Things Fall Apart

CHINUA ACHEBE

Plot Overview

OKONKWO IS A WEALTHY AND RESPECTED WARRIOR of the Umuofia clan, a lower

Nigerian tribe that is part of a consortium of nine connected villages. He is
haunted by the actions of Unoka, his cowardly and spendthrift father, who
died in disrepute, leaving many village debts unsettled. In response, Okonkwo
becomes a clansman, warrior, farmer, and family provider extraordinaire. He
has a twelve-year-old son named Nwoye whom he finds lazy; Okonkwo
worries that Nwoye will end up a failure like Unoka.

In a settlement with a neighboring tribe, Umuofia wins a virgin and a fifteen-

year-old boy. Okonkwo takes charge of the boy, Ikemefuna, and finds an ideal
son in him. Nwoye likewise forms a strong attachment to the newcomer.
Despite his fondness for Ikemefuna and despite the fact that the boy begins to
call him “father,” Okonkwo does not let himself show any affection for him.

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo accuses his youngest wife, Ojiugo, of
negligence. He severely beats her, breaking the peace of the sacred week.
He makes some sacrifices to show his repentance, but he has shocked his
community irreparably.

Ikemefuna stays with Okonkwo's family for three years. Nwoye looks up to
him as an older brother and, much to Okonkwo's pleasure, develops a more
masculine attitude. One day, the locusts come to Umuofia—they will come
every year for seven years before disappearing for another generation. The
village excitedly collects them because they are good to eat when cooked.

Ogbuefi Ezeudu, a respected village elder, informs Okonkwo in private that

the Oracle has said that Ikemefuna must be killed. He tells Okonkwo that
because Ikemefuna calls him “father,” Okonkwo should not take part in the
boy's death. Okonkwo lies to Ikemefuna, telling him that they must return him
to his home village. Nwoye bursts into tears.

As he walks with the men of Umuofia, Ikemefuna thinks about seeing his
mother. After several hours of walking, some of Okonkwo's clansmen attack
the boy with machetes. Ikemefuna runs to Okonkwo for help. But Okonkwo,
who doesn't wish to look weak in front of his fellow tribesmen, cuts the boy
down despite the Oracle's admonishment. When Okonkwo returns home,
Nwoye deduces that his friend is dead.

Okonkwo sinks into a depression, able neither to sleep nor eat. He visits his
friend Obierika and begins to feel revived a bit. Okonkwo's daughter Ezinma
falls ill, but she recovers after Okonkwo gathers leaves for her medicine.

The death of Ogbuefi Ezeudu is announced to the surrounding villages by

means of the ekwe, a musical instrument. Okonkwo feels guilty because the
last time Ezeudu visited him was to warn him against taking part in
Ikemefuna's death. At Ogbuefi Ezeudu's large and elaborate funeral, the men
beat drums and fire their guns. Tragedy compounds upon itself when
Okonkwo's gun explodes and kills Ogbuefi Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son.
Because killing a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess, Okonkwo
must take his family into exile for seven years in order to atone. He gathers
his most valuable belongings and takes his family to his mother's natal village,
Mbanta. The men from Ogbuefi Ezeudu's quarter burn Okonkwo's buildings
and kill his animals to cleanse the village of his sin.

Okonkwo's kinsmen, especially his uncle, Uchendu, receive him warmly. They
help him build a new compound of huts and lend him yam seeds to start a
farm. Although he is bitterly disappointed at his misfortune, Okonkwo
reconciles himself to life in his motherland.

During the second year of Okonkwo's exile, Obierika brings several bags of
cowries (shells used as currency) that he has made by selling Okonkwo's
yams. Obierika plans to continue to do so until Okonkwo returns to the village.
Obierika also brings the bad news that Abame, another village, has been
destroyed by the white man.

Soon afterward, six missionaries travel to Mbanta. Through an interpreter

named Mr. Kiaga, the missionaries' leader, Mr. Brown, speaks to the villagers.
He tells them that their gods are false and that worshipping more than one
God is idolatrous. But the villagers do not understand how the Holy Trinity can
be accepted as one God. Although his aim is to convert the residents of
Umuofia to Christianity, Mr. Brown does not allow his followers to antagonize
the clan.

Mr. Brown grows ill and is soon replaced by Reverend James Smith, an
intolerant and strict man. The more zealous converts are relieved to be free of
Mr. Brown's policy of restraint. One such convert, Enoch, dares to unmask an
egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor the earth deity, an act
equivalent to killing an ancestral spirit. The next day, the egwugwu burn
Enoch's compound and Reverend Smith's church to the ground.

The District Commissioner is upset by the burning of the church and requests
that the leaders of Umuofia meet with him. Once they are gathered, however,
the leaders are handcuffed and thrown in jail, where they suffer insults and
physical abuse.
After the prisoners are released, the clansmen hold a meeting, during which
five court messengers approach and order the clansmen to desist. Expecting
his fellow clan members to join him in uprising, Okonkwo kills their leader with
his machete. When the crowd allows the other messengers to escape,
Okonkwo realizes that his clan is not willing to go to war.

When the District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo's compound, he finds

that Okonkwo has hanged himself. Obierika and his friends lead the
commissioner to the body. Obierika explains that suicide is a grave sin; thus,
according to custom, none of Okonkwo's clansmen may touch his body. The
commissioner, who is writing a book about Africa, believes that the story of
Okonkwo's rebellion and death will make for an interesting paragraph or two.
He has already chosen the book's title: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes
of the Lower Niger.

Things Fall Apart

CHINUA ACHEBE

Context

ALBERT CHINUALUMOGU ACHEBE WAS BORN ON November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, a

large village in Nigeria. Although he was the child of a Protestant missionary
and received his early education in English, his upbringing was multicultural,
as the inhabitants of Ogidi still lived according to many aspects of traditional
Igbo (formerly written as Ibo) culture. Achebe attended the Government
College in Umuahia from 1944 to 1947. He graduated from University
College, Ibadan, in 1953. While he was in college, Achebe studied history and
theology. He also developed his interest in indigenous Nigerian cultures, and
he rejected his Christian name, Albert, for his indigenous one, Chinua.

In the 1950s, Achebe was one of the founders of a Nigerian literary

movement that drew upon the traditional oral culture of its indigenous
peoples. In 1959, he published Things Fall Apart as a response to novels,
such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, that treat Africa as a primordial
and cultureless foil for Europe. Tired of reading white men's accounts of how
primitive, socially backward, and, most important, language-less native
Africans were, Achebe sought to convey a fuller understanding of one African
culture and, in so doing, give voice to an underrepresented and exploited
colonial subject.

Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s and portrays the clash between Nigeria's
white colonial government and the traditional culture of the indigenous Igbo
people. Achebe's novel shatters the stereotypical European portraits of native
Africans. He is careful to portray the complex, advanced social institutions and
artistic traditions of Igbo culture prior to its contact with Europeans. Yet he is
just as careful not to stereotype the Europeans; he offers varying depictions of
the white man, such as the mostly benevolent Mr. Brown, the zealous
Reverend Smith, and the ruthlessly calculating District Commissioner.

Achebe's education in English and exposure to European customs have

allowed him to capture both the European and the African perspectives on
colonial expansion, religion, race, and culture. His decision to write Things
Fall Apart in English is an important one. Achebe wanted this novel to
respond to earlier colonial accounts of Africa; his choice of language was thus
political. Unlike some later African authors who chose to revitalize native
languages as a form of resistance to colonial culture, Achebe wanted to
achieve cultural revitalization within and through English. Nevertheless, he
manages to capture the rhythm of the Igbo language and he integrates Igbo
vocabulary into the narrative.

Achebe has become renowned throughout the world as a father of modern

African literature, essayist, and professor of English literature at Bard College
in New York. But Achebe's achievements are most concretely reflected by his
prominence in Nigeria's academic culture and in its literary and political
institutions. He worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company for over a
decade and later became an English professor at the University of Nigeria. He
has also been quite influential in the publication of new Nigerian writers. In
1967, he co-founded a publishing company with a Nigerian poet named
Christopher Okigbo and in 1971, he began editing Okike, a respected journal
of Nigerian writing. In 1984, he founded Uwa ndi Igbo, a bilingual magazine
containing a great deal of information about Igbo culture. He has been active
in Nigerian politics since the 1960s, and many of his novels address the post-
colonial social and political problems that Nigeria still faces.

Things Fall Apart

CHINUA ACHEBE
Chapters One–Three

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
—W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”
(See Important Quotations Explained)

Summary: Chapter One

Among the Igbo . . . proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.

Important Quotations Explained)

(See
Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan, a lower
Nigerian tribe that is part of a consortium of nine connected villages, including
Okonkwo's village, Iguedo. In his youth, he brought honor to his village by
beating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Until his match with
Okonkwo, the Cat had been undefeated for seven years. Okonkwo is
completely unlike his now deceased father, Unoka, who feared the sight of
blood and was always borrowing and losing money, which meant that his wife
and children often went hungry. Unoka was, however, a skilled flute player
and had a gift for, and love of, language.

Summary: Chapter Two

One night, the town crier rings the ogene, or gong, and requests that all of the
clansmen gather in the market in the morning. At the gathering, Ogbuefi
Ezeugo, a noted orator, announces that someone from the village of Mbaino
murdered the wife of an Umuofia tribesman while she was in their market. The
crowd expresses anger and indignation, and Okonkwo travels to Mbaino to
deliver the message that they must hand over to Umuofia a virgin and a
young man. Should Mbaino refuse to do so, the two villages must go to war,
and Umuofia has a fierce reputation for its skill in war and magic. Okonkwo is
chosen to represent his clan because he is its fiercest warrior. Earlier in the
chapter, as he remembers his past victories, we learn about the five human
heads that he has taken in battle. On important occasions, he drinks palm-
wine from the first head that he captured. Not surprisingly, Mbaino agrees to
Umuofia's terms. The elders give the virgin to Ogbuefi Udo as his wife but are
not sure what to do with the fifteen-year-old boy, Ikemefuna. The elders
decide to turn him over to Okonkwo for safekeeping and instruction.
Okonkwo, in turn, instructs his first wife to care for Ikemefuna.

In addition to being a skilled warrior, Okonkwo is quite wealthy. He supports

three wives and eight children, and each wife has her own hut. Okonkwo also
has a barn full of yams, a shrine for his ancestors, and his own hut, called an
obi.

Okonkwo fears weakness, a trait that he associates with his father and with
women. When Okonkwo was a child, another boy called Unoka agbala, which
is used to refer to women as well as to men who have not taken a title.
Because he dreads weakness, Okonkwo is extremely demanding of his
family. He finds his twelve-year-old son, Nwoye, to be lazy, so he beats and
nags the boy constantly.

Summary: Chapter Three

Okonkwo built his fortune alone as a sharecropper because Unoka was never
able to have a successful harvest. When he visited the Oracle, Unoka was
told that he failed because of his laziness. Ill-fated, Unoka died of a shameful
illness: “the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess.” Those
suffering from swelling stomachs and limbs are left in the Evil Forest to die so
that they do not offend the earth by being buried. Unoka never held any of the
community's four prestigious titles (because they must be paid for), and he left
numerous debts unpaid.
As a result, Okonkwo cannot count on Unoka's help in building his own wealth
and in constructing his obi. What's more, he has to work hard to make up for
his father's negative strikes against him. Okonkwo succeeds in exceeding all
the other clansmen as a warrior, a farmer, and a family provider. He begins by
asking a wealthy clansman, Nwakibie, to give him 400 seed-yams to start a
farm. Because Nwakibie admired Okonkwo's hard-working nature, he gave
him eight hundred. One of Unoka's friends gave him another four hundred, but
because of horrible droughts and relentless downpours, Okonkwo could keep
only one third of the harvest. Some farmers who were lazier than Okonkwo
put off planting their yams and thus avoided the grave losses suffered by
Okonkwo and the other industrious farmers. That year's devastating harvest
left a profound mark on Okonkwo, and for the rest of his life he considers his
survival during that difficult period proof of his fortitude and inner mettle.
Although his father tried to offer some words of comfort, Okonkwo felt only
disgust for someone who would turn to words at a time when either actions or
silence were called for.

Analysis: Chapters One–Three

We are introduced immediately to the complex laws and customs of

Okonkwo's clan and its commitment to harmonious relations. For example,
the practice of sharing palm-wine and kola nuts is repeated throughout the
book to emphasize the peacefulness of the Igbo. When Unoka's resentful
neighbor visits him to collect a debt, the neighbor does not immediately
address the debt. Instead, he and Unoka share a kola nut and pray to their
ancestral spirits; afterward, they converse about community affairs at great
length. The customs regulating social relations emphasize their common
interests and culture, diffusing possible tension. The neighbor further eases
the situation by introducing the subject of debt through a series of Igbo
proverbs, thus making use of a shared oral tradition, as Okonkwo does when
he asks Nwakibie for some seed-yams. Through his emphasis on the
harmony and complexity of the Igbo, Achebe contradicts the stereotypical,
European representations of Africans as savages.

Another important way in which Achebe challenges such stereotypical

representations is through his use of language. As Achebe writes in his essay
on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, colonialist Europe tended to
perceive Africa as a foil or negation of Western culture and values, imagining
Africa to be a primordial land of silence. But the people of Umuofia speak a
complex language full of proverbs and literary and rhetorical devices.
Achebe's translation of the Igbo language into English retains the cadences,
rhythms, and speech patterns of the language without making them sound, as
Conrad did, “primitive.”

Okonkwo is the protagonist of Things Fall Apart, and, in addition to situating

him within his society, the first few chapters of the novel offer us an
understanding of his nature. He is driven by his hatred of his father, Unoka,
and his fear of becoming like him. To avoid picking up Unoka's traits,
Okonkwo acts violently without thinking, often provoking avoidable fights. He
has a bad temper and rules his household with fear. Okonkwo associates
Unoka with weakness, and with weakness he associates femininity. Because
his behavior is so markedly different from his father's, he believes that it
constitutes masculinity. However, it strains his relationship with Nwoye and
leads him to sin in Chapter Four by breaking the Week of Peace. His rash
behavior also causes tension within the community because he expresses
disdain for less successful men. Ikemefuna later demonstrates that
masculinity need not preclude kindness, gentleness, and affection, and
Nwoye responds far more positively to Ikemefuna's nurturing influence than to
Okonkwo's heavy-handedness.

Despite its focus on kinship, the Igbo social structure offers a greater chance
for mobility than that of the colonizers who eventually arrive in Umuofia.
Though ancestors are revered, a man's worth is determined by his own
actions. In contrast to much of continental European society during the
nineteenth century, which was marked by wealth-based class divisions, Igbo
culture values individual displays of prowess, as evidenced by their wrestling
competitions. Okonkwo is thus able, by means of his own efforts, to attain a
position of wealth and prestige, even though his father died, penniless and
titleless, of a shameful illness.

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1

Summary:

We are introduced to Okonkwo, a great man among the Igbo tribe, well known
in the nine villages and beyond. In his youth, he became famous when he
defeated Amilinze the Cat, a great wrester. He is a formidable man, stern and
intimidating in appearance; when angry, he stammers. The stammer makes him
angrier, and he uses his fists. He has a hot temper. He has no patience for
unsuccessful men; his father had been such a man. His father, a man by the
name of Unoka, was a lazy do-nothing, who has died deep in debt. The narrator
digresses to tell us about Unoka. Unoka was a great flute player in his youth, but
he became a failure as an adult. He was constantly borrowing from his friends
and neighbors, and his children and wife did not have enough to eat.

One day, a neighbor of Unoka, a man named Okoye, came to discuss the money
Unoka owed him. The rituals of hospitality are described: the guest brings kola, a
kind of food eaten during visits, and the men often speak in proverbs. Okoye was
about take the third-highest title in the land, and he needed to collect resources.
Unoka laughed him off, telling him that he had many other debts he needed to
pay first.
Unoka dies deep in debt. But Okonkwo, though young, is already a great man. He
has two barns full of yams, and he has fought bravely in two inter-tribal wars. He
has taken two titles already. He has three wives. The narrator tells us that his
high standing was the reason he was trusted to watch over the doomed boy who
was sacrificed to Umuofia to avoid war. The doomed boy was named
Ikemefuna.

Analysis
Things Fall Apart is part tragedy and part documentary. It is the story of
Okonkwo and his tragic death after the coming of the white man; it is also a piece
of fiction that documents the world that the white man destroyed. Structure is
important to tragedy, and by Aristotle's rules of tragedy all that is inessential to
the central action should be removed. However, the tragedy of Okonkwo's death
is seen as part of a greater tragedy: the defeat and forced transformation of a
great people. Achebe's novel is both tragedy and memory. The narrative tends to
digress; to understand the gravity of Okonkwo's tragedy, the reader must see
him within the context of his world.

Achebe gives us detailed descriptions of Igbo traditions, customs, and beliefs.

Memory is an important theme; here, this study guide uses memory as a broad
term covering all documentary-style descriptions of Igbo life. By the end of the
novel, the reader realizes that the account he has just read is the story of a
culture that has been irrevocably transformed. Another part of Achebe's project is
to give a balanced and sensitive portrait of Igbo culture, as African tribal cultures
were long dismissed by white scholars as barbaric and evil.

Digression is one of Achebe's most important tools. He takes any opportunity he

can to tell us about a past incident which is only indirectly connected to his
central story. These digressions allow him to flesh out his portrait of tribal life.

Ambition and greatness are two closely connected themes. Okonkwo is

determined to be the opposite of his father. He has already taken two titles
(honorary titles that give a man status in the tribe) and he is quite rich. Success
and honor are very important to Okonkwo. He has worked his whole life to win
the respect of his people. His work ethic and his ambition also give rise to his
faults: he is a harsh man, quick to anger and without humility.

Chapter 2

Summary:

One night as Okonkwo prepares for bed, he hears the town crier, beating on his
hollow instrument and calling all the men of Umuofia to a meeting early tomorrow
morning. The night is dark and moonless, and the narrator explains that darkness
was frightening even for the bravest of the Igbo. The forest is a sinister place at
night. Okonkwo suspects that a war might be brewing: he's a distinguished
warrior, and war gives him a chance to win greater esteem.

The next morning, the ten thousand men of Umuofia gather in the marketplace.
Ogbuefi Ezuogo, a powerful orator, gives the traditional opening: he faces four
different directions, raising a clenched fist, and cries "Umuofia kwenu," to which
the men all cry "Yaa!" He greets them this way a fifth time, and then he tells
them that men from the neighboring village of Mbaino have killed a girl from
Umuofia. The men discuss the situation, and decide to follow the normal course of
action: the will issue an ultimatum, demanding a boy and a virgin as
compensation. The neighboring villages fear Umuofia, because its warriors and
medicine-men are powerful. It's most powerful war medicine (magic) is agadi-
nwayi, a magic enforced by the spirit of an old woman with one leg. The narrator
tells us that in fairness to Umuofia, it should be said that the village never went
to war without first trying a peaceful settlement, and even then it only went if the
war was approved by the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. And the Oracle often
forbade war.

Okonkwo is chosen as emissary. He goes and is treated with respect, and he

returns with the young boy and the virgin girl. The girl goes to the man whose
wife was murdered. As for the boy, the village is in no hurry to decide his fate.
His name is Ikemefuna. He goes to live with Okonkwo and his family.

The narrator describes Okonkwo and his family, as well as their living situation.
Okonkwo has a separate hut, or obi, at the heart of their family compound. Each
wife has her own hut. All is enclosed by a large red wall. Yams are the main crop
for the Igbo, and the compound includes a barn for yam-storage. There is also a
shrine, or "medicine house." Okonkwo is quick to anger. He rules his family like a
tyrant. He fears failure, and hates the memory of his idle father; his oldest son
Nwoye, shows signs of being like Okonkwo's father, and so Okonkwo is very
hard on him. Ikemefuna is brought home with Okonkwo and given to Nwoye's
mother. The boy is homesick and does not understand why he has been taken
from his family.

Analysis:

Achebe gives us a concise portrait of the social organization of the Igbo, on

several levels. We see that the town is not ruled by a chief, but by a general
assembly of all the men. In effect, the Igbo have a primitive democracy. We learn
that yams are a staple, and a large store of yams indicates prosperity. We also
learn that Umuofia prizes justice, and does not wage wars of conquest. There is
also a high level of social mobility. Note that while Unoka was a failure, Okonkwo
has risen to become a great man among his people.

Okonkwo fears failure. The theme of ambition has its converse, and it is
Okonkwo's fear of failure that makes him a harsh man. He is strong, but he fails
to see that his wives and children are not as physically strong as he. Yet he drives
them to work as hard as he does. All of his wives and children fear him. Okonkwo
tries to help his son, Nwoye, by being doubly harsh on him. But this approach is
turning Nwoye into a sad and resentful youth.

Chapter 3

Summary:

When Okonkwo was young, his father Unoka went to Agbala, the Oracle of the
Hills and the Caves. He asked why he always had a miserable harvest, despite his
prayers and offerings to the gods. The Oracle told him that the fault lay not in the
gods, but in his laziness. Unoka died of swelling that the Igbo believe is an
abomination to the earth goddess. Like others who died badly, he was left in the
Evil Forest. Okonkwo lives in fear of the kind of failure and sad end that met his
father.
Okonkwo did not inherit a barn full of seed yams. He had to start out as a
sharecropper for a rich man named Nwakibie. Nwakibie was generous, but the
first year Okonkwo planted was the worst planting year in Umuofia's living
memory. Okonkwo, with superhuman determination, survived. His father was in
his last days then. He gave Okonkwo encouraging praise, but it only tried
Okonkwo's patience.

Analysis:

Okonkwo has overcome incredible diversity. His father's pathetic end and death
tainted him with shame, and left him without inheritance. His rise to social power
and wealth has been a triumph of stubbornness and will. Sharecropping is a
difficult way to begin; moreover, the first year Okonkwo planted was a terrible
harvest year. But Okonkwo was young and strong, and he was able to survive.
The experience has been essential to the formation of his character. Central to
Okonkwo's beliefs is not only a work ethic but a faith in the ability of the will to
overcome adversity. He is confident that he can master his environment; he rules
as a man, and he is fiercely proud of his people. Understanding these beliefs is
key to understanding the tragedy that strikes Okonkwo later, after the coming of
the white man.

Chapter 4

Summary:

Okonkwo shows few emotions openly, none of them tender ones. He once
insulted a man at a town meeting, implying that the man was a woman. The man
had no titles. Okonkwo was reprimanded, and a village elder said that the
fortunate should show humility; yet Okonkwo has never been fortunate.
Everything he has he has earned himself.

Ikemefuna is terribly homesick, but in time he finds a place among Okonkwo's

family. Nwoye, two years younger, is inseparable from him; even Okonkwo grows
fond of the boy, although he doesn't show it openly. Ikemefuna is a clever boy;
he knows how to make flutes and traps for rodents. He begins to call Okonkwo
"father."

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo's youngest wife, Ojiugo, goes out to plait
her hair and neglects to cook afternoon meal for him. When she returns,
Okonkwo beats her savagely. This act is an abomination to the Igbo. No one is
allowed even to speak unkindly to another during the Week of Peace; Okonkwo's
transgression threatens the harvest of the whole clan. Ezeani, priest of the earth
goddess, arrives before dusk. He scorns Okonkwo's traditional offer of kola nut
and demands a stiff fine of goods and money from Okonkwo. Okonkwo pays it,
inwardly repentant, but he is too proud to admit openly to his neighbors that he
is in error. His neighbors begin to say he has grown to proud.

It is soon time to plant; as they prepare the seed yams, Okonkwo is very harsh to
Nwoye and Ikemefuna. Yam is a man's crop, and Okonkwo is very demanding.
Yams, too, are a difficult crop to raise, sensitive and labor-intensive. The rainy
season comes, during which children huddle by fires indoors, resting. With
planting season over, the Igbo enjoy a resting period before the work of the
harvest.
Ikemefuna and Nwoye have become very close; Nwoye loves the older boy, who
is now like a brother to him. Ikemefuna has an endless supply of folktales, and
hearing them makes Nwoye see the world in a new light.

Analysis:

Maculinity is one of Okonkwo's obsessions. He sees any tender emotion as

feminine and therefore weak. His culture is as patriarchal as any other, but in his
need to be strong Okonkwo carries the preoccupation with manliness to an
extreme. He has not learned restraint. His beating of Ojiugo is the first concrete
incident in the book during which we watch Okonkwo lose control. Although he
begins the beating having forgotten that it is the Week of Peace, when reminded
he does not stop. He is not a man to do anything half-way, even if he knows
there are consequences. Later, this hubris destroys him. His neighbors notice his
pride. Even when Okonkwo feels penitent, he takes great pains to hide it. This
drive and fierce pride have made him a great man, but they are also the source
of all of his faults.

In his sincere desire to see his son Nwoye become great, he has made the boy
extremely unhappy. Okonkwo is not exactly a typical Igbo male: though Achebe
sets up Okonkwo's fall as parallel to the fall of his people, he also shows us that
Okonkwo is an extraordinary man among the Igbo, in ways both good and bad.
In other men of the village, we see restraint and humility. We see in Ikemefuna a
role model that Nwoye has lacked. Fearful of his brutal father, Nwoye now has a
kind older brother to look up to. We also see that Nwoye is a thoughtful boy: his
responses to Ikemefuna's folktales are imaginative and beautiful.

Chapter 5

Summary:

The Feast of the New Yam approaches. It marks the beginning of harvest season.
All old yams are disposed of, and new and tasty yams are eaten for the feasts.
The New Yam marks the start of a new year, and the beginning of a season of
plenty.

Okonkwo, like all rich men, always invites a huge number of guests for the feast.
But he himself is rather impatient with holidays, and would prefer to be working
on his farm. Preparation for the festival makes him testy. Three days before the
festival, he becomes furious when he sees that a few leaves have been cut from
the banana tree (banana leaves are used to wrap food in many tropical
countries). When his second wife admits to the act, he beats her brutally. He then
decides to go hunting. Though a great man, Okonkwo is not a great hunter. The
wife who was just beaten makes a snide comment about guns that never shoot,
and he tries to shoot her. He misses. Despite these disturbances, the festival is
celebrated happily.

The second day of the new year is the day for wrestling. Ekwefi, Okonkwo's
second wife, loves the wrestling matches. It was watching Okonkwo defeat the
Cat that she fell in love with him. She married another man, but a few years after
that she ran away from him and came to live with Okonkwo. In those days, she
was the great beauty of the village. That was thirty years ago. Ekwefi has only
had one child, her daughter Ezinma. Ezinma is a charming, pretty, and clever
young girl, one of her father's favorites, though he rarely shows it. We see her
helping the other wives, doing chores for her mother, and bringing Okonkwo his
food.

Analysis:

Chapter 5 fleshes out the portrait of Okonkwo's family life. His three wives live
together peacefully, and seem to have great affection for one another. Ezinma is
well-beloved, not only by Ekwefi and Okonkwo, but by the other wives as well.
The children live together as brothers and sisters. Ikemefuna has been fully
absorbed into the family.

But Okonkwo rules with fear. His anger over the banana tree is completely
unfounded; he uses it as an excuse to beat someone. He is madly self-absorbed,
and does not see fit to learn constraint for the sake of his family.

Igbo society is patriarchal, but this chapter focuses on female characters. Ekwefi
is far from timid: fresh from a beating, she makes fun of her husband. We also
meet her daughter Ezinma, one of book's most likable characters. Okonkwo's
treatment of her humanizes him, balancing his harsh treatment of Nwoye. One of
the reasons for his gentleness with Ezinma is her gender: as a girl, the
expectations on her are different. Okonkwo often wishes that she were a boy, but
the wish seems benign next to his merciless treatment of Nwoye. We see that
Okonkwo is at least capable of tenderness. Because he does not have the same
terrible expectations of a girl as he does of his son, he can treat her with at least
a little gentleness.

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 6-10

Chapter 6

Summary:

A huge crowd gathers to watch the wrestling matches. Ekwefi finds herself next
to Chielo, a widow with two children. Chielo is quite an ordinary woman in
ordinary life. But she occupies a position of great power in the village: she is also
the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. She is considered a
different person when the spirit of the goddess enters her. Chielo is very fond of
Ezinma. She often gives the girl sweets. The two women talk, and we infer that
Ekwefi has had many children, and that many of them have died. Ezinma is now
ten years old. Ekwefi prays that she stays; her children's deaths have been cause
of great sadness for her.

The matches are exciting, and the great wrestlers all of have their fans. As the
main event of the evening, Ikezue and Okafo, the two greatest wrestlers of
Umuofia, square off in a fierce bout. Okafo wins, and is carried home on the
shoulder's of his enthusiastic supporters, while the young women sing songs of
praise.

Analysis
We learn the greatest cause of Ekwefi's sadness, which was only hinted at in the
last chapter. From her conversation with Chielo, we learn that she has had
children other than Ezinma, but that they have died. In Chielo, we see an
example of a powerful woman among the Igbo. Her orders supersede even those
of the council of men; no great decision is made without her. Yet the two women
discuss Okonkwo's recent attack against Ekwefi. Even as we see examples of
women in power, we are reminded that Igbo women are vulnerable to their
husbands' rages.

The wrestling matches are more of Achebe's documentation of Igbo life. From the
large amount of exposition and commentary, it is clear that Things Fall Apart
is not a book meant for Igbo readers. In fact, Achebe seems to assume that the
reader has little or no knowledge of Igbo culture. We see the joy of festival time,
and the excitement of the Igbo New Year. Achebe wants us to appreciate the
beauty and strength of the Igbo people; sympathy and respect for the Igbo
makes the end of the novel all the more painful.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Three years pass, and Ikemefuna matures into an adolescent in Okonkwo's

household. Ikemefuna and Nwoye are as inseparable as ever, and because
Ikemefuna treats Nwoye with respect, Nwoye is developing into a more confident
and hard-working young man. Okonkwo is pleased by the change, and he knows
it is due to Ikemefuna. He often eats with the two boys. (Typically, the man of
the house eats separately in his central hut, or obi, while the women and children
eat in their respective parts of the compound.) Nwoye seems to be pleasing his
father more and more. To make him happy, he grumbles about women and
pretends to scorn his mother's folktales (although in truth he still loves them).
Instead, he listens to Okonkwo's stories of war and violence.

The locusts come. They are not a threat to Umuofia's staple crops, as they come
after harvest, during the cold harmattan season. First, a small swarm of scouts
comes, and then a larger group arrives. Their coming fills the Igbo with joy,
because the locusts come only once every seven years, and they are delicious to
eat.

Okonkwo is enjoying locust when Ogbuefi Ezeudu enters. He is a great village

elder, and he has come to inform Okonkwo that the time has come for
Ikemefuna's death. They tell Okonkwo not to bear a hand in the child's execution.
The next day, a large group of elders comes to Okonkwo to discuss it more fully
with him. Later that day, Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he is to be sent home.
Nwoye hears, and begins to cry; his father beats him heavily.

A group of men brings Ikemefuna deep into the forest. The boy thinks about how
strange it will be to see his family again; he is excited to see them, but also said
to be leaving his new family. They walk for hours. The other men attack
Ikemefuna with hatchets. He runs to Okonkwo, calling him father, begging for
help. Afraid of being thought weak, and full of a terrible fear, Okonkwo uses his
matchet to strike the boy down.

When Okonkwo returns later that night, Nwoye knows that Ikemefuna has been
killed. A terrible sadness comes to him. He does not cry, but something in him
has been broken. The last time he felt this way was during the last harvest
season. He had been in the forest with his family, bringing back yams from the
harvest. They heard an infant crying. The women fell silent and walked faster.
Nwoye had heard that twins, considered evil by the Igbo, were left to die in the
forest. He had never come across any. A great sickness and sorrow came over
him. He has that feeling again now.

Analysis:

Ikemefuna is depicted as a perfect son and brother. He succeeds where Okonkwo

cannot: he helps Nwoye to be more self-assured and confident. The exaggerated
shows of masculinity Nwoye begins to make are contrived and for the pleasure of
his father, but Nwoye is becoming more comfortable and confident. Ikemefuna's,
with his gentleness and his love of folktales, has provided Nwoye with the positive
male role model that he needed. Ikemefuna is also something of a Christ figure.
He dies as a sacrifice for the good of the many; it is no coincidence that Nwoye
later converts to Christianity. Nwoye is disturbed by some of the practices of his
own people. They fill him with a vague fear and sorrow, and he will later seek
solace in a foreign religion.

The arrival of the locusts might initially worry the reader who knows that locusts
are often disastrous for a community of farmers. These locusts pose no threat to
the Igbo. However, they foreshadow a more dangerous swarm that will arrive
later. Like the white man, they send scouts first and then arrive with
overwhelming numbers and force.

We see again Okonkwo's terrible fear of failure, which includes a fear of being
thought weak. Despite sorrow and terror, he goes with the men when they kill
Ikemefuna. He himself delivers the killing blow, even as the boy calls him
"Father" and asks for his help. He was advised by the elders to stay home; to kill
kin is considered a terrible offense to the Igbo. But Okonkwo is determined to
prove himself unshakeable. In the proving, he does damage to himself and
creates a rift between him and Nwoye that will never be healed.

Chapter 8

Summary:

Okonkwo does not touch food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He
drinks, and though he calls Nwoye into his obi to be with him, the boy is scared of
him and steals away when Okonkwo is dozing. He is weak and listless. On the
third day, he asks his second wife, Ekwefi, to prepare some food for him. Ezinma
brings out, encouraging him to eat. As she takes care of him, Okonkwo thinks
repeatedly that she should have been born a boy. Okonkwo is ashamed that he
has been affected by Ikemefuna's death.

He goes to speak with his good friend, Obeirika. Obeirika invites Okonkwo to be
with him later while he negotiates the bride price for his daughter. Okonkwo
criticizes Obeirika for not coming to kill Ikemefuna. Obeirika responds in turn that
Okonkwo should not have gone; the act that Okonkwo committed is the kind of
deed the gods punish.

Okonkwo is present for the negotiation of the bride price. There is polite
negotiation, as the two families strive to reach a settlement that will be honorable
for both groups. Many men from both families are present. Okonkwo enjoys
himself. The talk turns to different customs, and they discuss rumors of the
traditions in distant lands. Obeirika speaks of a particularly ridiculous story he
heard: far away, the story goes, tribes have been visited by men with white skin.
Analysis:

Okonkwo's fear of effeminacy and weakness drives him to actions and emotions
that do not always come naturally to him. He is disturbed by the death of
Ikemefuna, but he is even more disturbed that he is disturbed. Any emotion
approaching tenderness or softness must be suppressed.

Obeirika, Okonkwo's good friend, shows that Okonkwo's attitudes, though

influenced by culture, are not exactly typical for an Igbo man. Okonkwo, along
the model of the tragic hero, is an extreme example of his people. He carries
their traits to excess. Obeirika, on the other hand, is a rich man and a man of
sensitivity. He was not present at the Ikemefuna's death, nor does he approve of
Okonkwo's participation in the act.

There is much digression in this chapter, as we witness the Igbo customs or

courtship. The negotiations are civil and even joyous, as the men drink great
quantities of palm wine. At the close of the chapter, we are given an ominous
foreshadowing of what is to come. The men all dismiss the stories of approaching
white men as patently ridiculous. Their reaction to the rumor shows how unready
the Africans were for the coming of the European colonial powers. Everything we
have learned about the Igbo shows that their concept of war and conquest is
quite different from that of the European invaders: war is fought over questions
of honor rather than a desire for material gain. And European military technology
is beyond anything the Igbo have. The stories of white men seem so fantastic, so
far outside of anything the Igbo have experienced, that they are immediately
dismissed as myth.

Chapter 9

Summary:

Okonkwo sleeps well for the first time in three nights. He is woken in the morning
by Ekwefi banging on the door: Ezinma is dying.

Ekwefi has had ten children. Nine have died. The medicine man has said that she
has given birth to an ogbanje, a wicked child who, after dying, returns to its
mother's womb to be reborn and die again. Ezinma has always been a sickly
child, prone to swing between periods of great vivacity and darker times when
she seems near death. A year ago, Okagbue, the medicine man, found Ezinma's
iyi-uwa, her supposed link to the world of the ogbanje. So the girl should not die
again.

But Ekwefi, fearful that she might lose the child that is the center of her life, is
terrified. Okonkwo believes it is iba sickness, and he gathers herbs and begins to
prepare a medicine for Ezinma. The girl is held over a concoction of herbs and hot
water, and forced to breathe in the steam.

Analysis:

Igbo beliefs constitute one of the forces that holds their society together.
Remember the title: we are reading about the disintegration of an old way of life
and the end of autonomy for a great people. High infant mortality is one of the
unfortunate truths of Igbo life. Their religion attempts to find meaning in this
tragedy.
And although nothing supernatural happens in the novel, there are certain things
in the Igbo religion that Achebe depicts as uncanny. When Okagbue searches for
Ezinma's iyi-uwa, the girl seems to go into a strange, trance-like state: she
cooperates with the medicine man as if the iyi-uwa is real, and indeed, he does
find a strange object in the location that she indicates. Achebe does not depict
the superstitions of the Igbo as being necessarily true, but he does show that
their religious beliefs often contain uncanny insights. Later, the Oracle will predict
with uncanny accuracy the methods of the white man.

Chapter 10

Summary:

Umuofia has a great clan gathering. Nine men in the cult of the egwugwu
impersonate the nine founders of the villages of Umuofia. During the ceremony,
the men are considered to be the spirits of the clan. The transformation is
spiritual and complete, in the same way that Catholics believe that the bread and
wine literally become the body and blood of Christ.

The ceremony is for the administration of justice. Families with disputes come
forward to have their cases tried publicly. The first case involves a woman who
has left her husband. He wants her to return, along with her two children. The
woman's family claims that her husband was abusive. Evil Forest, the egwugwu
who listens to the case, decides that the husband must bear gifts to his in-laws
and beg his wife's forgiveness. She will return, but he should not beat her again.

Analysis:

The ceremony of the egwugwu is clearly one dominated by men. Only men are in
the cult of the egwugwu, and so only men are involved in the administration of
justice. But for the first case of the ceremony, Achebe chooses a case involving a
woman's well-being. Here and elsewhere, he tries to show that a woman's place
in Igbo society, though vulnerable, is not unappreciated. Mgbafo, the abused
bride, is protected by her brothers. Her case is viewed favorably by the judge.
Although Achebe shows us that the Igbo society is deeply patriarchal, he also
strives to show that Igbo woman, in at least a limited capacity, are respected and
protected. There is an interest in justice and fairness. And to keep perspective on
the issue, the reader should remember that women in 19th century England and
America did not enjoy any more freedom than their counterparts in Nigeria.

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 11-15

Chapter 11

Summary:

Ezinma and Ekwefi are spending a peaceful night telling folktales to each other.
They are interrupted by Agbala, the Oracle, who has come for Ezinma. She takes
Ezinma onto her back and carries her away, strictly forbidding the girl's parents
from following. Ekwefi hesitates only a moment, and then secretly follows
anyway.

The Oracle takes a long walk, going all the way around the nine villages. Despite
the fact that she carries the child on her back, she moves at an astonishing
speed; Ekwefi can barely keep up. The Oracle finally returns to her sacred cave.
She disappears inside. Terrified, Ekwefi waits outside the cave: she resolves to
enter if she hears her daughter crying. To save her child, she will fight the gods if
necessary. Ekwefi is startled by Okonkwo, who has also followed the Oracle.
The two of them wait for the priestess of Agbala to emerge again. Standing in the
dark with him, she remembers when she first came to him. She was young, and
she had been married off to another man. Two years into the marriage, she went
to Okonkwo. Without speaking, he carried her to his bed and began to undress
her.

Analysis
The priestess of Agbala is a mysterious and frightening figure. Remember that in
normal life she is Chielo, a widow who is slight and getting on in years. Yet even
with a large child on her back, as the Oracle she moves at an astonishing rate.

Ekwefi's love for Ezinma is touching. She is determined to protect her child. The
relationship between them is special, almost a bond between equals. Unlike
Okonkwo, who constantly wishes that Ezinma had been born a boy, Ekwefi seems
grateful for the female companionship her daughter provides. Igbo society may
be patriarchal, but Achebe is determined to show the relationships between
women as central to Igbo life. The wives of Okonkwo, for example, do not seem
to compete with one another. Rather, they support and comfort each other; in
this chapter, Okonkwo's first wife tries to reassure Ekwefi when the priestess
takes Ezinma away.

And the relationship between Chielo and Ekwefi also seems important here. The
Oracle's interest in Ezinma turns out to be benevolent. Remember that Chielo is a
friend of Ekwefi, and the old widow is also particularly fond of Ezinma. Given
Ezinma's health troubles, we can infer that the priestess is seeking some kind of
spiritual protection for the child. And indeed, in later chapters we learn that
Ezinma ceases to be a sickly child after this strange night with the Oracle.

Ezinma is loved by her father, also. Okonkwo follows the priestess, too, as
determined as Ekwefi to protect the child if need be. But on his appearance
outside the cave, we are reminded of Okonkwo's character and limitations: he is
carrying a matchet, as if a mortal weapon could protect him against gods and
spirits. Okonkwo approach to problems never varies. He has one set of reactions:
willpower and the strength of his muscles are his only weapons. Later, this single-
minded approach will cost him his life.

Chapter 12

Summary:

The next day is the uri of Obeirika's daughter. It is a woman's celebration,

centering on the bride-to-be and her mother. Okonkwo's first and third wive's
prepare their gifts. Ekwefi, exhausted by the ordeal of waiting for Ezinma and the
Oracle, waits for Ezinma to wake and asks the other wives to explain her
tardiness. No one besides Ekwefi knows that Okonkwo also followed the Oracle.
He waited a suitable "manly" interval first before going straight to the cave.
Finding no one there, he left, but he returned when worry seized him once again.
All in all, he returned to the cave four times before he met Ekwefi there.

Obierika's compound is full of activity, as many people in the village are helping
to prepare for the great feast. While the women are preparing food, they notice a
cow has gotten loose in a neighbor's crops. The women all hurry to push the cow
back home; its owner immediately pays the heavy fine for letting a cow loose in a
neighbor's fields. The cow's release was an accident.

The feast is lively, full of gift-giving, dance, and song. The new in-laws exchange
gifts and praise with Obierika's family, and before living the village they pay
respects to the housed of high-ranking men. Among these men is Okonkwo. He
gives them a gift of two cocks.

Analysis:

Okonkwo considers any show of feeling to be a weakness. He did not follow the
Oracle immediately, but instead waited for a suitable "manly" interval. But his
feelings for Ezinma are strong: despite his desire to appear manly and detached,
he returns to the cave four times, gravely worried for his favorite daughter.

The festival illustrates the bonds of Umuofia's community. The gift-giving is

generous, on both sides. Even the interruptive incident of the loose cow is
resolved quickly and peaceful. Achebe emphasizes the strength of the social
fabric of Umuofia. The social organization and customs of the tribe are not the
barbaric practices of a primitive people, but rather a rich system of tradition and
wisdom that preserves peace and harmony between the people of Umuofia.
Potential sources of conflict (loose cows, runaway brides) are resolved rationally
and fairly. The Igbo delight in festivals and generous gift-giving. Holidays like the
uri involve the whole community.

Chapter 13

Summary:

The village crier announces the death of Ezeudu, one of the great elders of the
clan. It was Ezeudu who first told Okonkwo that Ikemefuna most die. It was
also Ezeudu who advised Okonkwo to take no part in it.

The funeral is a great event. The egwugwu cult is out in full force, as men
embodying the gods and spirits of the clan come out to participate in the funerary
rites. During the ceremony, Okonkwo's gun explodes suddenly. A piece of iron
pierces the heart of one of Ezeudu's sons. Even though the death is accidental,
the act is an abomination to the Igbo. Okonkwo is to be exiled for seven years.
That night, Okonkwo packs up his most valuable belongings. His yams are
transported to Obierika's barn. Before dawn, Okonkwo and his whole family set
out for Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother.

As day brokes, men come and destroy Okonkwo's home. They kill his animals and
set fire to the buildings. They bear no malice to Okonkwo, but the laws of the
Igbo must be obeyed. Obierika is sorry for his friend's misfortune. He is a
thoughtful man, and he tries to think out why his friend should suffer. He also
thinks of the twins his wife bore long ago, and how he had to abandon them to
certain death. He arrives at no answers.

Analysis:

Achebe has shown the great social mobility of the Igbo. A man's worth is not at
all determined by the wealth of his father: with hard work and determination, a
man can rise to greatness. Okonkwo is proof of that. Consequently, one of his
central belief's is faith in the fairness of the world. A man gets what he deserves.

But the beginning of Okonkwo's tragedy is a complete accident. It is a moment of

blind chance that drives Okonkwo from his homeland. The greatest loss is more
than material: Okonkwo's faith in the power of hard work is shaken. His will and
strong arm are unable to prevent this disaster. As a middle-aged man, Okonkwo
is being forced to start over again.

Although the event is an accident, it should also be remembered that Ezeudu was
the man who warned Okonkwo not to take hand in Ikemefuna's death. The
disaster, a seeming accident, seems to confirm the fears of Obierika, who warned
Okonkwo that the earth goddess did not smile on Okonkwo's participation in
Ikemefuna's murder. However, the incident here is as literary as it is mystical;
the calamity taking place at Ezeudu's funeral is a kind of poetic justice more than
it is an example of divine retribution. It is one of many incidents in the novel
where tribal ceremonies and rites resonate with the novel's central action.

Chapter 14

Summary:

Okonkwo and his family are received by Uchendu, his mother's younger brother
and the oldest living member of their family. The last time Okonkwo saw Uchendu
was at the burial of Okonkwo's mother; Okonkwo was only a young boy. Uchendu
is kind and generous. The kinsman of Okonkwo's mother donate some land and a
modest quantity of seed yams.

But starting over is hard. Okonkwo and his wives are no longer young, and
beginning all over again without the strength of youth is no easy thing. Okonkwo
works hard, but it no longer gives him pleasure. He has always dreamed of being
one of the lords of Umuofia, and now it seems that this setback may have
shattered that dream for good. He works without joy and spends his days
moping. Uchendu notices that Okonkwo has given himself over to despair.

Uchendu's youngest son is taking a new wife, and the family performs a
ceremony marking her arrival. All of the daughters of the family return for this
day, and remain for a few days afterward.

On the second day, Uchendu calls everyone together. He addresses Okonkwo,

telling him that he must not give in to despair. A common name given to children
is Nneka, "Mother is Supreme." Although their society is patriarchal, Uchendu
points out that when a child is beaten by its father, it returns to its mother for
comfort. In the same way, Okonkwo, exiled by his fatherland, has taken refuge in
his motherland. He cannot allow himself to be bowed down by despair. Uchendu
sternly reprimands him, telling him that many men have suffered more than he.
He must take heart and resolve to keep on living, or his children and wives will
die in exile.

Analysis:

Here as elsewhere, Achebe's digression into the rituals and celebrations of the
Igbo in some way echo what is going on in the central story of the novel. In
addition to fleshing out Achebe's portrait of Igbo life, the parallels here between
ceremony and central action are strong. The ceremony welcoming the new bride
is dominated by the women: it is the husband's sisters who subject the new bride
to scrutiny, with the eldest sister taking on a protective role for her brother. Not
coincidentally, Uchendu's lecture centers on the important role of a mother and
maternal blood lines. Okonkwo, so proud of manhood and obsessed with
masculinity, is being asked to accept a mother's comfort. He is also asked by
Uchendu to be a source of tenderness and comfort to his wives; Okonkwo has
always associated such behavior with weakness. Uchendu is reminding his
nephew that strength is not synonymous with force and violence. He is also
reminding Okonkwo that strength is not a uniquely male domain.

Chapter 15

Summary:

In the second year of Okonkwo's exile, Obierika comes to visit him. He brings two
bags full of cowries; they are money he has made off of the yams Okonkwo left
with him. Obierika comes with two young men as his attendants, and he and
Okonkwo great each other joyfully. They eat kola with Uchendu, and Obierika
shares a bit of disturbing news.

Abame, a neighboring village cluster like Umuofia, has been destroyed. Not long
ago, a white man arrived in Abame on an "iron horse" (a bicycle). The people of
the town did not know what to make of him. The Oracle warned them that the
man was like a scout locust, a harbringer sent to explore the terrain. The other
white men would follow, and when they came they were going to bring death and
destruction with them. Some men killed the white man and tied up his iron horse.
Not long afterward, three white men arrived with a large number of African
attendants. They saw the bicycle and left. Several weeks later, three white men
and a group of African subordinates came into the Abame marketplace armed
with powerful guns. They shot everyone in sight. The only survivors were those
who were lucky enough not to be in the market that day, and these refugees
have scattered. The village of Abame is now completely empty.

Uchendu grits his teeth in anger and fear. The men of Abame were fools, he says,
for killing the white man out of fear. They inadvertently brought destruction on
themselves. Okonkwo says that they were fools not to prepare for an attack.

The talk turns to more pleasant conversation. Okonkwo thanks Obierika for his
justness and generosity. Obierika brushes off his friend's thanks, kindly refusing
to be praised for what is natural between friends.

Analysis:

This ominous chapter foreshadows the future that threatens Umuofia. The whites
send a few men to explore the terrain, and on the slightest provocation retaliate
with terrible force. Although the people of Abame were wrong to murder the
white man (and notice that Uchendu stresses this point), the retaliation of the
white man is excessive. For the ignorant and fearful murder of one man, the
whites respond with a brutal massacre that destroys a whole village. Although we
are not given the exact number of deaths, Abame probably had a considerable
population: remember that Umuofia has some ten thousand adult males. The
effects of European colonialism are finally beginning to penetrate into Nigeria.
Although Obierika mentions old legends of white men who took slaves from
distant parts of Africa, these stories have always been dismissed as myth.
The other ominous bit of foreshadowing comes with the two very different
reactions of Uchendu and Okonkwo. Uchendu, depicted always as a wise and
thoughtful man, says that the mistake was to kill the stranger. Okonkwo,
characteristically, says that the mistake was failing to prepare for war. Okonkwo
will later try to defy the white man, with tragic results.

Fear is one of the primary sources of tragedy in the novel. We are constantly
shown how Okonkwo's fear of failure and effeminacy drives him to ill-considered
acts. The village of Abame is destroyed because of fear. The men hear the
prediction of the Oracle and panic. They kill the Scout,

Once again, we see the uncanny insights of the Igbo oracles. The oracle of Abame
correctly predicted that the white man was the harbinger of destruction. She even
accurately described the scout-and-conquer methods of the white man;
remember that the Igbo have a very different concept of war. On the theme of
tribal belief, Achebe is not out to prove that Igbo religion is "true." But he does
show that the oracles often have uncanny insights. The use of the oracles in the
novel also contributes to the theme of fate, which is always an important part of
tragedy. One could argue that the Abame oracle's prophecy was self-fulfilling,
which is another common aspect of tragedy: the more one tries to elude a
foretold fate, the faster one reaches it. However, the Oracle's prophecy would
have come true regardless of the townspeople's actions. European imperialists
brought death and destruction on all of their subjects, innocent and guilty alike.
In the same way, the tragedy that befalls Okonkwo is in part his own making, but
also comes from predetermined forces.

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 16-20

Chapter 16

Summary:

Obierika comes to visit Okonkwo again two years later. Circumstances are less
happy. White missionaries have come to Umuofia; they have built a church and
even won converts. Obierika visits Okonkwo because in Umuofia he saw Nwoye
among the Christians. When he asked Nwoye what he was doing, Nwoye
responded that he had embraced the new faith. And when he asked Nwoye about
Okonkwo, Nwoye responded that Okonkwo was no longer his father. Greatly
disturbed, Obierika visits Okonkwo, but Okonkwo does not want to talk about
Nwoye. Obierika hears the truth from Nwoye's mother.

When the missionaries first arrived in Mbanta, all of the villagers came to see
them. Their leader was a white man who spoke through interpreters. He informed
the people that their gods were false and only the Christian god was real.
Okonkwo, after hearing the convoluted theology of the Trinity, decided that the
man was clearly mad. He left and went back to work. The Christians then broke
into song. Hearing the words of the song, Nwoye felt something stirring in him. In
the poetry of the new religion, he found some kind of answer, some kind of
comfort to soothe away the scars of Ikemefuna's death and the sound of twin
children in the forest. He left the market greatly puzzled.

Analysis
Disintegration of Igbo society is central to Things Fall Apart; the idea of
collapse, on both an individual and social level, is one of the novel's central
images. This image also gives the book its title. The Christians arrive and bring
division to the Igbo. One of their first victims is Okonkwo's family. The new faith
divides father from son, and the Christians seek to attack the very heart of Igbo
belief; such an attack also attacks the core of Igbo culture, as the tribe's religious
beliefs are absolutely integral to all other aspects of life. Not coincidentally, the
first converts are people who stand to profit from a change in the social order.
They are people who have no title in the tribe, and thus have nothing to lose.

Chapter 17

Summary:

The missionaries soon asked the village leaders to give them a space for them to
build a church. The village leaders decided to give them a plot in the town's Evil
Forest. Every Igbo village has an evil forest, where the undesirable dead and the
powerful fetishes of medicine men are buried. The Evil Forest is believed to be full
of malevolent and unpredictable magical energies. Everyone expects the
Christians to die in a matter of days. When they remain alive, the people of
Mbanto have to concede that the white priests command powerful magic. The
Church begins to win a tiny number of converts.

Mr. Kiaga, an African convert, takes charge of the new church in Mbanto; the
white priest goes to Umuofia. Initially, Nwoye does not dare to go into the
church, but he listens to the men preaching the gospel in the market. He begins
to learn the simple stories from the Bible. The one month mark passes, by the
end of which the gods should most certainly take their revenge. The Christians
remain alive. They also win their first female convert, a woman named Nneka.
She is pregnant; the previous four times she has given birth, she has had twins.
Following Igbo custom, the twins were abandoned to a death by exposure. She
flees her family and takes refuge with the new church.

Okonkwo's cousin, Amikwu, is in the market when he sees Nwoye among the
Christians. He goes and tells Okonkwo immediately. When Nwoye comes home,
Okonkwo attacks him viciously. The women scream outside, afraid to enter.
Finally, Uchendu sternly commands Okonkwo to stop. He does, and Nwoye
leaves without a word. Nwoye tells Mr. Kiaga that he wants go to Umuofia, to
attend the missionary school where he will learn to read and write.

Okonkwo is furious and bitter that his son has joined the Christians. He wonders
what he did to deserve such a son.

Analysis:

In Christianity, Nwoye finds comfort for things that have long disturbed him. But
the religion also provides him with a way to rebel against his father. And the
social effects of Christianity will be as bad as the Igbo fear. The new religion
undermines the hierarchies of the culture; Achebe also points out that the religion
provides hope to those who have suffered under Igbo law. Although the men
without title embracing the religion says little in favor of it (especially since Igbo
society has a high degree of social mobility), Nneka's defection to the new faith is
telling. She has born four pairs of twins, and has been forced to throw all of them
away. Pregnant again, she is desperate to save her children. Not coincidentally,
she bears the name that Uchendu mentioned earlier: "Mother Is Supreme."
But just as Igbo faith is integral to Igbo society, the new religion also comes with
social and political attachments. Once land has been granted for the building of
the church, the whites become difficult to dislodge. They bring their laws and
their guns soon afterward, and Igbo men and women are forced to live under the
colonial yoke.

Okonkwo is not a man who learns. He cannot understand that his own harshness
has driven Nwoye away. The boy is terrified of him, and he has suffered greatly
because of his sensitivity. We see an array of different male role models.
Uchendu provides a sage counterpoint to Okonkwo's violent masculinity. Mr.
Kiaga and the men of the church provide another alternative; to escape his
father, Nwoye goes with them.

Chapter 18

Summary:

The church grows despite some difficulties. The Christians rescue twins from the
forest, and Mr. Kiaga leads the fledgling community with strength and
unshakeable conviction. Trouble rises between the church in Mbanta and the clan
when three converts go into the village and say that all of the Igbo gods are
false. They announce their intention to burn all the shrines. Furious, the
clanspeople beat the three men severely.

Disturbing stories are also making their way to Mbanto. Rumor says that where
the white man's religion goes, the white man's government follows. Churches
arrive first, and soon after the targeted village is forced to bow under white
authority.

Controversy rises in the young church over the question of admitting the osu, a
caste of outcasts who are set aside in dedication to the gods. They are not
allowed to use razors, and their dead are buried in the evil forest. Mr. Kiaga
demands that the outcasts be accepted. The osu shave their heads, at Mr. Kiaga's
encouragement, and they soon become the most faithful followers of the new
faith. More trouble arises when one of these osu converts kills a python, which is
a sacred animal and the emanation of the god of water.

The people of Mbanto meet to decide what to do about this new religion.
Okonkwo councils war against the Christians, but cooler heads prevail. Fearing
that the gods will be angry with Mbanto if the clan does nothing, the clan decides
to ostracize the converts. They are no longer allowed to enjoy the privileges of
clan membership. Initially, that includes not drawing water from the spring; the
first day, the Christians are threatened by violence. But then Okoli, the man who
killed the python, falls ill mysteriously and dies. His death proves the gods are
watching; after that, the clan relaxes its stance towards the Christians.

Analysis:

Achebe's portrait of the Christians is as fair and balanced as his portrait of the
Igbo; remember that his own parents were Christian missionaries. Although
Christian intolerance leads to problems in the beginnings of the new community,
Mr. Kiaga's wise and steady leadership is quite admirable.

We also see that the Christians fill a void in clan life; they do great good by
rescuing the twins and providing comfort to outcasts. But it is also true that the
Christians are the first wave of imperialism. The arrival of the missionaries is the
precursor to subjugation.

Okonkwo, characteristically, calls for war. Remember that he despises the

Christians because of the conversion of his son. He is disgusted when Mbanto
chooses the softer penalty of ostracizing them. He believes that Umuofia would
have chosen a different course. His hotheadedness and determination to fight the
new faith with his fists is typical of him; we are reminded that when faced with a
problem, Okonkwo only knows one way to fight back.

Chapter 19

Summary:

The seven years of exile are coming to an end. Okonkwo sends money to
Obierika to build two huts where Okonkwo and his family will live until Okonkwo
can build the rest of the compound. Okonkwo has prospered in Mbanto, but he
knows he would have prospered more in Umuofia. These seven years have been
an embittering experience.

Before Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, he hosts a magnificent feast for his mother's
clan. The quality and quantity of the food rivals that of a wedding feast; Okonkwo
outdoes himself to show his gratitude to his mother's clan. One of the elders
gives a speech thanking and praising Okonkwo. But the speech ends on an
ominous note: the elder fears for the future of their people. The new religion has
come, and some people of the clan have betrayed their tribe's beliefs. He worries
that the Igbo way of life is threatened.

Analysis:

Okonkwo's feast is in keeping with his greatness. He needs to be as generous to

his mother's clan as they have been to him. He also is celebrating finally being
allowed to return to his homeland. The chapter ends on an ominous note,
foreshadowing the threats to the Igbo. The elder's speech, placed at the end of
the chapter, which is also the end of Part Two, hints that Okonkwo's return to
Umuofia may be far more difficult than he had hoped.

Chapter 20

Summary:

Okonkwo hopes to return to Umuofia with great fanfare. He has two beautiful
daughters, and he has asked them, through Ezinma, to wait until the return to
Umuofia to take a husband. Ezinma has become one of the great beauties of their
people. She has also become a healthy, lively young woman, and none of the
children understands Okonkwo's moods better than she.

The church has won a powerful foothold in Umuofia. Even several men of title
have joined the new religion. The white man has also built a court house, where a
district commissioner imposes white law. The DC is served by a gang of kotma,
African court messengers who come from far away. They are greatly hated
because they are arrogant and brutal. There is a prison as well, and even men of
title are being put there. The white man says that Igbo laws are foolish, and they
impose their own law on the Igbo.
Okonkwo is horrified. He and Obierika discuss what has happened. He wonders
why the men of Umuofia do not rally and fight; they are a proud and strong
people. But Obierika fears that if they do, the same fate will befall them as befell
Abame. Resistance is now difficult, because fighting the white man would also
mean going against the converts. Obierika puts it succinctly: "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" (126-7). They discuss the hanging of Aneto.
In a land dispute, Aneto struch his neighbor Oduche; he did not mean to kill him,
but he did. In accordance with Igbo custom, Aneto prepared to flee. But he was
seized, with all his family, and thrown into prison. He was taken to Umuru, where
the whites have a major center of government, and hanged.

Analysis:

Note that since her night with the Oracle, Ezinma has grown into a healthy,
beautiful child. Her sickliness has ended.

Okonkwo had hoped to return to his fatherland with joy and celebration, but he
finds Umuofia sadly changed. The Igbo are no longer free to dispense justice. For
the crime of manslaughter, Igbo custom demands the relatively humane
punishment of exile. The white man, in contrast, demands execution. White laws
are not superior or more humane than the laws of Umuofia, yet the whites insist
that Igbo laws are inferior. In building their courthouse, they rob Umuofia of its
self-determination.

The religion and the new government are wreaking havoc on the harmony of Igbo
life. Social instability and the threat of violence have arrived in full force, and
armed resistance is impossible. The old religion is threatened; with humiliation,
the Igbo are forced to bow down to white authority.

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-25

Chapter 21

Summary:

The white man brings his destructive religion and the yoke of his laws, but he
also brings a trade center. The people of Umuofia begin to profit from selling local
products, and so not all of the people of Umuofia oppose the whites as much as
Okonkwo.

In Umuofia, the Christians are led by a kindly white man named Mr. Brown. Mr.
Brown restrains the zeal of some of the fanatical converts. A convert named
Enoch is particularly violent, always stirring up trouble; Brown strives to
moderate Enoch's excesses. Mr. Brown is a wise and patient man; he befriends
many of the local great men, and earns their affection. He spends a good deal of
time with Akunna; they speak through an interpreter on the subject of religion.
Neither man converts the other, but Mr. Brown learns much about the local
religion and concludes that missionary work should be subtle and indirect: direct
confrontation will not work. He also tries hard to get people to send their children
to the Christian school. At first, people only send their lazy children. But more
and more people begin to go as they realize that the ability to read and write
opens up great social mobility. The DC is surrounded by Africans from Umaru;
these literate subordinates earn high wages and how power in Umuofia. Mr.
Brown's school begins to produce results.

Soon after Okonkwo's return, Mr. Brown pays him a visit. He has sent Nwoye,
now called Isaac, to the teacher's college at Umaru; Mr. Brown hopes Okonkwo
will be pleased by the news. Okonkwo chases Mr. Brown away from his house,
threatening the man with violence. The first rainy season after Okonkwo returns
home, Mr. Brown leaves Umuofia due to failing health from overwork.

Okonkwo's return has not been as grand an event as he had hoped. The people
are troubled by the new religion and new government; they are occupied
completely with these changes. Okonkwo suffers, not only for personal reasons,
but because he fears the clan is dying.

Analysis
Mr. Brown's approach to conversion helps the early church in Umuofia get along
relatively peacefully with the clan. Still, he is part of the forces that are
destroying clan life. British imperialism also brings benefits, which help to mask
the long-term damage being done to the Igbo people. Money from the trade
center, the promise of position and wages from the DC, the possibility of an
education from Mr. Brown's church: these are all substantial benefits. But the
clan also is losing its independence. Even the education at the church comes with
the risk of indoctrination. Okonkwo's grief is based on the loss of his people's
strength. He sees that they are being irrevocably changed, in many ways for the
worse, by the arrival of the white man.

Chapter 22

Summary:

Mr. Brown's replacement is the Reverend James Smith, and he is not the tolerant
and wise man that Mr. Brown was. Mr. Smith is fanatic and uncompromising,
seeing the world entirely in terms of black and white. Under him, fanatics like
Enoch flourish.

The festival of the earth goddess comes, when the egwugwu roam around the
villages. It falls on a Sunday, and so the main passages are blocked by the
ceremonies, especially for women, who have to maintain their distance from the
masked spirits. On this occasion, the Christian women who have gone to Church
cannot return home. Some of the Christian men beg the egwugwu to retire
briefly, so that the women will be allowed to go home. The egwugwu agree. As
they are retiring, Enoch boasts arrogantly that they would not dare to touch a
Christian. One of the egwugwu strikes Enoch with a cane; Enoch unmasks him.
To unmask an egwugwu is considered a terrible sin. The Igbo believe it kills the
egwugwu.

That night, the Mother of Spirits roams the villages, weeping for the death of her
son. The spectacle is terrifying. Mr. Smith hears it, and for the first time feels
fear. The egwugwu approach the church. They will not harm the people, but they
could no longer allow the church to work its evil among the Igbo. They destroy
the building.

Analysis:
Under Mr. Smith, reason and compromise become impossible. Enoch's act is
offensive in all senses. He is trying to start a holy war; when Mr. Smith hides him
in the parsonage, Enoch is disappointed. He wants blood. His inflammatory
comment comes right after the egwugwu have made a generous concession.
Though the clan tries to compromise with the new religion and new government,
it proves impossible. The white man has no respect for Igbo ways, and the new
religion is intolerant and hypocritical, preaching peace out of one side of its
mouth while serving an imperialistic government. It appeals to troublemakers like
Enoch, who uses the new religion to goad people towards war.

And the people of Umuofia are afraid. When the Mother of Spirits roams the
villages, weeping for her son's death, it seems that she is weeping for the death
of the clan. The people of Umuofia are being destroyed. Yet again, the response
of the clan is something of a compromise. In spite of the grave offense that has
been committed, they kill no one. They simply decide to remove the source of the
problem. They will destroy the building.

Chapter 23

Summary:

Okonkwo is pleased by the destruction of the church. At the clan meeting, he had
urged the destruction of the church, the killing of the white man, and the exile of
all the Christians. Though the clan decided only to destroy the church, Okonkwo
is pleased that something was done.

Mindful of what happened in Abame, the men walk around armed. However, soon
afterward the District Commissioner returns from his tour. He invites the leaders
of Umuofia to come meet with him. Six men are invited, among them Okonkwo.
The meeting is a trap; the six men are taking prisoner, and the DC demands the
stiff fine of two hundred bags of cowries.

Ezinma, recently married, cuts short her stay with her husband to return home.
She goes to see Obierika to demand what the men plan to do. Obierika is off at
a secret meeting, and Ezinma is satisfied that someone is doing something.

In prison, Okonkwo and his colleagues are humiliated and beaten by the kotma,
the African messengers of the court. Days pass. A clan meeting is called, and the
clan decides to pay the fine of 250 bags of cowries. The fine was increased by the
kotma, who will pocket the surplus.

Analysis:

The theme of justice is one of the preoccupations of the novel. Throughout the
book, we have seen Igbo justice in action. Igbo laws and traditions preserve
order. Justice is impossible under the new system. The DC is completely ignorant
of local ways, and he has no intention of learning about them; the different ideas
of justice ensure conflict.

The corruption of the system is also clear. The DC does not even speak the local
language, giving the kotma ample room for trickery.

Okonkwo is humiliated and "choked with hate" for the white man. The DC
arrogantly speaks of the need for "good government" and "justice" under the
reign of the queen. He is speaking to the Igbo like subjects of the Empire; little
by little, that is what they have become.

Chapter 24

Summary:

The men are released, and they go home in silence. Okonkwo seethes with
hatred. His back bears the ugly stripes of the whip. A clan meeting is planned for
the morning. Okonkwo hopes that war is coming. He takes out his ceremonial war
garb, and remembers the most glorious war of his youth: Umuofia killed 12 men,
while the other clan only killed two.

At the meeting, Okonkwo is ready to speak. He is worried that Egonwanne, a

pacifist and powerful orator, will sway the people to peace. He resolves to fight,
even if he must fight alone. The first man to speak is Okika, one of the six who
was imprisoned. He begins a powerful speech on the necessity of action. They
must fight, even against the Christian converts. They must resist before it is too
late.

Five court messengers come up the path. Okonkwo rushes to block their way. He
stands before them, brimming with hatred. The court messenger tells them that
the white man has commanded this meeting to stop.

Okonkwo strikes the men down with his matchet. The other four men flee.
Okonkwo knows from the reaction of the clan that they will not choose war. They
muttered in confusion instead of seizing the other four messengers. In disgust,
Okonkwo walks away.

Analysis:

Okonkwo aches for revenge. He has lost his son, the glory of a proper
homecoming, and his dignity at the hands of the white man. His people have lost
their independence. They are no longer free to administer justice. The white man
refuses to treat their leaders with dignity, and lectures them on good government
while his own revels in hypocrisy and violence.

At the same time, Okonkwo has no inkling of real warfare as conceived of by the
white man. His glorious memories of Umuofia's great war are revealing: 14 men
were killed. Igbo wars are fought on a relatively tiny scale. They are not wars of
conquest. Okonkwo has no way of knowing that for whites, thousands can die
even in a tiny war. His rage, though justified, does not provide him with any real
way of resisting the white man.

The final indignity comes at the clan meeting. The white man is no longer
satisfied in taking away justice: now, he wishes to destroy Umuofia's primitive
democracy. The British want to deny the people their right to assembly and group
decision-making. This change would mean death for the last shreds of Umuofia's
self-determination. Okonkwo reacts the only way he knows how. He strikes the
man down. But from his people's reaction, he knows that they are not behind
him.

Chapter 25

Summary:
The District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo's compound. He leads a small band
of soldiers and court messengers. They find Obierika and several other men
gathered inside. The DC fiercely asks Okonkwo to step forward. Obierika
responds that he is not there. The DC demands that they produce Okonkwo, or
they will be thrown into jail. Obierika and the other men mutter amongst
themselves, and Obierika says he will take the DC to where Okonkwo is. Perhaps
the DC's men can help them. He leads them to a tree behind Okonkwo's
compound. Okonkwo has hanged himself.

No one in the clan can touch the body. Suicide is a crime against the earth
goddess, and so the body must be handled by outsiders. Obierika says bitterly to
the DC that Okonkwo was one of the greatest men of Umuofia. Because of the
white man, he has been driven to suicide and will be buried like an animal.

The DC is quite curious about Igbo customs. Okonkwo's death may make a lively
paragraph in the book he plans to write about the British victory over the savages
of Africa. He has already chosen a title: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of
the Lower Niger.

Analysis:

Okonkwo's suicide, in retrospect, seems nearly inevitable. Determined to fight the

white man, alone if necessary, the betrayal by his people is more than he can
bear. He realizes that he will resist alone, even after the outrage of the white
man ordering a stop to the clan meeting. Okonkwo understands that his people
have been broken. Instead of a war, he will have only the white man's noose; he
will not even be tried under his own people's laws. He chooses suicide instead.

Long years of difficulty and disappointment have contributed to this moment. The
accidental death and then exile darkened Okonkwo's view of life. The betrayal of
his son was a very heavy blow. Now, the betrayal of his people, and their
inevitable subjugation, pushes Okonkwo into despair. Okonkwo's central beliefs
have been undermined. He believed that a man was the master of his own fate;
his exile and the loss of his son challenged that belief. He also had great faith in
his clan, but now his clan will be a subservient people. He cannot bear this
disgrace. Parallel to Okonkwo's tragedy is the tragedy of his people's subjugation.
As a final bit of bitter irony, Okonkwo's suicide violates the very traditions that
are being menaced by the white man.

The DC's intrusion at the end of the novel is a commentary on a certain kind of
narrative. In European conceptions of Africa, the DC's attitude is typical.
Okonkwo's death, a great tragedy, is worth only one paragraph of entertaining
reading. The DC also reflects on the need to cut out any unnecessary detail. The
book the DC imagines is in many ways the opposite of Things Fall Apart, with
its focus on a great African man, its many beautiful digressions, and its loving
and sympathetic portrait of Igbo culture. The novel is in some ways a response to
earlier depictions of "savage" Africa. Now that we have reached the end, the
digressions pay off. In the course of following Okonkwo's tragedy, we have
learned a great deal about Igbo life. Now we know that the culture depicted in the
novel is a culture that in many ways no longer exists. Imperialism changed many
aspects of life in Africa, and usually not for the better. The destruction of tribal
social institutions and traditions led to great social and cultural voids, the
negative results of which are still being felt in Africa today.
 ClassicNote on Things Fall Apart
• Biography of Chinua Achebe
• About Things Fall Apart
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Short Summary
• Full Summary and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-5
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 6-10
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 11-15
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 16-20
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-25
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