Chapter 1
Okonkwo is a “man.” With him he carries all the charecteristics a real man in the Ibo culture has. He is a hard worker which is why he is a successful farmer. His father was the a complete opposite person, and Okonkwo’s foil. The clan knew his father as a weak man, “a woman.” His yam seeds never gave fruit ans his family was forced to suffer. Many villagers loaned him money that he never repaid. For this and many other reasons Okonkwo hated him. As a young boy Okonkwo was forced to work so that he could support his family. In a society with strong traditions and high values Okonkwo’s father was worthless. Achebe tries to make us part of this society by describing traditional customs without explaining, almost as of we already know or to introduced by slowly developing into the customs and traditions.
Chapter 2
The people of Umuofia are afraid of the night but in reality are afraid of the unknown. However they say they are afraid of the spirits that come out. In attempt to secure themselves no one goes out at night time or says the serpent’s name. A member of Mbaino had killed the wife of a villager from Umoufia. The villages settled the dispute by making agreements. Unlike European countries they didn’t declare war right away. They decided to take a women to replace the deceased wife and Ikemefuna to do with his fate whatever the gods pleased. For the meantime Ikeemefuna is to live with Okonkwo. Sometimes Okonkwo becomes abusive with his children and wifes or works to the bone in order to overcompensate for his father’s weakness. Sometimes Okonkwo takes it too far to the point that he acts against traditions and the gods. He dislikes women because they remind him of his father and in his perspective being a woman is vile. For the same reason he dislikes Nowye, he is full of emotions, like his grandfather. The social structure of their’s also affects the way Okonkwo views children and women. The simple fact of not sleeping under the same roof proves distinction. Okonkwo views himself different and better than women and children that’s why they don’t sleep in his obi. So far Achebe has presented this society a little to violent and ignorant. Their culture is not depicted as an ideal one.
Chapter 3
Although the priestess of Agbala is a women she is significant individual in the Ibo society. Even though, women in the Ibo culture are essentially viewed as inferiors, some are recognized as people of importance. When those people of importance meet they greet themselves by breaking a kola nut and drinking palm oil in the order of their age first then their status. Some times successful mean allow other farmeres to have their yams and after all the toil 1/3 would go back to the owner. Women didn’t work the fields all they did sometimes was to fo out to the fields and pick the yams they would cook. The worst year of harvest was the year that Okonkwo sharecropped from a successful man The yams he had farmed before the rain all died but his consolation was that those seedsyams were his from the previous year and not the sharecropped one’s.
Chapter 4
Okonkwo is valued for being a great warrior, successful farmer, and man of respect. However his negative characteristics are that he can be brutal to those of less success, and that he has a bad temper. His bad temper sometimes makes him act against the gods. Okonkwo believes that a man’s fate is completely up to the man’s will. Okonkwo liked Ikemefuna because was a brilliant young man whose presence was making Nwoye become like a man. When Okonkwo shows his manliness and beats his wife on the week of Peace he is reprimanded and his to do rituals to the gods for forgiveness customs change as year go by. Some villagers disagree with row.
Chapter Ten
The women and children have fear towards the egwugwu. However, this is doesn’t contain a negative meaning. They fear them because they have respect for them and because they feel they are very powerful. The main functions of the ceremony are the introduction. When they come out the egwugwu portray vitality and power and every one appears to be experiencing shock. Also when they literally introduce themselves the respect that the villagers have for them is demonstrated. The egwugwu resolve problems for the village; in this case Uzowulu claimed to beat his wife for being unfaithful but Evil Forest and the public laugh at him because his wife was pregnant and no man would have sexual intercourse with a pregnant woman. Here the wife’s family was present and they came to protect her. Unlike American tradition in which the family doesn’t have to be involved tin the process of marriage, Ibo families are very involved in the marriages of their sisters or daughters. The advantages of this is that the wife can count on the full support and involvement of her family in cases like Uzowulu’s wife whom is constantly beaten. The disadvantage of this arises when the family gets too involved. Worse it deprives the couple from being independent of their ancestors and to have the freedom of raising a family of their own will.
Chapter Eleven
The moral of the fable of the tortoise is that when a person commits an action of wrong deed, the people they may rely on some day will not help them. This moral was portrayed by the way in which all the birds worked together in giving the tortoise each one feather so that he can fly to the feast too. Later the tortoise eats the best of the diner and leaves scraps for the birds, but instead of acting savagely against him they simply dissert him. The birds were angry because even though tortoise had a bad fame for being sneaky they trusted him. The fable reflects values of trust, collaboration, decency, and fellowship. These values are also illustrated when the priestess of Agbala comes to Ehwefi’s hut to take Enzima to Agbala Okonkwo is unsettled about it at first but he trusts her. The priestess is a member of the clan and Okonkwo believes in her fellowship. People in the Ibo tribe have great faith in the word of their comrades and collaboration, Okonkowo knows that he can trust the priestess for that reason.
Chapter Twelve
Before this chapter we wer introduced to the roles that men, women, and children play in the Ibo culture. Men are distinguished and respected above children and women, however a successful man consists of one whom is hard working and wealthy. Women are condescended by men all the time but we learned some women hold recognition for their pivotal roles. Last but not least children are almost as inferior to their mothers. The fact that they spend more time with their mothers than their fathers portrays this very well. Though, this chapter is different from all otrher because we are introduced to the family as a whole and its importance. The Ibo culture holds family as something very significant. For example, the daughter of Obierika is having dinner with family, friends, and important people to the family when the marriage hasn’t even been completely finalized (only the bride-price has been settled). This proves that the family is greatly appreciated and is very involved in the personal events of individuals. Another action that shows this appreciation is the fact that the uri is a day in which the suitor brings palm wine for every one and as the reader I have learned that palm-wine is a sign of tradition and honor.
Chapter Thirteen
Umuofia has grown fame for being made up of fierce and great warriors. Ezeudu was known for being one of those warriors as a young man and so for his funereal the villagers honored him in the way he disserved. Men and children roamed about savagely. They destroyed anything that would come to their path. The egwugwu came out and roamed about violently. Later though, the most disturbing and spirit of bad odor praised Ezeudu by telling him what a great man he was and that because he was so great, on his return he should come back the same way as he was before. Once this was all done and the chaos continued a horrible incident occurred. Okonkwo accidentally shot Ezeudu’s son and because of this Okonkwo had to seek his motherland instantly for refuge of seven years. Also, the farm that Okonkwo had worked in so hard was to be destroyed. In our culture we would accept it as an accident and the person of the crime would be seen as a victim. I like the fact that they don’t take the death of a young boy for granted.
Chapter Fourteen
Okonkwo and his family seek for his motherland for refuge just as was expected. However, he is not happy about this. In the Okonkwo’s original home he found comfort and accommodation but during his depart his home, Umuofia, goes through a transformation into a changed world in which can no longer adapt to Okonkwo’s old and personal beliefs. He becomes like a fish out of water; without this old world Okonkwo is left desperate because he no longer belongs; he can not adapt to the new world since all along the old world was adapting to him. His personal beliefs are so outdated that even the eldest member of the Mbanta clan notices it. For example, he tells Okonkwo that he doesn’t understand the importance of the mother land. The old man tries to explain it but its obvious that Okonkwo doesn’t absorb the knowledge or advice very well.
Chapter Fifteen
In the time of the colonization of
Chapter Sixteen
From the beginning of the novel Nwoye has been very different to his father. Oknokwo is at one extreme of the Ibo culture and Nwoye as at the other as a child Nwoye seemed to disregard the killing of the twin babies and Ikemefuna’s death and since Christians were against that it was obvious Christianity would be one of his interests. The Christians present themselves with kindness, acceptance, and tolerance all traits that the Ibo people viewed positively. For example, the missionaries are very tolerant when it comes to accepting the outcasts of the village(the twins and osus). What the missionaries didn’t accept was the village’s religious beliefs because they believed in many gods. It’s difficult for the members of the Ibo tribe try to discredit the Christian religion for the trinity because christians belief that God is the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit all in one. Even though some of the Christian beliefs might sometimes be illogical Nwoye is appealed to it because it justifies his doubts about some of the cruel things his religious clan does, like the murdering of innocent people.
Chapter Seventeen
The mutual misunderstandings between the missionaries and the villagers are very clear by the end of this chapter. Both sides are ignorant about each other’s culture, traditions, religion, and values. They are generally ignorant about each other and they don’t make an attempt to learn about the other even if the opportunity to do so is presented to them. When they are taught about the others’ culture, they refuse to accept their differences because they are stubborn. They say that that their own culture is the best and that the other is not just worse but immoral. The Ibo people can’t tolerate the white men just as the white men can’t tolerate the Ibo men that refuse to abandon their old ways to follow Christ, but they allow them to inhabit the
Chapter Eighteen
In the beginning of the novel we are introduced to one type of outcasts of the Ibo tribe whom where baby twins. These infants were taken from earth right after their birth because they were seen as something evil, more specific, a curse. However, in the second part of the novel the reader is introduced to a different type of outcasts whom were called the osu. These people were dedicated to a god, set apart, a taboo forever, and all their generations of children as well. They could not marry or be married by the free-born, and lived in a separate area from the village close to the Great Shrine. These men were dirty and could not take up any titles. Also they were prohibited to live among the free born and banned from all assemblies. Achebe didn’t mention them throughout the novel because they had no role in the Ibo culture they were set aside in the oblivion. Once the Christians arrived the osu became important because they were one of the first converts. That’s why they aren’t read about until the last chapters.
Chapter Nineteen
Okonkwo threw a party get together in his motherland before returning to Umuofia. As tradition has it, one or several of the elderly thanks the provider of the party and can also make a small speech. The final speaker at the party told everyone he feared for them; he feared for the younger generation. The Christians were on a hunt for converters. The missionaries knew it would be difficult to convert the elderly but the young would not be so difficult for they are still vulnerable and easy to appeal to. The elderly speaker knows this too and that’s why he fears the younger generation might betray their ancestors and teach their children to do the same.
Chapter Twenty
The white men in “Things Fall Apart” did not only bring their religion but they brought their government as well. British courts were created to be the final authority in the land even though they didn’t belong there. Before, the people as a whole were in charge of keeping order around, but now only a small number of white men were doing it. These governments undermine some of the Ibo traditions. For example, if some one kills on accident, like Oknonkwo, they have to exile for seven years but the murderer is not corporal punished. If some one kills over a dispute of land there are other rules to be obeyed but there is never corporal punishment or imprisonment. Now these courts are taking tradition away from the Ibo tribe and applying their own laws of the land without the people’s consent.
Chapter Twenty-One
Not all villagers were intolerable of the new arrivers just as not all of the villagers believed violence was the answer to stop them from arriving. Some members of the Ibo tribe accepted their differences and wanted to learn more about the missionaries in order to properly deal with them. Interested villagers learned new concepts about the white men and so did Mr. Brown (a white man) learn more about the villagers. This was a great way to keep peace and order between them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mr. Brown did a great job as the leading missionary. He respected the Ibo culture even though he did not agree to it and he knew how to deal with people that he didn’t appeal to. In contrast, his successor Rev. Smith didn’t care to get along with the Ibo members and he neither respected nor tolerated the other religion. He thought there is no middle ground between Christianity and the Ibo religion. He believed it was one or the other, black or white not grey. Also he was constantly lecturing about black and white. He would say that black was evil. This, I believe shows some kind of discrimination on Rev. Smith’s part. Because Rev. Smith had no tolerance for the Ibo religion, he encouraged his followers to have similar feelings. This encouraged hostility between those people whom followed and those whom resisted Christianity.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Before Okonkwo and other five leaders were imprisoned the District Commissioner tells them what the British’s motive is in colonizing their people. He says that British have brought a peaceful administration to them and their people so that they may be happy. He tells them that courts role in government is to judge cases administer justice and come to their rescue just as they do in their homeland, England. Its funny that the British believe tribes need their help to be happy people.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I believe that what Okonkwo did was vey courageous but at first, he did not understand why it was a courageous act. At this point Okonkwo has has enough with these invaders. They humiliated him in prison something that made Oknokwo feel weak. Okonkwo’s only fear was to be weak, like a woman, and these people made him feel that way when he was imprisoned. He killed that man out of anger and despair. It wasn’t like he didn’t know there would be consequences to his actions but he believed his people would aid him and support him all the way even to war. It wasn’t until after he had killed the man that he realized his people would not support him and that he was on his own against a great empire.
Chapter Twenty-Five
At the end of the novel Okonkwo chose the option to commit suicide so he hung himself. The reader has learned through out the novel that Okonkwo is a fighter whom does not accept defeat. He had to options accept his defeat and be turned in to the British courts, the people Okonkwo blames for everything and the people that he most hates or kill himself. It’s obsvious Okonkwo would accept anything other than defeat and humiliation. The last thing Achebe writes in the novel is an allusion to another novel. Achebe demonstrates how easy it is for Europeans to block out important history they don’t want to have published as the commissioner states that its necessary to be firm in cutting out details. This whole novel that holds great significance can be reduced to a single paragraph according to the commissioner.
