Things Fall Apart

1. Things Fall Apart By, Chinua Achebe Published in 1958 Robert Tate

2. Summary • Things Fall Apart is the story of how African Tribes literally fall apart when English Missionaries come into their tribes and attempt to teach them Christian ways.

3. Event 1 “One night Ekwefi and Ezinma were in their hut and Ekwefi was telling her daughter a story when a voice interrupted them. Chielo, priestess of Agbala, came into their hut to take Ezinma because Agbala wanted to see her. “ (chap. 11, pages 95-101) This can be related to my life because sometimes when I’m at work and my co-workers and I mess up and order, someone has to go and tell our boss, which is usually me…

4. Event 2 During the second year of Okonkwo's exile, Obierika comes to visit and brings news of the destruction of Abame by white men. Apparently a white man came to Abame and the elders consulted the Oracle about what to do with him. The Oracle told them that the white man would break their clan and spread destruction among all of them. It also said that more white men were on their way, so the people of Abame killed him.(136-140). I play a lot of online computer games. Usually what people will do on those games is invade another persons area and kill everyone. And it is usually expected or can be “foretold” by someone that can see them coming.

5. Event 3 The drums woke Umuofia in the early morning to tell that Ezeudu had died. All the clan came to the great man's funeral and an egwugwu would appear every now and then from the underworld. Because Ezeudu had been such an important man to Umuofia, cannons were shot and rifles fired in his honor. During one such salute, Okonkwo's gun had exploded and killed a young boy in the middle of the funeral crowd. Although Okonkwo's crime was female (accidental) in nature, he was forced to flee from his home because killing a clansman was a crime against the earth goddess. Okonkwo and his wives and children gathered up their things and left Umuofia to spend seven years in Mbanta, where Okonkwo's mother had lived before she married Unoka. (120-125) There have been times in which I have done something terribly wrong at my house and I’ve been sent to my grandmas for a week.

6. Quote 1 "'When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (56). when I first started working at Texten Printing supplies, I had to have people teach me how to use everything. I was organizing a stack of printing blankets and I heard one of my co-workers complaining that since I was new he felt as if he was doing a women’s job by teaching me how to use the cutting blades and the printers and all of the other stuff.

7. Quote 2 “ Every year, before I put any crop into the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land it is the law of our fathers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams. I clear the bush and set fire to it when its dry. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen, and stake them when the young tendrils appear.” (17) I can relate to this because I am a very hard worker and I am very religious. I work hard to maintain my family’s house and I also try to do the very best I can religiously.

8. Quote 3 "'Beware Okonkwo!' she warned. 'Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!'"(86). This quote shows that Okonkwo is persistent in what he attempts to do. I also am very persistent in stuff that I want to do or want to get. There was one year when I was little that I asked for months for the same thing for Christmas even when the answer was no. I eventually got it.

9. THEME Digression is one of Achebe's main tools. The novel is the story of Okonkwo's tragedy, but it is also a record of Igbo life before the coming of the white man. The novel documents what the white man destroyed. The reader learns much about Igbo customs and traditions; depicting this world is a central part of the novel.

10. Citation Page Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1994. New York: Anchor Books, 1959.