Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Things Fall Apart
- Character
- Okonkwo
- wealthy/respected farmer/warrior; despises his father
due to his past; feels he has to prove he isn't like his
father
- Unoka
- Okonkwo's father: always in debt, skilled flute
player and had a love of language
- Ikemefuna
- "adopted" son of Okonkwo
- illustrated that manliness doesn't
preclude gentleness and affection
- Nwoye
- Okonkwo's son; strained relationship -> finds comfort in
Christianity; answers his long-held doubts about his own
religion
- Ojiugo
- Okonkwo's youngest wife
- Ekwefi
- Okonkwo's second wife - very
protective over there daughter
- Ezinma
- Ekwefi's only daughter, thought to be an
'Ogbanje' to the family
- Okonkwo frequently desires she were a boy, suggests he secretly desires affectionate
attachment with his actual sons, but avoids admitting it because of fear that affection =
weakness
- Obiageli, Nkechi
- Okonkwo's other two
daughters
- Chielo
- priestess of Agbala
- Obierika
- Friend of Okonkwo; foil for Okonkwo
- Illustrates manhood, doesn't require
denigration of women
- Uchendu
- Okonkwo's foil, openly expresses
affection/emotion for wives; values intelligence in
women
- Mr.
Brown
- missionary and foil for Reverend Smith
- Enoch
- Serves as double for Okonkwo; unmasks father in 'egwugwu'
ceremony in inappropriate display of rebellion and bad temper
- Characterization
- Okonkwo
- Beat the cat in a wrestling context in youth; taken five human heads in battle. Associates weakness with his father
and women: extremely demanding of his family made his own fortune, does not show any affection (thinks its a sign
of weakness aswell)
- beats his wife Ojiugo for negligence - breaks week of peace
- Okonkwo also sinks into depression - although he
didn't show it, appreciated and was affectionate
for Ikemefuna
- Accidentally kills a clansman; crime - 7 years of exile. Takes family to his mothers
natal village of Mbanta. Okonkwo questions why a man should suffer so much
for an accidental killing.
- Ikemefuna
- Becomes like a son to Okonkwo. The oracle declares he
must be killed -> Okonkwo kills him so as to not look weak
- Nwoye
- Becomes more masculine with Ikemefuna's
Influence. Nwoye is devastated.
- Symbolism
- Okonkwo = 'Africa' (every-man
figure)
- Sharing kola nuts/palm wine =
peacefullness of Igbo
- Locusts = colonialism descending
upon Umuofia
- branches breaking underneath their weight =
traditions and Igbo culture destroyed
- the fact that the Igbo eat them symbolizes
how innocent their race can be
- Igbo folklore: Tortoise story has same function (convinces the birds to allow
him to come even though he doesn't belong; he then eats all their food)
- Igbo customs = wisdom of seeking peaceful
solution to conflict before violence
- Interpreter vulnerability of a
language (i.e. understanding) gap
- Smith sees things as "black and white" - refers to both his
inability to grasp gradations of a situation, and also race
relations and colonial power
- Stereotypical European Colonist
- Context
- When it was written:
-1958
- Negation of image of Africa presented by
colonial writers - Chinua Achebe
- Present-day
relevance
- reflection of the effects of/faults in colonialism
- Setting
- Late 19th Century
- Lower Nigerian Tribe, part of a community
of nine connected villages
- Patriarchal society; Masculinity =
Strength, Femininity = Weakness
- Themes
- Tradition
- Culture
- Masculinity, strength valued above other traits
- Education
- Oral tradition; "discussion through proverbs"
- Family
- Importance of
kinship morals
- Success/Power
- man's worth determined
by his own actions
- Religion
- ancestral spirits revered; belief in the
oracle to make decisions
- Commitment to harmonious
relations; avoiding violence
whenever possible
- Gender (masculinity)
- Okonkwo sees his father as weak. Resents
him, tries to be the complete opposite
- Language
- Complex; full of proverbs, literary/rhetorical devices. Achebe's
translation of Igbo language into English retains cadences, rhythm, and
speech patterns of language without making it sound 'primitive'
- Change vs Tradition: involves question of personal status, i.e.
Okonkwo resists change because it shows his manliness and
self-worth into question since these are defined by traditional
values; clan's contrasts embrace Christianity because they can
enjoy a more elevated status that they were previously deprived of
- Okonkwos definition of masculinity does not
reflect the clans - associates with aggression
- Writers Purpose
- Independent, functional society; sophisticated
- Gradual Encroachment
- Intrusion on a persons territory
- Things fall apart
- Response to Heart of Darkness
- Through emphasis of harmony and complexity of the igbo -
contradicts stereotypical European view of Africans as
savages
- Africa as a foil of Western culture,
not equal to reality
- Existence of subcultures within a given African
population (i.e. each clan has its own stories);
combatting European tendency to see all
Africans as the same
- Mr. Brown illustrates more 'positive' colonialism
through mutual understanding and respect; tries to
help clan maintain their autonomy
- Not only remind the West that Africa has language and culture
but also to provide understanding of Igbo culture through
language. Achebe show the extent to which cultural and
linguistic structures and practices are intertwined. By the time
things start to 'fall apart', it is clear that what the colonialists
have unravelled is the complex Igbo culture
- Plot
- Ikemefuna ->
Umuofia/Okonkwo
- Oracle declares Ikemefuna must be killed
(Okonkwo)
- Chielo takes Ezinma to the
hills
- Okonkwo accidentally kills clansmen - 7 years
exile
- Nwoye becomes a convert
- Okonkwo returns to Umuofia
- Unmasking of
egwugwu
- Okonkwos
death
- Genre
- Novel
(Narrated)
- Omniscient
third-person
- Diction
- Irony: ex. egwugwu ceremony, the villagers know
they are not real; verging on mockery
- Irony: Mbanta clan leaders decide to tolerate the church, although Okonkwo
thinks they should react violently - he believes that the village should act
against its peaceful cultural values in order to preserve them. Foreshadowing
= symbolic locusts
- Irony: for all of Christianity's protestations of
love and harmony, brandishes a fierce resolve
to convert the Igbo at any cost
- Foreshadowing
Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Personification
Oxymoron
Antithesis
Juxtaposition
Irony