Figurative Language and Cultural Understanding

"Yam, the king of crops, was a very exacting king,"

1. This metaphor talks that the yam is the most important crop and that its more important than than the cocoa yam or cassava. It also lets the reader understand that its a very hard crop to grow and that only some (the men) are capable of growing it.

2. This reveals that the Igbo culture is patriarchal in that they only believe that men are capable of growing this prestigious crop, where as women should be growing cocoa yams and cassava.