Summary Of ' Things Fall Apart '

Okonkwo grows to love Ikemefuna like he is his own son and Okonkwo’s real son Nwoye admires and looks up to him as a real brother as well. Yet, Okonkwo does not show any affection of how he feels toward Ikemefuna and how he actually views him as if he is his own. Despite how he feels about Ikemefuna, Okonkwo will not let any type of weakness show, especially not in front of others. So, Okonkwo does not protect Ikemefuna but instead is a part of his murder by stabbing his un-biological son with a machete. Doing this brakes Okonkwo down inside and makes him very weak becoming saddened and depressed for a generous amount of time. This is probably one of the few moments in Okonkwo life that he let his guard down to show a different emotion besides anger, to him crying and mourning is a sign of weakness but after the foul actions he took a part of he can no help but show it. Along with anger comes violence, which Okonkwo often

The Earth is seen as something holy by the Igbo people, something so pure and majestic that it is bigger than all of them, and this is exactly what they believe in; the Gods of Nature. But they also believe in themselves, in their own Chi and their own achievements. The themes in this book are mostly based on cultural aspects like religion, traditions and gender roles and give us a detailed insight in to the Igbo culture. Things fall apart is a cultural record, as we get to experience the Igbo culture from a very personal point of view; Okonkwo, a man who is very respectable within the tribe and is able to give us a diverse perspective on things, the reader gets to know the culture by seeing how everyday life goes and how the Igbo people think. The symbolism in this story influences big part of who these people are and how they see the world, as well as the fact that the clan has a very strong bond with Mother Nature.

In Things Fall Apart the Igbo society is dominated by gender roles. Husbands beat their wives just for bringing food a few minutes late. Women are completely discriminated against. In fact, it is an insult to call a man an agbala (a woman). To men, women exist in a world in which they are "to be seen not heard, coming and going, with mounds of foofoo, pots of water, market baskets, fetching kola, being scolded and beaten before they disappear behind the huts of their compound" (Mezu 2). However, the role of women is far more essential than the male villagers believe. Achebe repeatedly refers to the masculinity or femininity of a person. Though Achebe seems to believe that men seem to dominate relationships, in fact, there are many ways in

Okonkwo treated his son and daughter very differently. The child-father relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye was a distant and strained one while Okonkwo exhibited another type of feeling towards Ezinma which is filled with care and concern. This was due to the fact that Nwoye “was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” whereas Ezinma was thought to have the “right spirit” and “alone understood [Okonkwo’s] every mood”.

Ekwefi is the second wife of Okonkwo. She was once known as the beauty of the village. Ekwefi loves the sport of wrestling so much that she had left her late husband to marry Okonkwo. Even though she has not had the best experiences in her past, which is full of loss and bitterness. This makes her a strong woman, capable of withstanding much pain and disappointment. Which is a perfect example of how she defies the single story? Sure women in Umuofia are thought to be just used for children, but she does much more than just that. Out of all of Okonkwo’s wives, she is said to be the one to tell him what is up and how he should be changing. For example, Ekwefi is stronger willed Ekwefi has given birth to 10 children and the only one to survive is her single daughter, Ezinma. Being the only to survive Ekwefi is very connected to her. They don’t have a normal mother-daughter relationship like most do. These are reasons why Ekwefi defies the idea of a single story.

There were several instances when the characters are given a chance, or experienced humaneness from a stranger. For example, when Gabi was chosen to help Herr Furst, a German engineer, pave roads, Furst noticed the conditions Gabi faced and decided to help Gabi out even if it meant he would be punished for it. He left part of his meal for Gabi almost daily, so that Gabi would have something with nutritional value to eat. According to Gene himself, to this day, he credits his survival to this man, even though he does not know his actual name or anything about him. In another instance, when the girls were walking through the town to their factory, they would often be mocked or made fun of by the townspeople. One day, a man stood up for them, and this gave the women,

For all of his desire to be strong, Okonkwo is caught up by the constant fear of being perceived as weak. He is afraid of failure and afraid of being considered weak. This fear drives him to do whatever he can to not become a failure like his father which ironically contributes to his death. While Okonkwo was a strong and important figure in his tribe, he had to keep his reputation that way by making some hard decisions. One of them was when he had to kill Ikemefuna, a young boy from the neighboring tribe. Okonkwo started accepting the decision to kill Ikemefuna because he started to call Okonkwo father. He had to keep his own valor intact and kill the boy to prevent himself from showing any weakness, but deep down, Okonkwo was really upset because of what he did which was ironic, “’When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (Achebe 65). He continued to roll downhill when the white man comes to try and convert Okonkwo’s tribe. Okonkwo responds by killing one of the messengers that were sent. This cause Okonkwo's own tribe to question his actions. “"Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.

Although Okonkwo is an emotionless tyrant to his family, he does have a soft spot for his daughter Ezinma. Ezinma is Okonkwo’s eldest daughter and Ekwefi’s, one of Okonkwo's wives, only child. She is clearly her father’s favorite child and receives special treatment at times throughout the book. Okonkwo, being a man who basically only values masculine qualities, strongly wishes that Ezinma had been born a boy, which, from his frame of mind , shows how much he loves and values her. At on point in the novel, Ezinma is taken to the hills by demand of the god Agbala.

The village beauty was always strong willed and audacious. She was what many other women aspired to be. In fact, even the notorious, masculine Okonkwo wanted her in her youth- but he couldn’t pay her bride price. This woman was so ambitious that she fled her first husband to live with Okonkwo after he beat the infamous Cat. Ekwefi became Okonkwo’s second wife due to her ambition, and this began her journey through life with him. However, when a new culture spread its plague upon the traditions of Umuofia, her life changed dramatically. The village beauty had seemed to lose everything, but the people she lost and things she had to go through seemed to only make her stronger. Because of this, the new culture being introduced to Umuofia impacts Ekwefi in a positive way.

|A lot of this section of the book was focused on Okonkwo and one of his wives, Ekwefi, and their only daughter, Ezinma. There |

Different countries have people that hold many different views and beliefs. In Nigeria the Igbo area is located in the southern area of the country. And within this area is Umuofia, which is where the Ogidi tribe lives. These people have beliefs that rest strongly on religion and faith in god. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe takes a look at the life of an African tribe that has been isolated from the outer more technologically advanced world where science has become a part of religion proving that certain things live sickness are not caused by evil spirits. But the African tribe has no knowledge of this and they live in a society where there traditions, beliefs and there forms of communication differ from are own.

There are many people that want to damage other religions because they are not normal but they are to their followers and believers and it hurts when people like Conrad and Wainaina want hurt to hurt great religions and beliefs of other people like Chinua Achebe’s heritage and folk customs. The Culture Literature of the novel Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, and the satirical Essay “How To Write About Africa” by Binyavanga Wainaina explains the similarities and differences of these novels and essay’s culture literature and it’s author’s opinions. Cultural literature is a way of a theme for book of all different kind of genres. In these examples, the culture of Africa and its people explains that all

This passage, found as a conclusion to a chapter in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, takes place after Okonkwo's return to Umuofia. A new English missionary has been set up in the village and has caused a great divide between the villagers. The main purpose of the section is to describe some of these events and changes that have taken place in Umuofia since Okonkwo's return. The passage is structured in three parts, each detailing about a different aspect. The first section focuses on Okonkwo's son Nwoye's conversion to Christianity and subsequent successes. The second part goes into detail about Okonkwo's arrival home to his clan and the change in the village. Finally, the last section includes Okonkwo's inner feelings and opinions

Not only is the theme underlined through Okonkwo’s actions, but also through the other character’s actions. In the text it states,”A strange and sudden weakness descended on Ekwefi…Ezinma’s voice soon faded away and only Chielo was heard moving father and farther in the distance… ‘I am following Chielo,’ she replied and disappeared in the darkness’” (Achebe 101-103). Ekwefi fears of losing her only daughter, Ezinma. Instead of being fearful of Chielo and the gods, she finds the nerve follow Chielo. In this scenario, she doesn’t allow the fear of the gods get to her head, but instead uses the fear of losing her

Symbolism creates a range of associations beyond itself. In novels, it brings out what is behind the text, and gives you a glimpse of the reality of storyline. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something. Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible contain a massive amount of symbols that gives the reader more realization, background, and what the author’s actual intent is for the story. If these two pieces of literature did not contain any symbolism, the plot of the stories would be completely different and change the meaning behind the novel. It also influences the characteristics of certain characters within the novels.