Helping you understand “Thing Fall Apart” Chapters 1-7 by Chinua Achebes
By: Connor Raeke
All IB English 10 students are reading “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebes, however the book was written in 1958, and it was written differently than books today. It at times can be hard to understand so we will be looking at chapter 1-7 and looking at the overall themes. Why is Things Fall Apart important to IB students? IB is an international program, and as such an important part of IB is exploring different lenses and cultures. The ibo culture is not a well known or commonly talked about culture so the fact that this book explores history through their perspective is revolutionary and important. Finally it’s an account of European colonialism through the lens, not of the colonizer but of the person getting colonized. Nothing is downplayed and seeing a new cultural perspective is important to IB.
Chapter one starts by proclaiming that Okonkwo through the cat and was famous throughout the 9 villages because of it. The “cat” is not a literal cat but actually a nickname used to describe the wrestler Amalinze because his back never touched the earth (he never lost a fight). Him “throwing” the cat was actually him beating him in a fight. If you would like to learn how to better break down similes and metaphors I suggest checking out this resource by grammarly because it has a useful segment on breaking metaphors . We learn more about Okonkwo, that he has a brutish appearance and he did not like his father. Okonkwo is poor with his words, doesn’t express any emotion beyond anger, and prefers violence even towards his own family. Unkoa, Okonkwo's father, by contrast is good with his words, he’s passionate, a deboter, and he doesn’t take care of his family because he’s poor and lazy. This causes Okonkwo to grow up poor. Okonkwo has no patience with unsuccessful men, even his own father and lives in fear of being unsuccessful.Okonkwo is extremely successful despite his age and eats with the village elders.
Chapter two is about Ikemefuna. Umuofia was at a time of peace with the other villages, (it only goes to war when the oracles of the hill allows it and always strives for peace.) They believe that if they wage a “war of blame” that the oracle forbids then they will lose. The village of Mbaino had killed a wife of Umuofia. As a peace offering the village gave them a young girl and boy. Okonkwo was sent to recover them. The young girl was married off to the person who had their wife murdered (Ogbuefi Udo). The boy, Ikemefuna had not had his fate decided and was sent to live with Okonkwo until it was. Okonkwo's wives live in fear of him. Okonkwo's life is also ruled by the fear of weakness and not being successful.
Chapter three delves deeper into the religion of Igbo culture. It talks about how people will visit the oracle for advice and the entire shrine to talk to their god which is actually a small whole in a mountain. People vaguely see their dead relatives, especially fathers and can talk to some of them for advice; some even say they hear sprites landing and flapping their wings on their roofs. The chapter recalls a story about Unoka. When Unoka was down on his luck he went to the oracle and asked why his yearly harvest were so poor. The oracle told him it was because he was lazy and he had to take initiative if he wanted a good harvest. This chapter also introduced “chi” or personal gods. Swelling and sickness is seen as an abomination to the earth goddess. People with sickness had to get carried to the forest to die and could not be buried. The chapter led into how Okonkwo inherited nothing and had to make his fortune crop sharing but that year it was a bad harvest. A lot of people starved and one person hung himself. Okonkwo was okay because he was hard working and kept enough of his yams
Chapter four talks about Ikemefuna and Okonkwo’s sin. It starts by showing how impatient Okonkwo was with unsuccessful men, reaffirming how he rose from great poverty into becoming a lord of the land telling a short story about how even the other lords were taken back and surprised by how rude and impatient he was with poor men. The chapter starts talking about Ikemefuna; How when he first came he was ill and Nwoye's mother nursed him back to health; but now he had warmed up too Okonkwo and even Okonkwo had grown fond of him. On a week of peace, Okonkwo’s first wife had gotten her hair pait before cooking dinner and this provoked Okonkwo to what the tribe considers “Justifiable anger” prompting him to beat her. Because it was a week of peace and it’s believed that breaking the week of peace would anger the earth goddess. Ojiugo (his first wife) left her kids with Nwoye's mother. Eziania, the priest who represented the earth goddess, called upon Okonkwo. He also refuses a kola nut from Okonkwo and tells him to make a sacrifice in order to apologize and atone for his crime. The oldest man in the tribe, Ogbuefi Ezedu, tells how village customs changed and that you used to get dragged until you died if you broke the week of peace adding how in another tribe you get dragged into the evil forest. The chapter ends by taking about how yams were a man's crop and how okonkwo put immense pressure on Nwoye and Ikemefuna to be good successful farmers. Finally it talks about the rainy season, and how the rain men would not intervene because intervention would take great power and would put the human in danger.
Chapter five starts by talking about customs, One being the feast after a harvest in which a large amount of food was shared with neighbors, family, and men who had a successful harvest had a bigger feast. The main food for the celebration was vegetable soup and the reason for the celebration was to give thanks to the earth goddess, Ani. Okonkwo was not enthusiastic about the festival because he was uncomfortable not working. In response to his discomfort he spent a lot of time with suppressed anger causing him to find something to lash out about. He makes an excuse and begins to beat his wife, Ekwefi He then attempts to go for his hunt which prompts Ekwefi to mutter a remark about his hunting ability. This angers Okonkwo who shoots his gun at his wife. The chapter leads into a wrestling contest and introduces some more of Okonkwo's kids, the most important of which is Ezinma who he is very affectionate of (however not outwardly). There is also Obiageli is his first wife daughter and Ojiugo daughter, Nkechi
The two most important details from the short chapter six is the description of the wrestling match. The wrestling match takes place on the Ilo, or the village green; the contest begins with boys who are 15 and 16. His friend, Obierika, has a kid named Maduka. Much like Okonkwo, Maduka is a strong wrestler and very easily wins his match. Okonkwo is impressed and envious of Obierika’s masculine son. He believes his own son, Nwyoe, to be feminie and this brings him a lot of anxiety. Seeing a masculine youth like Maduka sparks envy in Okonkwo because he wants his kids to be like this. The second important detail of this chapter is Ekwefi speaking to Chielo. The two speak of how her daughter Ezinma has made it to 10 and is here to stay because she made it this far. This is the start of one of the great ironies of the book. Things fall apart using the literary device of irony many times. Okonkwo’s son Nwyoe is an irony in the story because he acts like his grandfather which Okonkwo worked so hard to prevent.
In Chapter 7 Ikemefuna has warmed up to his new home, we see Okonkwo’s softer side when he is reading the two boys stories, though the story is violent. Okonkwo notices his biological kid, Nwyoe, has learned to be more masculine from Ikemefuna. A surprising event happens when a swarm of locusts visit the village. It’s a rare occurrence for them to show up and they will not be around for very long so the village collects the locust. (This is an example of foreshadowing, as you will see later a swarm of foreigner’s becomes important to the story). Ogbuefi Ezeudu, an old man and important village leader pays Okonkwo a visit but when he is invited into Okonkwo’s obi (hut), he doesn't accept but instead chooses to speak to him outside. The detail of him not coming into the hut for a meal which is an important part of ibo culture and we see people coming in to eat several times throughout the story as a sign of respect/comfort. Him not coming in builds tension for what he is about to say. The tension is further built when the old man tells Okonkwo that the oracle has decreed Ikemefuna must be killed. He advises Okonkwo against having a hand in the death of someone who calls him father. Okonkwo lies, claiming he will not kill the boy. The next day Okonkwo tells Nwoye he is bringing Ikemefuna home. Nwoye burst into tears and this is seen as femine by his father. Ikemefuna is actually brought home to see his mother, however on the walk home back to Umuofia, a man attacks him with a machete. Ikemefuna runs to Okonkwo in fear but alas, Okonkwo; his parents; father; and ultimate protector was the one to kill him. Not wanting to seem feminine Okonkwo cuts him down. When he returns home Nwyoe insist that his friend has been killed.