Afro-Asian Literature1

 3122/2/23
Things Fall Apart

 NOTE: Things Fall Apart is a novel which was written by a Chinua Achebe and was
published in 1958. The author has other novels such as: No long an Ease in 1960, the day
of Nigerian Independence, Arrow of God in 1964, and he also wrote an essay called An
image of African in which he attacked Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
 The novel was written against Joyce: Mister Johnson and Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

The Characteristics of the Novel

1) The author: in Africa every name has its meaning for example the name of the author
Chinua Achebe, means: Chi means personal god. Chinua may my chi protect me.
2) The setting of the novel: it took time in 1890 and took place in Nigeria—Mine village—
Umuofia—Mbaino—Mbanta.
3) Allusion: the author referred to certain piece of art. And the title of the novel has been
taken from W.B. Yeats' The Second Coming. The novel took time in 1890 why? Chinua
wanted to compare the life and showed how people were before and after spreading the
Christianity in Africa in which The Second Coming in the poem means the people will be
saved by Jesus while The Second Coming in the novel means life will be destroyed by the
christens.
4) Structure of the novel: it divided into three parts and every part discusses certain events:
a) Part one: talks about the raise of Okonkwo the hero of the novel from being poor
person to be a rich one. Okonkwo defeated Amalinze, the cat) he called the cat coz his
back never touches the ground which means he never defeated by any person except
Okonkwo. After that Okonkwo became famous and has got two titles( Ozo and
Idemili) and that was very popular to have titles and the one who got four titles was
considered the best. Okonkwo was having two barns of yams  kind of potato and that
was planted by men and women were planted another kind called coco-yams coz there
was a difference between men and women even in growing.
b) Part two : Ochu female crime by mistake and the one how committed such crime
must send out of his father land to his mother land for seven years and that considered
to be shame and insulting to send to you mother land. Okonkwo committed one and he
sent to his motherland and when he came back, Christens were come and he didn’t like
that.
c) Part three: Okonkwo came back to his fatherland and saw how Umuofia is become
and how British treated people. Most of people were put in a jail and the one who
wants to get out of a jail must pay (money). Okonkwo also was put in a jail and by that
he killed one of the British man and people around him starts questioning why he killed
the man as a result Okonkwo killed himself.
5) The use of the language: despite the author of the novel is African, he wrote it in English
language and he was speaking English since he was 8 years old also to show that they are
educated not primitive. The novel also contains:
a) Proverbial language

1
Afro-Asian Literature: is a literature that is written by African writers

1 ‫علي العيزري‬
 b) Foreshadowing
c) Flashback
d) Similes, metaphors, etc.
6) Point of view: the way of narration and it narrated in 3rd person singular which means
using she, he, they. The way of narration changes from time to time to show the great
effect left on African society.
7) Code-shifting: changing from one language to another, like in the novel the author was
shifting from English into Ibo (Igbo)

Chapter 1
This chapter is talking about the characters of Okonkwo and his father Unoka. We meet Okonkwo
at age 18 during a wrestling match the moment that he first becomes famous among the villages.
Okonkwo is fighting against an undefeated man called Amalinze the Cat, (and he named the Cat
coz back never touches the ground) but in the end, Okonkwo throws the Cat and wins the contest.
This match actually happened twenty years ago. Okonkwo is described as physically huge, tall,
has an intense face, and tends to use his fists to settle his arguments. And he’s impatient with
unsuccessful men like his dad.
Okonkwo despises his late father, Unoka, for his laziness. Unoka died ten years ago, but was
totally irresponsible and was always spending his money on palm-wine. He was a guy who
enjoyed playing the flute, feasting, and celebrating. As a youth, Unoka was a musician and his
happiest moments were after the harvest, when the whole village would gather to feast and enjoy
the music. Unoka was a failure coz he was too lazy to work. Instead, he borrowed money from all
his friends and could afford to feed his family. He became the laughing of the village. Flashing
back to when Unoka was alive, Okoye, Unoka’s neighbor, comes to visit Unoka and offers him a
kola nut, which is a traditional gift. Okoye goes through a discourse which is a polite way of
asking Unoka to pay back the loan of 200 cowries he borrowed from him. Unoka laughs at Okoye
and points at his wall, on which he has marked down all his debts. He owes a lot of people a lot of
money. He tells Okoye, saying I will pay off my big debts first and Okoye leaves empty handed.
Unoka died in debt, that is why Okonkwo is ashamed of him. Okonkwo, unlike his father, he
established himself as a rich successful yam farmer with three wives and two titles. At the end of
the chapter, Achebe foreshadows the presence of Ikemefuna in Okonkwo's household and also the
teenage boy's ultimate fate by referring to him as a "doomed" and "ill-fated lad."
Very important proverbs in this chapter

1) ―He who brings kola brings life‖

2) ―Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the
palm-oil with which words are eaten‖
3) ―Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who
kneel under them‖
4) ―Fortunately, among these people a man was judge according to his worth and not
according to the worth of hi farther‖
5) ―Age was respect among his people, but achievement was reserved‖
6) ―As the elders say, if a child washed his hand he could eat with kings‖

Some African words and their meanings.

 Okonkwo means stammer

2 ‫علي العيزري‬
  Umuofia The community name, which means children of the forest
 Unoka Okonkwo's father's name; its translation, home is supreme,
 Cowries used as currency in in their villages
 Egwugwu leaders of the clan who wear masks during certain occasions and speak on behalf
of the spirits; the term can be either singular or plural.
 Markets Igbo weeks are four days long, and the market day is on the first of day each week;
therefore, three or four markets is a period of twelve to sixteen days.
 Okoye means an everyman name he represents all the people to whom Unoka owes money.
 Ekwe, Udu and Ogene kinds of music instruments
 Ibo a member of a people of Nigeria; known for their art and their skills as traders. Today,
the word is spelled Igbo (the g is not pronounced).
 Idemili title This is the third-level title of honor in Umuofia.
Chapter 2
This chapter tells the story of how Okonkwo ends up with Ikemefuna. Okonkwo lies in bed and
heard a crier late at night.The message signals that the men must gather in the morning, but
Okonkwo fears that something bad has happened. We learn that the people of Umuofia fear
night’s darkness but will allow their children to play in the moonlight. In the morning, the whole
village learns that last night’s cry was sounded for the death of a daughter of the clan. She was
killed at the market by a man from the other village and agreed to send Okonkwo to that village.
Umuofia is considered to be the strongest village among the nine villages that is why they ordered
a boy and a virgin women. When Okonkwo arrives in the neighboring village of the offending
tribe, they offer a peaceful solution of a boy and a virgin girl to the Umuofia clan or be ready for a
war.
Okonkwo accepts the virgin girl and the boy Ikemefuna and returns home. The Umuofian elders
decide that the virgin girl should be given to the man whose wife was just murdered. Ikemefuna
ends up living in Okonkwo’s household for 3 years. Okonkwo rules his family with an iron fist
and his wives live in fear of him. He’s got a bad temper and he fear of being a failure like his
father. Okonkwo is hating everything he thinks his dad stood for: gentleness and idleness,
weakness and failure. In an attempt to be completely unlike his father, Okonkwo works hard
tilling the fields until dark.
Okonkwo has a child, a twelve-year-old son named Nwoye. Okonkwo, still with fear, coz he’s
worried that the boy is lazy and may resemble his grandfather. At the end of the chapter, Okonkwo
hands the boy over to his first wife and orders her to take care of him. Ikemefuna doesn’t really
understand what’s going on. He’s just scared and confused.
Some African words and their meanings.

 Ogbuefi a person with a high title, as in Ogbuefi Ezeugo (the orator) and Ogbuefi Udo
(the man whose wife was killed in Mbaino).
 Ezeugo the name for a person of high religious significance, such as an Igbo priest.
 Udo peace.
 Umuofia kwenu a shout of approval and greeting that means United Umuofia.
 Agadi -nwayi an old woman.
 Oracle their god and they do what he says, and he has a meditator to tell them that
 Emissary a person or agent sent on a specific mission.
 Ndichie elders.

3 ‫علي العيزري‬
  Obi a hut within a compound.
 Compound an enclosed space with a building or group of buildings within it.
Chapter 3
This chapter is talking about Okonkwo’s past. Unlike others , he started as poor and didn’t inherit
anything from his dad, who was always in debt. A common story told in Okonkwo’s village is
about Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, visiting the tribe’s oracle, Agbala, to discover why he has such
bad harvests. Unoka speaking with the oracle many years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy.
Agbala’s priestess interrupts as Unoka begins explaining himself. She says that he has no one but
himself to blame for his bad harvests. She points out his laziness in contrast to his neighbors’
admirable work ethic and sends him away with simple advice: “go home and work like a man.”
Unoka gets sick with a disease which causes his stomach to swell. This disease is considered an
abomination to the earth, so Unoka is not allowed to die at home, nor does allow his body allowed
to be buried. He dies and rots under a tree in the Evil Forest. Even before his father died,
Okonkwo was forced to blaze his own trail to wealth and respect coz lazy Unoka could give his
son nothing. To create his own, Okonkwo goes to a wealthy man Nwakibie and makes polite
offerings of palm-wine and kola nut and asks for a favor. Okonkwo makes an agreement with the
wealthy man where he only gets one-third of his harvest and Nwakibie gets the rest. Nwakibie is
generous to Okonkwo, giving him twice the number of seeds, coz unlike many young men,
Okonkwo isn’t afraid of hard work. Okonkwo works hard to harvest the yams while his mother
and sisters work their own crops. Okonkwo is angry coz all this work is going towards feeding his
father’s household (coz his father’s laziness) instead of building up his own future. The year turns
out to be a disaster. There is a long period of drought, killing the first batch of Okonkwo’s yams.
After he plants the rest, there is endless flooding so the few yams that actually make it to harvest
are rotting. But Okonkwo can survive anything due to his ―inflexible will.‖ His father lately was
supporting him by only words but Okonkwo says nothing coz he needs action and also he is a
man of action.
Very important proverbs or quotations
 A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing."
 "The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said that he would praise
himself if no one else did."
 "Coz men have learned to shoot without missing, Eneke the bird has learned to fly without
perching."
 "You can tell a ripe corn by its look."
Some African words and their meanings.
 Agbala, the Oracle (the god of the Hills and the Caves) Chielo was the priestess who
spoke to Unoka on behalf of the god Agbala.
 Ani the earth goddess who owns all land.
 Nna-ayi translated as our father; a greeting of respect.
 sharecropping working land for a share of the crop, especially as a tenant farmer. Here,
Okonkwo works as a sharecropper to obtain seed-yams.
 Coco-yam Here, the round coco-yam (a woman's crop) is a different tuber than the yam (a
man's crop).
Chapter 4
Okonkwo was preparing a meeting with relatives. During the meeting, Okonkwo proves himself to
have little sympathy for men who have been less successful than himself. When a titleless man
contradicts him, he says, ―this meeting is for men.‖ The other men make Okonkwo apologize to

4 ‫علي العيزري‬
the man and tell Okonkwo that he should be humble and have sympathy for those who are less
fortunate. Okonkwo hasn’t been successful simply coz he’s a lucky man; but coz he’s worked hard
to rise from poverty to his current position. The clan respects Okonkwo for his hard work that is
why they selected him to go to the offending village when they killed the woman and assigns
Ikemefuna to Okonkwo’s care until they decide what to do with him.
When Ikemefuna moves into Okonkwo’s house, he’s terrified and refuses to eat until he’s taken
home. Okonkwo won’t put up with the boy’s hunger strike and stands over Ikemefuna with a
threatening, forcing the boy to eat his meal. After the force feeding Ikemefuna is vomiting for a
while, but once he’s healthy again, he’s turns out to be a happy, lively boy. Ikemefuna is well
liked in Okonkwo’s household. He develops a relation with Nwoye and Okonkwo’s first wife, the
mother of Nwoye. Even Okonkwo comes to think of Ikemefuna as a son, though he never shows
his affection. Ikemefuna came to Umuofia around the start of the Week of Peace, the happy
week between harvest and planting. During this time, however, Okonkwo breaks the peace. He
beats his third wife, Ojiugo, for not arriving home in time to cook his midday meal. By beating his
wife, he breaks the law of the Week of Peace. Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess, comes to
punish him. The priest blames Okonkwo for breaking the rules of the sacred week and possibly
making the earth goddess angry. Then he gives Okonkwo instructions for righting his wrong:
Okonkwo must bring a sacrifice to the goddess he shall bring a one she-goat, one hen, a length of
clothes, and a hundred cowries. Okonkwo does as he is told and really does feel repentant, but
is too proud to reveal that to his neighbors. So his neighbors think that he’s too proud to respect
the gods. In the past, the punishment has also been much more severe in which a man should be
taken to an Evil Frost, tide to a tree till he rots After the Week of Peace ends, new crops are
planted. Okonkwo starts planting yams with the help of Nwoye and Ikemefuna.
While preparing the seed yams, he criticizes the boys for not preparing them correctly and
threatening them aggressively. Okonkwo knows that the boys are too young to really be able to
plant yams well, but he’s harsh with them coz he wants them to turn into tough men. During his
free time, Ikemefuna talks with Nwoye and that was a happy time for Ikemefuna and he finally
feels at home in Okonkwo’s household.
Some African words and their meanings.
 Osugo The name means a low-ranked person.
 Week of Peace In Umuofia, a sacred week in which violence is prohibited.
 Nza a small but aggressive bird.
 Nso -ani a sin against the earth goddess, Ani.
 Amadiora the god of thunder and lightning.
Chapter 5
The chapter opens three days before the Feast of the New Yam, and all of the villagers are excited.
Okonkwo and his family are preparing for the holiday feast, to which Okonkwo will invite the
families of his three wives. Instead of feeling excited about spending time with his three sets of
in-laws, Okonkwo is on unhappy. He loves work and would rather not be sitting around.
Okonkwo’s wives prepare for the festival and feast by cleaning the house. Everyone seems happy
except for Okonkwo, who can’t suppress his bad mood and takes it out on his second wife,
Ekwefi. He accuses her of killing a banana tree and beats her, and then takes his gun and points at
her when she talks back badly about the gun but he is a bad shouter so the bullet was missed. The
rest of the family is too scared to speak a word.

5 ‫علي العيزري‬
In this chapter we know how Ekwefi falls in love with Okonkwo. She fell in love with Okonkwo
during the opening match of the book, when he threw the Cat. Ekwefi couldn’t marry Okonkwo
coz at the time, he was too poor to pay her bride price. So she ran away from home, disobeying
her husband, and went to live with Okonkwo. Ekwefi has one daughter, a ten-year-old girl named
Ezinma. She is a strange child who always speaks her mind, asks lots of questions, and even calls
her mother by her first name( coz she considered her as a friend after many child of her died long
ago). Ekwefi and Ezinma are preparing food on the day of the wrestling match when Okonkwo’s
first wife comes to ask for Ezinma to bring her a few live coals. Ezinma makes Okonkwo’s first
wife a fire using the coals and some sticks that she gathered. As Ezinma heads back to her
mother’s hut, she hears the drums sounding in the ilo.
As Ekwefi and Okonkwo’s first wife prepare yams, Ezinma and the women hear Obiageli, the
daughter of Okonkwo’s first wife, crying. Ikemefuna and the first wife’s children come marching
in with dinner pots, but Obiageli has no pot and is crying. Obiageli broke her pot while showing
off to the other children; she tried to pretend she was a grown woman and carry the pot on her
head. However, the little girl makes up a sad story to tell her mother, and though the other children
know it’s not true. Ezinma brings Okonkwo the dinner dish that Ekwefi made. Obiageli brings
food that her mother prepared, and Nkechi, the daughter of Okonkwo’s third wife, brings another
dish. Ezinma is smart with her father, and although he acts stern and unemotional around her, he’s
secretly has a soft spot for the girl. As the chapter closes, the drums are still sounding.
Some African words and their meanings.
 Ezinma Ekwefi and Okonkwo's daughter; meaning true beauty. She is also called Nma
and Ezigbo, which mean the good one (child).
 Making inyanga flaunting or showing off.

Chapter 6
This chapter is talking about the second day of the festival, everyone gathers at the village playing
field to watch the wrestling contest between men of the village and men of a neighboring village.
The first matches, between two teams of boys fifteen or sixteen years old, provide entertainment
and excitement before the main events. One of the victorious boys is Maduka, the son of
Okonkwo's good friend Obierika. Neighbors greet each other and matches between the real
wrestlers begin. The current priestess of the Oracle, Chielo, talks with Ekwefi about Okonkwo's
attack on her and about Ekwefi's daughter Ezinma, of whom Chielo seems particularly fond.

As the drums thunder, two teams of twelve men challenge each other. Many expect the final
match between the two greatest fighters in the villages to be uneventful coz of the similar styles of
the two wrestlers. However, the spectators are thrilled when the local fighter, Okafo, takes
advantage of one of his opponent's moves and suddenly defeats him. The crowd carries the
victorious Okafo on their shoulders with pride.

Some African words and their meanings.

 Silk -cotton tree Here, the tree is revered coz it contains spirits of good children as yet
unborn. And if any women want to have a good Child can sit beneath its shadow.
 Chielo the name of the current priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves

6 ‫علي العيزري‬
 Chapter 7
This chapter is talking about Ikemefuna. In the three years Ikemefuna has stayed with Okonkwo’s
family, he has greatly influenced Nwoye. Nwoye now takes pleasure in performing the masculine
tasks around the household, before Ikemefuna came. He truly enjoys ―women’s‖ stories,
especially folktales like that of Vulture and the Sky. One day while everyone is working, a swarm
of locusts darkens the sky. At night, the cloud of locusts descends. The locusts are considered a
delicious treat among the Umuofia, so the people gather them to feast on for days. While
Okonkwo is enjoying his locusts, Ezedu, a respected elder arrives with a message: the village (or
rather the Umuofia Oracle) has decided to kill Ikemefuna. Ezedu advises Okonkwo to obey the
command, but have nothing to do with the actual execution, since Ikemefuna ―calls his father.‖
Okonkwo lies to Ikemefuna, telling him that he’s being sent back to his own village. The entire
household intuits the truth and reacts somberly, but can do nothing about it. Even Ikemefuna
doesn't really believe he's going home. A posse of men, including Okonkwo, ―accompanies‖
Ikemefuna out into the wilderness to take him home (or slaughter him). As they walk, Ikemefuna
tells himself that Okonkwo is his real father and would do nothing to hurt him. He convinces
himself that he is really going home and occupies himself with a childhood song that his
biological mother had taught him. When the time comes, Okonkwo is told to go to the back of the
pack and do nothing. The men cut Ikemefuna down with their machetes and Ikemefuna cries out
for Okonkwo, calling him ―father.‖ In reply, Okonkwo steps forward and delivers the killing and
let him down. Okonkwo is afraid of his peers thinking he’s weak. When Okonkwo returns home,
Nwoye immediately knows what's happened and ―something seemed to give way inside him, like
the snapping of a tightened bow.‖
This is the second time Nwoye has felt this way. The first occasion was the previous year during
harvest season when he had heard the voice of an infant crying from the deep woods. It is
customary of the Umuofia to discard infant twins in the Evil Forest (because they are considered
an abomination to the earth).
 eneke-nti-oba a bird that flies endlessly.
 Eze elina, elina a favorite song of Ikemefuna's about how Danda the ant holds court and
how the sand dances forever
 Twins two born at the same birth. Here, according to Ibo custom, twins are considered
evil and must be placed in earthenware pots and left to die in the forest.
Chapter 8
Thing starts to fall apart
This chapter is talking about Okonkwo after the killing of Ikemefuna. Okonkwo feels guilty about
killing Ikemefuna. He doesn’t eat anything for two days and just drinks palm-wine. Nwoye is now
scared of his dad and tries to avoid him. When Okonkwo asks Ekwefi to make him a dish, she
does it in his favorite way and has Ezinma, his favorite daughter, bring the food to him coz she
understand the mentality of her father. Ezinma insists that he eat the entire dish since he hasn’t had
food for two whole days. While he eats, he keeps wishing to himself that Ezinma had been born a
boy because, ―she has the right spirit.‖ Okonkwo wants some work to distract himself with, but
he’s in the down season for farmers the time between the harvest and the planting. Okonkwo is
hard on himself, mentally calling himself a ―woman‖ for his reaction to killing Ikemefuna.
To make himself feel better, he visits his friend Obierika. Obierika is happy to see his friend
because he wants Okonkwo to help him decide a bride-price with his daughter’s suitor. Okonkwo
greets Obierika’s son, Maduka, the promising young wrestler. On seeing the young man,

7 ‫علي العيزري‬
Okonkwo admits that he’s worried about Nwoye. In fact, he’s worried that all of his sons will not
be like him. Okonkwo rattles on some more about Nwoye being soft, and in order to keep his
mind off the similarity between his lazy father and Nwoye, Okonkwo revels in his own manliness
and his ability to kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwo calls Obierika out for not coming with them to kill
Ikemefuna. Obierika says he had better things to do and that Okonkwo should have stayed home
himself because killing a boy who is like your son doesn’t please the Earth goddess.
Obierika’s sharp defense is interrupted by a man named Ofoedu, who clearly has some news that
he’s dying to share. Ofoedu tells the men a strange story about an old man and wife from the
neighboring village of Ire who were found dead. After that Okonkwo says he’s going to leave to
tap his palm trees; he wants some work to busy his mind and keep from thinking about Ikemefuna.
It turns out that high ranking men with titles like Obierika and Okonkwo are forbidden to climb
tall palm trees and tap them; they have to have young, titleless men do that work. Obierika thinks
the law is stupid and leads to the young, unskilled men killing the palms. Okonkwo counters him,
saying the law of the land must be obeyed; the tapping must continue and titled men cannot do it.
Okonkwo is pretty concerned with titles and wants to keep the title of ozo elite and revered, even
if it means not tapping the tall palm trees himself. Later when Okonkwo returns to Obierika’s hut,
a suitor and his family are there to ask for Obierika’s daughter’s (Akueke’s) hand in marriage.
After the drinking, however, they negotiate her bride price by passing back and forth changing
numbers of sticks, which represent bags of cowries (shells which serve as a form of monetary
exchange). The two families finally decide on twenty bags of cowries. The scene ends with
Obierika talking about white men, who apparently are as colorless as chalk and have no toes.
Chapter 9
In this chapter, Okonkwo can finally sleep well again. Just as he’s feeling good about himself
again, Okonkwo is woken up in the morning by Ekwefi pounding down his door and carrying the
message that Ezinma is dying. Okonkwo immediately runs to Ekwefi’s hut evidence that Mr.
Tough Guy really does care for his little daughter. Ezinma is bedridden and Okonkwo diagnoses
her illness as iba and goes to gather herbs for a medicine. The relationship between Ekwefi and
Ezinma is uncommonly close because Ezinma is an only child. Ekwefi values her because she has
borne children ten times and nine of the children died in infancy or early childhood. After her
second child’s death, the medicine man diagnosed Ekwefi as bearing ogbanje children (changeling
children that keep dying and re-entering their mother’s wombs to be born again). One way of
deterring such unnatural children from coming back was mutilating the dead bodies of the infants
in hopes of scaring them away from reentering their mother’s womb. So Ekwefi’s third child was
mutilated after death.
Ekwefi became sad and bitter because of her misfortune, but her next child born was Ezinma, who
was sickly but surprisingly hardy. Though Ezinma survived past her early years, she was always
from time to time sick. The town believes that Ezinma is an ogbanje, but they hope that she has
decided to stay and give up the evil cycle of birth and death. Ekwefi lives in constant fear that her
beloved daughter will not choose to stay with her. A year ago, Ezinma underwent the process of
breaking her ties with the ogbanje world ( finding and digging up her iyi-uwa, a special kind of
stone that connects an ogbanje child to the spirit world and allows her to be reborn repeatedly).
Here We enter into a flashback to the time when Ezinma’s iyi-uwa was found. In order to find the
location of the girl’s iyi-uwa, a wise old medicine man named Okagbue questions Ezinma about
where she buried the stone. He insists that she knows the location.

8 ‫علي العيزري‬
Ezinma takes Okagbue, followed by her parents. She confidently walks away from home and goes
through brush and branches only to bring everyone straight back to her father’s hut. Back at her
father’s hut, Ezinma stops at an orange tree and indicates it is the spot. Okagbue and Okonkwo
dig for a long time before finding something wrapped in a dirty rag. When he unwraps it, a shiny
pebble falls out and there is much rejoicing. Okagbue asks Ezinma if this is her iyi-uwa and she
answers yes. The flashback ends and the legitimacy of the ritual is called into question now, a year
later, when Ezinma’s life appears threatened by an intense fever. Okonkwo returns gathering herbs
to heal his little daughter. He then boils the medicinal roots, barks, and leaves, warning Ekwefi to
watch the pot carefully so it doesn’t boil over. He is snappy and anxious. Once the medicinal
concoction has boiled long enough, Okonkwo wakes Ezinma and forces her to sit over the
steaming pot of medicine covered by a blanket
 Iba fever, probably related to malaria.
 Ogbanje a child possessed by an evil spirit that leaves the child's body upon death only to
enter into the mother's womb to be reborn again within the next child's body.
 iyi-uwa a special stone linking an ogbanje child and the spirit world; The ogbanje is
protected as long as the stone is not discovered and destroyed.
Chapter 10
This is talking about the judicial system in Ibo culture. The village performs an interesting
ceremony which draws the attention of a large crowd. The ceremony is only for men; women
watch only from the peripheries. Two small groups of people face off as drums beat. One group
consists of a woman, Mgbafo, and her brothers, the other group is Mgbafo’s husband, Uzowulu,
and his family. The audience looks towards the egwugwu house, or the building that’s supposed
to be the dwelling place of the Umuofia gods. With the sounding of the gong, the spirits of the
Umuofia ancestors come out of the forest and the nine Umuofia gods appear. Achebe doesn't mean
for us to think that real spirits are showing up. The egwugwu take the form of masked men and
when they arrive and the we note that one of them has a springy step much like Okonkwo.
Basically, the nine egwugwu are actually masked elders of the clan. The nine gods one for each of
the nine Umuofia villages – are pretty freaky. The main god is called the Evil Forest, which seems
a rather fitting name for a dude who has smoke pouring from his head.
The egwugwu sit down and formally greet Uzowulu and Mgbafo’s oldest brother. Then the gods
open the floor for Uzowulu to present his complaint. Uzowulu accuses the other side (his brothers-
in-law) of coming to his house, beating him up, and taking away his wife and children.
Furthermore, he asserts that his wife’s family refused to return the bride. Odukwe, Mgbafo’s
eldest brother presents his sister’s case. He refutes Uzowulu, justifying he and his brothers’
actions by claiming that Uzowulu treated Mgbafo violently, beating her excessively, to the point
where she miscarried a baby. Uzowulu interjects to insist that Mgbafo miscarried when she slept
with her lover. The egwugwu point out that no lover would sleep with a pregnant woman.
Mgbafo’s brothers claim that when they took their sister away, it was because Uzowulu was about
to beat her to death. The brothers also threaten that if their brother-in-law ―ever beats her again we
shall do something bad for him.‖ Uzowulu’s neighbors are called as witnesses, and they agree that
the man has been beating his wife. After the egwugwu consult in private, they declare their
sentence. Uzowulu is commanded to go to his in-laws with an offering of wine and beg his
wife to return. He is not to beat her anymore. The in-laws, similarly, are told to return the
wife to Uzowulu if he brings them wine. This decides the case and another group steps forward
to present their dispute over land to the egwugwu.

9 ‫علي العيزري‬
  Aru oyim de de de dei! egwugwu language translated as greetings to the physical body of
a friend. The egwugwu speak in a formal language that is difficult for the the Umuofians to
understand. Each of the nine egwugwu represents a village of the Umuofian community.
Together, the egwugwu form a tribunal to judge disputes.
 Evil Forest the name of the leader of the egwugwu; also the name of the forest where
taboo objects and people are abandoned.
 I am Dry meat that fills the mouth / I am Fire that burns without faggots two phrases
suggesting that Evil Forest is all-powerful.
Chapter 11
In this chapter, Ekwefi and Ezinma take turns telling folktales during a moonless night. Ekwefi
tells a story about crafty Tortoise and his wily maneuverings and sweet-talking to get to a feast in
heaven. Ezinma is unhappy with her mother’s tale because ―there is no song in the story.‖ The girl
begins to tell her own tale. She is interrupted by the high pitched cries of Chielo, the priestess of
Agbala, screaming prophecies. Chielo comes to Okonkwo and demands to see Ezinma. Ekwefi,
overhearing, feels a stab of fear. Okonkwo tries to get Chielo to come back in the morning, but
apparently Agbala wants to see ―his daughter‖ (Chielo implies Ezinma is Agbala's daughter, not
Okonkwo's), and Okonkwo should watch out because he’s exchanging words with a god (Agbala)
through Chielo.
Okonkwo’s wives come out of their huts to meet Chielo while the children watch from the
sidelines. Chielo insists that Agbala wants to see Ezinma in his cave in the hills. When Ekwefi
says she wants to come too, Chielo curses her. Chielo, clearly in a strange state, tells Ezinma to
climb on her back. Ezinma, crying from fear, helpless to oppose the will of the god. Chielo spirits
Ezinma away without any explanation. Ekwefi, in a show of strength, steels herself and follows
them. Okonkwo does nothing to stop her. Ekwefi becomes more and more afraid as she pursues
the priestess and her daughter. While following the priestess’s path, Ekwefi takes some time to
consider what she will do when they reach their final destination. Ekwefi feels too frightened to
follow them into Agbala’s cave and begins thinking of terrifying ―evil essences‖ that are loose in
the woods. The moonless night frightens Ekwefi, and Chielo seems to have supernatural strength
and speed, moving rapidly and tirelessly through the underbrush. The priestess also knows that she
is being followed and threatens the pursuer with the wrath of the god Agbala. Yet Ekwefi persists.
Chielo keeps up her steady pace and leads her pursuer through a village and then back into the
woods, continuing her strange, possessed chanting.
To Ekwefi, Chielo no longer seems to be the kind woman who is her friend. Right now, Chielo is
rather inhumane the frightening priestess of Agbala. Late into the night, after the moon has risen,
Chielo finally reaches her destination, the shrine of Agbala and disappears into a small entrance in
the ground, with Ezinma still on her back. Ekwefi, sick with fear, vows that she will defend her
daughter to the death. And she waits outside the entrance for them to return. As she waits,
Okonkwo shows up with a machete in hand. At the sight of him, Ekwefi knows Ezinma will be
safe. He sits down to wait with her. The chapter ends with Ekwefi recalling the day she ran away
to elope with Okonkwo. She had been married to another man, Anene, for two years but walked
right up to Okonkwo’s door.

11 ‫علي العيزري‬
Proverb

"A man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself" if someone does bad thing ,
not only others will be affected but also. And this is an indication that Okonkwo is bringing
misfortune upon himself.

 Agbala do-o-o-o! . . . Ezinmao-o-o-o Chielo, the priestess, takes on the voice of the divine
Agbala to ask for Ezinma to come to her.
Chapter 12
In this chapter, the village is preparing to celebrate the engagement of Obierika’s daughter and
Okonkwo’s first and third wives are getting ready to bring gifts of food to Obierika’s wife.
Ekwefi, however, is exhausted after chasing Chielo all night. The previous night, Chielo had
crawled out of the shrine with Ezinma sleeping on her back and transported the girl safely back to
the village. Okonkwo and Ekwefi had followed the priestess at a safe distance. Ezinma emerges
from her mother’s hut, having just woken up. She prepares to gather water with the other children
to bring to Obierika’s wife. Okonkwo’s first and third wives leave to go to Obierika’s place and
promise to explain why Ekwefi will be late. Okonkwo is tired because he spent the whole night
worrying about Ezinma. Last night, he was torn between his desire to appear stong to protect his
daughter. After Ekwefi left to chase after Chielo, Okonkwo had set out after them, but only found
them on his fourth trip out, at which point he was sick with worry.
At Obierika’s compound, party preparations keep everyone as busy the village is preparing a
celebratory feast. As some men discuss how magic medicine helps the market of neighboring
village, Umuike. The discussion turns to how magic can also aid thieves in stealing cows. As they
speak, a cow actually gets loose. All the women chase after the escaped animal and secure it. After
all the commotion, the owner of the cow pays the fine required as penalty for setting a cow loose
on a neighbor’s property. Later in the day, the groom’s family brings the last of the bride price to
the celebration pots of palm-wine. Obierika’s guests begin to arrive, followed by the new in-laws
(the groom’s family). Though Obierika’s family worried that the in-laws would be a bit stingy,
altogether, the groom’s family brings fifty pots of wine a good showing since only thirty were
expected. Obierika’s family formally gives away Akueke to the suitor, Ibe, and establishes an
alliance between the two families. The crowd witnesses and confirms the union. Everyone feasts.
The night ends with the girls dancing, led by the newlywed bride. Before the groom’s family
leaves, taking Akueke with them, Okonkwo gives them a gift of two roosters.
 umunna the extended family and kinsmen.
 a great medicine a supernatural power or magic that may take the shape of a person. In
the Umuike market, the medicine assumes the shape of an old woman with a beckoning,
magical fan.
Chapter 13
This chapter is the last chapter of part one. Drums and cannons sound and women wail, signaling
the death of the oldest man in the village, Ezedu. He was the man who warned Okonkwo to ―bear
no hand in Ikemefuna’s death.‖ Ezedu’s funeral is a big deal because he was one of the head of the
Umuofia. Even the ancestral spirits, the egwugwu, come to pay their respects and lament. During
the final salute, when the drums sound loudly and guns and cannons are fired, an accident occurs.
Ezedu’s sixteen-year-old son falls dead from a gunshot through the heart. He and his brothers had
been performing a final dance to honor their father. The offending gun is Okonkwo’s coz he was a
bad shooter. The Umuofia consider killing a clansman a horrible crime, one that offends the earth

11 ‫علي العيزري‬
goddess. But, since the boy’s death was clearly an accident (considered female because it was
unintentional), Okonkwo only receives the punishment of exile from the Umuofia villages for
seven years.
Okonkwo must spend his seven years of banishment in his motherland (the land from which his
mother comes), a village called Mbanta. That same night, Okonkwo and his weeping wives and
children pack their belongings. And they are not allowing to take everything with them, just the
things that can be carried over the head. Just after Okonkwo and his family leave, a group of men,
including Okonkwo’s best friend, Obierika, destroy Okonkwo’s home and slaughter his livestock.
The narrator makes it clear that Obierika doesn’t join the destruction out of spite; he and the other
men feel the need to cleanse the land of Okonkwo’s crime to satisfy the earth goddess. Obierika
clearly sympathizes with Okonkwo. He asks himself ―why should a man suffer so grievously for
an offense he had committed inadvertently?‖ Yet, in the end, Obierika can do nothing to oppose
the law of the Earth.
Proverb
If one finger brought oil, it soiled the others," this proverb means if someone do something bad
and never punishes, many people will do the same. And that suggests that Okonkwo's crime may
lead to the ultimate downfall of Umuofia itself.
 Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. Di-go-go-di-go the sound of drums. Every drum has its language.
 Mbanta The name means small town and is where Okonkwo's mother comes from, his
motherland, beyond the borders of Mbaino (Ikemefuna's original home).
VERY IMPORTANT EVALUATIONS AND NOTES
Orality
Chinua Achebe presents his ideas and delivers them by using proverbs and folktales. But why
he used such stories to convey these ideas? His reasons for doing this can be seen in two reasons:
maybe he wanted to:

1) Turn translation of folktales and discourses into formal literature devices.

2) Comment implicitly on the culture and society of the Modern Nigeria.

Every story he wrote has or represented Okonkwo’ character. The story of the snake-lizard who
killed herself and the story of the vulture who went to the sky to tell her to let the sky rain after 7
years of dry earth, represent Okonkwo and his way of dealing with other.
Okonkwo’s Reasons for killing Ikemefuna
Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna and justified his crime by thinking in illogical way which is Afraid of
being a weak or calling a weak man. Others said he killed Ikemefuna :

1) Sending a message to the oracle. Saying I can do things more than you imagine just to
please you. And he did this coz maybe he wanted to be a priest.
2) Symbol of killing the child. Okonkwo didn’t live his childhood in a soft way, so he didn’t
appreciate that.
3) Answering to the question which is who is my ancestors. This is related to Chinua Achebe
himself coz his father was a missionary while he was fighting Christianity.
4) Hamartia: fatal flaw mistake which killing Ikemefuna.

NOTES:

 The breaking pots in every chapter is indicates something bad or disaster.

12 ‫علي العيزري‬
 The meaning of the name Ikemefuna is, my power should not be divided/ dispersed.
 When Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, Ikemefuna was 18 years old the same age of Okonkwo
when he became famous and reached his goal of being what he wanted. And by killing
Ikemefuna as he is killing his achievement
 When the locusts come : is representing colonization.
 Anaphora: the repetition of the phrase in every sentence such as when the locusts come and
they settled in every tree….. , every blade of grass……, etc.
 The story of the Tortoise who wants to fly and call himself All of You is a foreshadowing
for the coming christens.
 When Chinua Achebe talked about the Ibo society he didn’t mention anything that can be
borrowed or imported from outside the community, he wanted to tell us that ― there is a
complete system in Ibo society such as economic system( in planting and selling there
palm-win), financial system, (having their own currency, cowries) , judicial system( how
they do the punishment for the wrong actions) , and medical system( in using medicine
from nature), thus there is no need for anyone to tell them what to do or how to do.

13 ‫علي العيزري‬
 Chapter 14

Uchendu, Okonkwo’s uncle, welcomes Okonkwo and his family to Mbanta. Uchendu is the oldest
member of the family and remembers Okonkwo as a boy when he returned to Mbanta for his
mother’s funeral. Though Uchendu wasn’t expecting to see his nephew, he can immediately read
from Okonkwo’s face what happened. The day after Okonkwo’s arrival in Mbanta, he tells his
uncle about the crime that he committed. As you might imagine, Uchendu’s feeling relieved that
Okonkwo committed the ―female‖ version of murder – if a murder is going to live among your
family, it’s reassuring to know that he killed inadvertently. Uchendu and his sons help Okonkwo
build a compound and farm. The family even pitches in to give Okonkwo seed-yams to start a
farm with the coming rain season. Okonkwo, deeply perturbed by his exile, works as hard as
always to prosper, but his heart is no longer in it. All his ambition to eventually become a great
leader of the clan has been ripped away. He believes his personal god or chi was not destined for
great things. Uchendu sees Okonkwo’s despair.

Two days later, Uchendu gathers his family (including Okonkwo) around him. Uchendu tells his
family why Okonkwo is now living among them. He asks his nephew why a common name for
children is Nneka, meaning ―Mother is supreme‖ when only men can be the head of a family.
Okonkwo answers that he doesn’t know. Uchendu goes on to inquire why women are buried with
their own kinsmen and not those of their husband. Again, Okonkwo does not know. Uchendu uses
Okonkwo’s ignorance to call him a child and then proceeds to answer the questions himself. He
says that mothers protect their children unconditionally and that is why mothers are supreme. In
times of trouble, children always go to their mother for comfort and protection. Similarly, now
that Okonkwo is going through hard times, he is in his motherland for protection. But by
despairing, Okonkwo is like a child refusing to allow his mother to comfort him. Uchendu points
out that Okonkwo’s behavior in his motherland displeases the dead and dishonors his mother.
Uchendu asserts that if Okonkwo continues on his present path, he will condemn himself and his
whole family to death in exile.

 twenty and ten years Igbo counting may not have a unique number for thirty, which is thus
counted as twenty and ten. Similarly, in French, seventy is counted as sixty-ten, and eighty is four
twenties.

 It is female ochu. Crimes are divided into male and female types. Okonkwo's accidental
killing of Ezuedu's son is considered manslaughter and therefore a female crime.
Chapter 15

In the second year of Okonkwo’s exile, Obierika comes to visit him bringing along two men
carrying bags of cowries (money). Uchendu, in meeting Obierika, comments that it’s rare to have
such a visit since the young men nowadays don’t often maintain relationships with their
neighboring tribes. Okonkwo, Uchendu, and Obierika settle in with some conversation and palm-
wine. Obierika brings news that one of the clans Abame has been completely wiped out. The
cause: white man. When the Abame clan came across a lone white man with on an ―iron horse‖ (a
bicycle), they were struck by his inability to communicate with them. Their oracle declared that
the man would destroy the clan and that he was the first of many white men to come. So they
killed him and tied his iron horse to a tree ―coz it looked as if it would run away to call the man’s
friends.‖ Later that year, a three of white men arrived, led by clansmen. They saw the iron horse,
freaked out, and left. At the market a few weeks later, the entire clan was surrounded and

14 ‫علي العيزري‬
massacred by a group the white men and their native allies. In the end, the oracle’s prophesy came
true.

Uchendu reacts with rage and the knowledge that people should never kill a man who doesn’t
speak. The white man’s inability to communicate, we understand, is unnatural. He backs up this
advice with a folktale which ends with the wisdom that ―There is nothing to fear from someone
who shouts.‖ Obierika ends the conversation by expressing his fear of the white men. He had
never believed the stories he’d heard about white men with their guns and slaves. Uchendu
cautions that, ―There is no story that is not true.‖ Okonkwo’s first wife cooks them dinner and
Nwoye brings wine. Over dinner, Obierika catches Okonkwo up on the latest news from their
home village. After the men finish eating, Obierika tells Okonkwo that the bags of cowries he
brought are the earnings Okonkwo’s yams fields. Obierika sold the yams, and intends to do the
same for every year until Okonkwo returns. Okonkwo is very thankful to his friend for the help
and money.

 albino a person whose skin, hair, and eyes lack normal coloration because of genetic
factors: albinos have a white skin, whitish hair, and pink eyes.
 Eke day, Afo day The Igbo week has four days: Eke, Oye, Afo, and Nkwo.
 iron horse the bicycle that the white man was riding when he apparently got lost.
Chapter 16

Two years later, Obierika visits Okonkwo in Mbanta again. This time, his visit is motivated by
less pleasant reasons. Not only have white missionaries arrived in Umuofia and begun converting
some clansmen to their faith, but Nwoye Okonkwo’s eldest son is one of the converts! We get a
flashback to Obierika discovering that Nwoye is among the Christian converts. Obierika asks
Nwoye what on earth he’s doing among the missionaries, and Nwoye responds that he has joined
them. When Obierika asks after his father, Nwoye responds sadly that Okonkwo isn’t his father
anymore. The flashback ends. Okonkwo refuses to discuss Nwoye. Despite Okonkwo’s silence on
the subject, Obierika pieces together the story of Nwoye and the missionaries from Okonkwo’s
first wife. We get a flashback about what occurred. Six missionaries arrive in Mbanta five natives
and one white man causing a lot of commotion in the village. Everyone is curious about the white
man after having heard the story about the Abame clan massacre. With a large group gathered, the
white missionary begins speaking with the aid of a translator, an African using a different Ibo
dialect to the people of Mbanta. The villagers make fun of the translator coz instead of saying
―myself‖ he always says ―my buttocks‖!

The missionaries’ message is that there is only one true God and that the people of Mbanta are
worshiping false gods. The true God judges everyone after death and throws those who worship
false gods into a fire. Those who worship the true God get eternal life in ―His happy kingdom.‖
The white men also tempt the Ibo people to their side by offering them iron horses (bicycles) once
the missionaries come to live among them. This last bit causes a stir. The people haven’t expected
that white men would come to stay in Mbanta. When an old man asks which of the Ibo gods the
earth goddess, sky god, or various others is the one true God, the white man claims that all of the
Ibo gods are all false. At this point, the men of Mbanta laugh and ignore the missionaries. The
missionaries begin to sing and their song tells the story of ―brothers who lived in darkness and in
fear, ignorant of the love of God‖ and of man being like lost sheep, away from their kind shepherd
(God). Okonkwo, listening to the missionaries, concludes that they must be insane. The only

15 ‫علي العيزري‬
reason he sticks around to listen to them talk is that he’s hoping the men of Mbanta will decide to
chase all of the missionaries out he’d like to join in on that action. Unlike his father, Nwoye is
enraptured. Though he doesn’t understand the logic of Christianity especially the Trinity the song
touches him. He associates it with the death of Ikemefuna and Ibo twins abandoned in the woods.
The missionaries’ hymn gives him a feeling of relief.

 efulefu worthless men in the eyes of the community.

 evangelism a preaching of, or zealous effort to spread, the gospel.
 Jesu Kristi Jesus Christ.
 callow young and inexperienced; immature.
Chapter 17

The missionaries don’t seem to have much intention of leaving, and preach by day and sleep in the
marketplace by night. Within the first week of their arrival, the missionaries ask the rulers of
Mbanta for land on which to build their church. Uchendu agrees, but gives them a section of the
Evil Forest. No one in town wants the missionaries to stay, and they assume that any person with
any intelligence wouldn’t live in the Evil Forest. The respected men of Mbanta think that giving
the missionaries a piece of the Evil Forest is a good joke. As Uchendu says, the missionaries
―boast about victory over death. Let us give them a real battlefield on which to show their
victory.‖ The missionaries are so happy to have the land that they start singing. That wasn’t quite
the reaction the men of Mbanta were expecting. The villagers expect the missionaries, who are
busy clearing forest land for their church, to die quickly. But they don’t. The explanation for the
missionaries’ success in the Evil Forest is that the white man with them can see the evil spirits
through his glasses and communicate with them.

When none of the missionaries die, they win their first three converts. During these first few
weeks, Nwoye shadows the missionaries and lingers outside their church, but can't muster the
courage to enter coz of fear of his father. The white missionary’s interpreter, Mr. Kiaga, has
become the head of the new Mbanta church coz the white man set up headquarters in Umuofia.
Mr. Kiaga invites everyone in the village to come worship at the church every Sunday. Many of
the villagers are still unsure about what the Ibo gods will do to the missionaries living in the Evil
Forest. The gods sometimes let men do as they like to see if the humans will continue to defy
them. However, the gods always exact revenge within 28 days. The 28th day is fast approaching
and the villagers eagerly watch and wait. Some converts even un-convert. The 28th day arrives
and Mr. Kiaga and the church are doing fine. They even win some more converts, including a
pregnant woman named Nneka. Nneka had previously given birth to sets of twins, all of which
were abandoned to the Evil Forest.

Okonkwo discovers that Nwoye has been hanging around the Christians and the news enrages
him. When Nwoye comes home, Okonkwo grabs the young man by the throat and angrily asks
him where he’s been. Nwoye doesn’t answer and Okonkwo starts beating him with a stick and
threatening to kill him. Uchendu arrives and tells Okonkwo to let go of Nwoye, which Okonkwo
does. Nwoye wisely leaves. He heads straight to the church and Mr. Kiaga to tell the church leader
that he’s moving to Umuofia and join the white missionary’s school where he will learn to read
and write. Nwoye is glad to be rid of his father, though he vows to return to convert his mother
and siblings. Okonkwo is enraged and greatly troubled by Nwoye’s betrayal. He tries to calm
himself by telling himself that Nwoye isn’t worth fighting for. Okonkwo blames his bad fortune

16 ‫علي العيزري‬
his exile and worthless son on his chi or personal god. Part of the reason Okonkwo is so angry
about Nwoye’s new religion is that he considers Christianity weak and effeminate, and we know
how important manliness is to Okonkwo. Okonkwo sees his father in Nwoye and can’t believe
that he could father a son who’s so much like ―a woman.‖ In the end, Okonkwo realizes that
―Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.‖

 fetish any object believed by some person or group to have magical power.
 impudent shamelessly bold or disrespectful; saucy; insolent.
Chapter 18

At first, the people of Mbanta and the Christians are able to live together in peace coz the
missionaries stay in the Evil Forest and mostly mind their own business. However, as the group of
converts grows in size and strength, problems between the Christians and villagers start to occur.
One day, some converts come into the village and threaten to burn down the shrines to the
village’s gods. This behavior enrages the villagers, and the men beat the converts bloody. There
are also rumors that the white people are not only spreading their religion, but their government as
well. This means courts to prosecute Ibo for killing converts and missionaries. The villagers
continue to see Mr. Kiaga as a harmless fool, and wouldn’t even consider killing the converts coz
that would mean exile for killing a clansman.

The missionaries really start bother the clan when they welcome Ibo outcasts. When the outcasts
first enter the church, hoping to be accepted and converted, the native converts protest, worried
that the ―heathens‖ in town will ridicule the converts for accepting the outcasts. However, Mr.
Kiaga, the head missionary, preaches tolerance and views the outcasts as brothers under God. His
only stipulation is that they shave off their mark of ostracism their long tangled hair The outcasts
acquiesce and soon become the strongest adherents to the church. Then an incident occurs which
proves to be a turning point. The royal python, the most revered animal among all the Ibo peoples,
is killed by one of the converts. This is a crime so heinous that it was previously unimaginable and
has never happened before. Okonkwo wants to react with violence, but the elders gloss over the
crime. In the end, they decide on the milder punishment of ostracizing the Christians. Okonkwo,
though frustrated by the perceived weakness of the Mbanta people, holds his tongue. The
Christians in Mbanta are now a rather large group, which is surprising considering that the first
missionaries came to Mbanta only a year and a half ago. When the female converts go to the river
to get water to clean the church for their Easter celebrations, they are chased away. When Mr.
Kiaga asks why they weren’t allowed to collect water, the women answer that the village has
made all Christians outlaws. Mr. Kiaga wants to know why they have been banished, and the
women respond that it’s coz the village believes that a convert, Okoli, killed the royal python.
After the village decided to outlaw the Christians, Okoli is found dead from illnesses. The Mbanta
people interpret Okoli’s death as a sign that their own gods are fighting back. Happy to let the
gods settle the conflict, the Mbanta people take no further action against the Christians.

 osu a class of people in Igbo culture considered outcasts, not fit to associate with free-born
members of the clan.
 caste rigid class distinction based on birth, wealth, and so on, operating as a social system
or principle.
 heathen anyone not a Jew, Christian, or Muslim; especially, a member of a tribe, nation,
etc. worshiping many gods.

17 ‫علي العيزري‬
  python a very large, nonvenomous snake of Asia, Africa, and Australia, that squeezes its
prey to death.
 defecates excretes waste matter from the bowels.
 ostracize to banish, bar, exclude, etc. from a group through rejection by general consent of
the members.
Chapter 19

As Okonkwo’s exile draws to a close, Okonkwo bitterly regrets his seven years of banishment,
seeing them as a lost opportunity to improve his standing in his fatherland of Umuofia. Knowing
that his time in Mbanta is coming to an end, Okonkwo sends money to Obierika to build some
temporary huts for him in Umuofia in preparation for his return( in their traditions the man should
built his compound himself not others). Okonkwo impatiently waits through the wet season the
last months of his required stay in Mbanta. As the rain season draws to a close, Okonkwo decides
to throw a farewell feast for the Mbanta people, to show his gratitude. Though the feast is a show
of gratitude, Okonkwo also emphasizes that the gathering is justified merely coz ―it is good for
kinsmen to meet.‖ At the end of the feast, one of the elders speaks up and gives a warning to the
younger generation. He fears for them coz he feels the bonds of kinship are breaking, which
allows Christianity to pollute their land and steal their men from their gods and their families.
With that ominous note, he thanks Okonkwo for his generosity.

Chapter 20

This chapter is talking about the returning of Okonkwo to his fatherland. Seven years was a long
time to be away from one’s clan.‖ And now he is coming home. During the long exile, Ezinma
has grown into a gorgeous young woman known in Mbanta as the ―Crystal of Beauty.‖ Ezinma
has had many offers of marriage, but has refused them all coz Okonkwo said he wants her, and all
of his other daughters, to marry a man in Umuofia.

When discussing the white man’s invasion with Obierika, Okonkwo despairs. He doesn’t
understand why his people don’t fight back. Okonkwo believes that throwing the white men out
town wouldn’t be difficult. Obierika points out that throwing the white people out wouldn’t be
easy coz so many men of Umuofia have joined the ranks of the Christians. Since the religion is
intertwined with the government, the converts by default must support the government. The
Christians have compromised the unity of the clan and has made them fall apart. In Obierika’s
own words, ―He (the white men) has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have
fallen apart.” This is the first (and only) reference to the title of the book.

Chapter 21

Although Okonkwo strongly believes that the white men should be forced out of Umuofia, not
everyone in town agrees. The white men have brought trading stores, goods, and money to the
area, which many of the villagers appreciate. Not all of the missionaries are bad. The white
missionary in Umuofia, Mr. Brown, is well respected. Mr. Brown does everything in his power to
keep his flock of converts. He doesn’t appreciate fanaticism and tries to prevent his converts from
going off in the direction of extremism. When trying to convert people, he speaks logically and
respectfully. This chapter recounts such a conversation between Mr. Brown and Akunna, a
respected man of the clan. The two men frequently visit with each other to speak about religion,

18 ‫علي العيزري‬
although neither has been able to convert the other to his side. Akunna finds parallels between
Christianity and the Ibo belief system. He argue that the two are not so different after all.

Akunna calls Mr. Brown and his kotma the human messengers of their God, and equates the men
to the lesser gods in the Ibo pantheon who serve the supreme god, Chukwu. One must approach
Chukwu or God through the lesser vehicles first out of fear and respect. Only when those channels
fail does one directly address the supreme god. Mr. Brown uses his new understanding of the Ibo
faith to convert people. He realizes that a direct attack on their gods will not work and instead goes
from family to family, begging them to send their children to the missionary school. Those that
agree are rewarded with official positions; they become court messengers or clerks or
schoolteachers. The year that Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, Mr. Brown leaves for health reasons.
Okonkwo is distressed coz his return doesn’t cause the great stir he had imagined since his exile.
The missionaries – their church, their government, and their trading stores are occupying much of
the Ibo’s thoughts and time. konkwo spends most of his time lamenting that the formerly warlike
men of Umuofia have become too soft and womanly to resist the Christians.

Chapter 22

Mr. Brown is replaced by Mr. Smith who, in modern terms, would be deemed a religious fanatic.
He sees things as black and white, with black being evil. Unlike Mr. Brown, he has no tolerance
for traditional Ibo practices or beliefs. Mr. Smith thinks Mr. Brown focused on getting lots of
converts instead of spending time teaching his converts a deep understanding of the Christian
religion. He sees many of the new Christians as little better than the heathens. With Mr. Smith in
town, the more zealous converts get free rein to act on their fanaticism. Enoch – a proud, zealous,
and belligerent convert – commits the ultimate crime. During the worship of the earth goddess, he
taunts one of the egwugwu, saying that the masked ―spirit‖ wouldn’t dare touch a Christian. In
response, the egwugwu smacks Enoch with a cane. But Enoch retaliates by publicly unmasking
the egwugwu! This is akin to killing a god. That night, the Mother of the Spirits loudly weeps
throughout the town, mourning the death of her dead son – the unmasked egwugwu. ―It seemed as
if the very soul of the tribe wept for a great evil that was coming its own death.‖

The next day all the egwugwu gather with the people to seek vengeance on Enoch. Mr. Smith and
his interpreter, Okeke, stand their ground outside the church. The egwugwu rush Mr. Smith and
Okeke and surround them. The head of the egwugwu – Ajofia – speaks to the interpreter, telling
him that the white man should go home. They will not harm him, but they cannot allow the church
to stand anymore

Chapter 23

Five days after the church was burned, Okonkwo and five other Umuofia leaders are invited to
speak to District Commissioner to discuss the confrontation. Though they arrive armed at
Okonkwo’s suggestion they fall prey to an ambush. In a move of shameful trickery, the District
Commissioner has them all arrested and imprisoned.

Chapter 24

Upon their release, Okonkwo and the other five men go silently home. The men are mostly silent,
but can see by the marks on his back that Okonkwo has been whipped while in jail. That night, the

19 ‫علي العيزري‬
village crier beats his gong to signal that there will be a village meeting in the morning. The
question of war is in the air. Okonkwo thinks nostalgically of the past, when the men of Umuofia
were fierce and dreaded warriors. Okonkwo despises Egonwanne, a man whose silver tongue
usually convinces the Umuofia not to go to war against the white man. Okonkwo considers him a
coward. The next morning, the entire village congregates to hear the war decision. The
marketplace is crammed with people. Okika, one of the six humiliated leaders, speaks to the
crowd. He points out that times are dire their gods are weeping and their clan is divided, joining
up with strangers and forsaking their ancestors. Okika urges the Umuofia to go to war, even
though it will mean fighting against their brothers who have joined the white men. But just then,
five white people arrive. The fearless head messenger tells him that the white man has ordered
their meeting to stop. This enrages Okonkwo and, in a flash, he draws his machete and killed the
man. The crowd behind him is in sikent, but makes no move to catch the other four people.
Okonkwo now knows that the Umuofia will not go to war coz they let the other kotma escape. He
cleans off his machete and walks away.

 The kotma (court messenger)

Chapter 25

The District Commissioner and his guards arrive at Okonkwo’s compound, demanding to see
Okonkwo. A small group of men is sitting there, but not Okonkwo. The District Commissioner
gets all hot and bothered when the men say that Okonkwo isn’t there, and he threatens to jail the
men. Obierika agrees to take the District Commissioner and his guards to Okonkwo. Still all
snippy, the District Commissioner warns Obierika that if he tries anything tricky, he’ll be shot. In
a small opening in the compound, the District Commissioner sees Okonkwo dangling from a tree.
He has committed suicide. Obierika asks them to help them take down the body. Since it is an
abomination for a man to take his own life, his corpse is now considered evil and only strangers
may touch it. The Umuofia will pay the missionaries to take down and bury Okonkwo’s body;
then they will perform the proper rituals to consecrate the polluted land. Looking at Okonkwo’s
body, Obierika loses his composure and blurts out, ―That man was one of the greatest men in
Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog…‖

His outburst is ignored, except by one messenger who tells him to shut up. The District
Commissioner agrees to help them bury Okonkwo and sets his men to the task. As the
Commissioner leaves, he thinks about Okonkwo’s actions and wants to include them in a new
book he is writing. At first he thinks he can devote a whole chapter to Okonkwo, but quickly
decides to cut it to a mere paragraph.

VERY IMPORTANT EVALUATIONS

The most important characters in the novel:
1- Okonkwo
2- Obierika
3- Mr. Brown
4- The District commissioner
How to analyze any character? follow these steps:
1- Physical description:
2- Comparison between the to-be analyzed character and the other characters.

21 ‫علي العيزري‬
 3- Characters dialogue and monologue.
4- What the narrator and other characters said about the analyzed character.
5- Characters actions.
Example of analyzing the character

Obierika is Okonkwo's best friend, he serves as a foil for Okonkwo. Obierika's personality
contrasts with and enhances the distinctive characteristics of Okonkwo's personality. He is a
reasonable person who thinks before he acts, unlike Okonkwo, who is impulsive and he does not
advocate the use of violence to get revenge against the British colonizers but Okonkwo does.
Moreover, he is open-minded; and he understands and appreciates the changing values and foreign
culture that is infiltrating the Ibo traditions. He is receptive to new ideas and is willing to adapt to
change, whereas Okonkwo is narrow-minded, unable to accept any change to traditional Ibo
culture and beliefs.

Even though the personalities of Obierika and Okonkwo are vastly different, Obierika supports
Okonkwo as a friend. He comforts Okonkwo when Okonkwo is depressed over Ikemefuna's death,
despite the fact that he disapproves of Okonkwo's role in Ikemefuna's murder. When Okonkwo
goes into exile, Obierika sells Okonkwo's yams and seed-yams and gives Okonkwo the profits.

Unlike Okonkwo, Obierika questions the Ibo traditions and ritual, as well as their tribal law. He
thinks that change may improve the Igbo society. Whereas Okonkwo's solution is to use violence
against the British, Obierika understands that rising up against the British is too late. He comments
that the white man "has put a knife on the things that have held us together and we have fallen
apart."

Quotations: how to analyze the themes?

1- Reference: Those lines are taken from Things Fall Apart, a novel by the African
writer Chinua Achebe
2- The speaker of this quotation: It was said by……………
3- If there is no specific speaker mention the occasion : It was said when Okoye was talking
to his friend Unoka in proverbs in order to get his money back
4- The context; the meaning of the quotation: the quotations talks about/ explains/is about.
5- Figure of speech: in this quotation there is a simile, a metaphor,…………..
The most important quotations For Analysis in the novel:
1- P. 3:―Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the
palm-oil with which words are eaten.‖ Those lines are taken from Things Fall Apart, a
novel by the African writer Chinua Achebe. It was said when Okoye was talking to his
friend Unoka in proverbs in order to get his money back. …………

2- P. 38-39: And at last, the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every
blade of grass, they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches
broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast,
hungry swarm. Those lines are taken from Things Fall Apart, a novel by the African
writer Chinua Achebe…………………….

3- P. 97: ―Mother is supreme?‖ We all know that a man is the head of the family and his
wives do his bidding. A child belongs to its father and his family and not to its mother and

21 ‫علي العيزري‬
 her family0 a man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland. And yet we say
Nneka-― mother is supreme‖ Why is that?‖ Those lines are taken from Things Fall
Apart, a novel by the African writer Chinua Achebe…………………….

4- P. 123: ―If I say that we did not expect such a big feast I will be suggesting― that we did
not know how openhanded our son, Okonkwo, is. We all know him, and we expected a big
feast. But it turned even bigger than we expected. Thank you. May all on took out return
again tenfold. It is good 1n these days when the younger generation consider themselves
wiser than their sires to see a man doing things in grand, old way. A man who calls his
kinsmen to a, feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their
own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the
moon. Everyone can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for
kinsman to do so. You may ask why I am saying all this. I say it because I fear for the
younger generation, for you people." He waved his arm where most of the young men sat.
―Ask for me, I have only a short while to live, and so have Uchendu and Unachukwu and
Emefo. But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the
bond of kinship. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. And what is the
results? An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father
and his brothers. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors, like a hunter’s dog
that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. 1 fear for you, I fear for the clan. Those
lines are taken from Things Fall Apart, a novel by the African writer Chinua
Achebe…………………….

5- P. 127-128:―How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our
customs are bad, and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our
customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned
against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion.
We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers,
and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us
together and we have FALLEN APART.”
Those lines are taken from Things Fall Apart, a novel by the African writer Chinua Achebe This
was said by Obierika to Okonkwo when they were talking about the people who have joined the
colonizers and the dispute over a land; when Umuofia was amiss. Okonkwo asked Obierika if the
white man understands their customs when he answered that how could they if they do not speak
their language (the white man cannot judge the Africans when he does not understand their culture
and language). The people who were marginalized said that their customs are bad coz they are
really bad as they casted them away. The Africans society internal division helped the colonizers
in weakening the bonds of the Africans. There is a confession of the smartness of the strategies of
the enemy. The colonizers trod softly (Mr. Brown) on their religion and customs, and they put a
knife on their culture (customs and traditions)
The theme of the novel:
The novel discus many themes but the most important one is the theme of culture and the change
of the society during the pre-colonization and post-colonization.

Okonkwo As A Tragic Hero: and the Characteristics of the Tragic Hero:

1- stature : having a high position in the his society..

22 ‫علي العيزري‬
 2- The Fatal Flaw of the Hero (Weakness in the Character of the Hero): or fear of something.
3- The Arousal of the Emotions of Pity and Fear: we sympathize with Ikemefuna and fears
what Okonkwo may do
4- The Moment of Recognition (Change from Ignorance to Knowledge):
5- The Reversal of Fortune: he never wants to be like his father but ends up like him.
Fortune, when he loses his status in the clan and his fortune during banishment.
PROVERBS The higher form of the language showing respect and politeness.
1- ―He who brings kola, brings life.‖ Said Okoye to his friend Unoka when he came to
collect his debts.
2- ―The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.‖
Said Unoka to Okoye in order to tell him that big debts must be paid first.
3- ―If a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.‖ Said the elders, that's Okonkwo,
age does not count, but accomplishments do.
4- ―A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness.‖ Said
Okonkwo to Nwakibie after he got consent from Nwakibie.
5- ―You can tell a ripe corn by its look.‖ Said Nwakibie to Okonkwo about Nwoye.
6- ―A man who says yes, his chi also says yes.‖ about Okonkwo.
7- ―A baby on its mother’s back does not know the way is long.‖ Said Chielo to Ezinma.
―A child cannot pay for its mother’s milk.‖ Said Okonkwo to his mother's relatives to
express his gratitude for the refuge and generous assistance they offered him.
8- ―The outsider who wept louder than the bereaved.‖ Said about the convert Enoch.
FOLKTALES
1- The Earth and the Sky: Nwoye's mother told him this folktale that there was a quarrel
between earth and sky. Sky withheld rain for seven years until crops withered, and at last
Vulture (messenger of Earth) was sent to beg Sky and he won her over with a song of the
sufferings of men without rain. Eventually, the Sky was moved to pity and gave Vulture
rain wrapped in leaves, and the rain fell heavily.
2- The Mosquito and the Ear: Told by Okonkwo’s mother. Mosquito asked Ear to marry
him when he fell on the floor and burst out laughing , ―how much longer do you think you
will live?‖ she asked. ―You are already a skeleton.‖ Mosquito went away humiliated and
whenever he passed by Ear, he was still alive.
3- The Snake-lizard: Told by Ekwefi to Ezinma. ―He gave his mother seven baskets of
vegetables to cook, and in the end there were only three. And so he killed his mother. He
brought another seven baskets and cooked them himself. And there were again only three,
so he killed himself.
4- The Tortoise and the Birds: Told by Ekefi to Ezinma.

Thanks a googolplex H+B ‫كمساميدا‬

23 ‫علي العيزري‬