THINGS FALL APART
(Chinua Achebe)
Chapter 1
‘Things Fall Apart’ is story of the
hero ‘Okonkwo’ and his late father ‘Unoka’. Okonkwo belonged to a
poor family as his father was a lazy person, but he struggled hard in his life,
earned a lot and made his name as a respected leader within the Igbo (formerly
spelled Ibo) community of Umuofia in Eastern Nigeria.
About twenty years ago, Okonkwo knocked
down Amalinze ‘the Cat’, a wrestler who had been the winner for the last seven
years. Thus, Okonkwo became famous throughout the nine villages of Umuofia. He disliked
the unsuccessful men like his father who frequently borrowed money and
squandered it on palm-wine and merrymaking with his friends and finally died
deeply in debt ten years ago.
Now, thirty years old Okonkwo, with
his three wives (Chinwe, Ekwefi and Ojiugo) has become a wealthy farmer of yams
— a sacred crop in Nigeria.
Glossary
Okonkwo The name implies male pride and stubbornness.
Umuofia The community name, which means children
of the forest and a land undisturbed by European
influences.
egwugwu leaders of the clan who wear masks
during certain rituals and speak on behalf of the spirits; the term can be
either singular or plural.
kola nut the seed of the cola, an African
tree. The seed contains caffeine and yields an extract; it represents vitality
and is used as a courteous, welcoming snack, often with alligator pepper.
Ibo a member of a people of southeastern Nigeria; known for their art and their skills as traders. Today, the word is spelled Igbo (the g is not pronounced).
Chapter 2
One morning, the herald, with the
beat of drum, summons the Umuofians to gather at the marketplace. When all
gathered, an orator angrily tells the crowd that a Umuofian woman has been
killed in the neighbouring Mbaino while she was attending the market. The
outraged crowd finally declared for Mbaino a choice of either going to war with
Umuofia or offering Umuofia a young man and a virgin as compensation for the
death of the Umuofian woman. Mbaino knew the powers of Umuofia therefore, it
opted the second choice.
According to the decision, the virgin
was handed over to the man whose wife was killed and a fourteen-year-old boy ‘Ikemefuna’
was given to Okonkwo for a period of three years who start living with
Okonkwo’s senior wife ‘Chinwe’ and their twelve years old son ‘Nwoye’.
However, Ikemefuna does not know why
he has been separated from his family. He gets frightened, abandons eating and
gets weaker.
Okonkwo keeps an aggressive attitude
in order to avoid being called coward and weak. Actually, people used to call
his lazy father ‘Agbala’ which means woman and also a man who has taken no
title. His son ‘Nwoye’ shows signs of laziness as such Okonkwo beats him daily.
Glossary
Ogbuefi Udo (the man whose wife was killed in
Mbaino).
Umuofia kwenu a shout of approval and greeting that
means United Umuofia!
Oracle the place where, or medium by which, the deities are consulted; here, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.
Chapter 3
The Igbo people believe that the
creator (Chukwu) assigns a Chi, a personal god, to every individual when a
mother conceives. Nevertheless, every Chi decides the destiny of each
individual. Hence, they love to add ‘Chi’ with their names for good and we hear
from Okonkwo:
- Chinwe is my wife's name that means ‘chi owns me’.
- Mine is Chinua, that
means ‘may a chi fight for me’.
- Our youngest girl asked me why she didn't have chi in her name. She thought it was some kind of discrimination, so she took the name Chioma, which means ‘good chi’.
Chapter 4
Ikemefuna recovers from illness and
becomes Nwoye’s friend. Both the boys along with other children of Okonkwo’s
house do creative works like making traps, flutes, bows and arrows. Okonkwo
gets pleased with Ikemefuna but keeps frowning as he does with every member of the
house.
In the meanwhile, annual ‘Week of Peace’ arrives before planting yams which disallows any sort of violence. But Okonkwo breaks the tradition and pays penalties. During this sacred week, his third wife ‘Ojiugo’ goes out to braid her hair. She gets late and could not prepare lunch for Okonkwo. When she returns, Okonkwo beats her severely. On the demand of priests, Okonkwo pays offerings at the shrine for penalty.
Chapter 5
‘The Feast of New Yam’ arrives just
before the harvest. Almost everyone is excited on this festival. But Okonkwo’s
excitement turned into anger when he comes to know that someone has cut off few
leaves of one of his banana trees. In fact, his second wife ‘Ekwefi’ had cut
the leaves to wrap food. He gives her a thorough beating to release his pent-up
anger.
However, Ekwefi neglects the beatings
and looks forward, like the other people of the village, to the wrestling match
on the second day. This contest is the same kind in which Okonkwo had, years
earlier, not only won the wrestling match but also won Ekwefi's heart.
Glossary
yam foo-foo pounded and mashed yam pulp.
bride-price in some cultures, money and property given to a prospective bride's family by the prospective groom and his family.
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