonkwo. The traditions of the clan were often very brutal, such as the tradition of mutilating the fourth ogbanje (a child who repeatedly died and returned to its mother to be reborn) and casting the dead child into the evil forest, unburied. The Ibo also abandoned twins in the evil forest and left them to die, again unburied.