Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offence on the great goddess, her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others. What does the phrase “if one finger brought oil it soiled the others” most likely mean in this excerpt from Things Fall Apart?

Answer 1

Answer

The offence of  the offender will extend to all the other members of the clan.

Explanation

“if one finger brought oil it soiled the others” means that just one oily finger will taint all the other fingers with oil; another way to look at it is that the dirt of  one finger will extend to the other fingers if you don't clean it first. In other words the phrase “if one finger brought oil it soiled the others” is a metaphorical way of saying that if left unpunished, the sin of one person extend to the whole community. We can confirm this by replacing finger with member of the clan and oil whit offence in the phrase: If one offender member of the clan brought offence (to the great goddess) it soiled the others (members of the clan).