Lecture on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Introduction to Main Characters and Setting

• Okonkwo
  • Main character
  • Gained fame by winning a wrestling match against an undefeated champion
  • Became wealthy, married three wives, and fathered ten children
  • Resides in Umuofia, one of the nine villages of his clan
  • Success contrasts with the failures of his father, a gentle musician in debt
  • Driven to be fierce and hyper-masculine to avoid being like his father

Rising Action

• Ikemefuna
  • A boy given to Umuofia by a neighboring clan as reparation for the murder of a woman
  • Adjusts to life in Umuofia
  • Views Okonkwo as a father figure
• Nwoye
  • Okonkwo's son
  • Becomes fond of Ikemefuna
• Oracle's Decree
  • Priestess Chielo orders Ikemefuna to be killed
  • Village elder Ezeudu warns Okonkwo not to partake in the killing
  • Okonkwo participates anyway to avoid losing respect
  • Nwoye is devastated
• Ezinma
  • Daughter of Okonkwo's second wife, Ekwefi
  • Becomes seriously ill, causing fear she might die

Climax and Consequences

• Ezeudu's Death
  • Ezeudu dies, and during his funeral, Okonkwo's gun accidentally kills Ezeudu's son
  • Punishment: Okonkwo is exiled for seven years
• Exile in Mbanta
  • Okonkwo and family live with his mother's clansmen
  • Friend Obierika visits and describes the destruction of the Abame clan by white men
  • Oracle had predicted the arrival and devastation by white men
• Missionaries and Changes
  • Missionaries arrive requesting land to build a church
  • Some villagers, including Nwoye, attend services
  • Okonkwo feels disgraced by Nwoye's defection
  • Okonkwo returns to Umuofia to find significant changes
  • British officials have set up a government with judicial processes

Falling Action

• Conflict with Christians
  • Enoch, a zealous convert, unmask an egwugwu (clan leader)
  • In retaliation, egwugwu and village leaders destroy Enoch's compound and the church
• Arrest and Humiliation
  • District commissioner jails six village leaders, including Okonkwo
  • Leaders are humiliated and tortured in jail

Resolution

• Okonkwo's Final Act
  • Once released, Okonkwo vows vengeance
  • Kills a court messenger trying to stop a clan meeting
  • Okonkwo hangs himself
• District Commissioner's Reflection
  • Considers including Okonkwo's story in his book, "The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger"