Structure/Plot
The novel is structured in three parts. What do the divisions reflect about the stages of life of the protagonist?
Okonko is a respected leader in Umuofia.
Okonwo is exiled.
Okonwo returns and falls apart.
How does Okonkwo achieve greatness as defined by his culture?
Throwing the Cat
Growing Yams
Getting Titles
Having wives and children
The novel begins in Umuofia and ends in Umuofia. Describe this village. What aspects of an African tribal community is Achebe intentionally including that might disrupt western conceptions of African village life?
They have long-standing practices and traditions that ensure peaceful co-existence within their own village and among neighboring villages.
Describe the Igbo concept of chi and how the concept relates to Okonkwo’s desired success in life.
Chi is a personal spirit assigned to an individual at birth, influencing their success and fortune. It represents a divine counterpart that works in tandem with a person's efforts.
Achebe seamlessly merges Igbo vocabulary into the general text. Explain how he helps readers to understand Igbo words and concepts that have no English language equivalents.
He italicizes the words and defines them in text or provides context clues to their meanings.
What is the point of view of the narrator? How does the point of view contribute to our understanding of the conflicting cultures?
Third Person Omnicient:
Readers are active observers of world from an outside perpective.
Why is Okonkwo unhappy with his son and heir? How do his feelings toward Nwoye compare with his feelings toward Ikemefuna?
Nwoye is not aggressive or physical. He is naturally quiet and contemplative which Okonkwo interprets as shameful and feminine.
Okonkwo thinks Ikemefuna is stronger, more athletic, and more assertive, and so more worthy of respect.
Describe the Igbo extended family system. How does it help Okonkwo to survive his exile in Mbanta?
Paternal families are generally in charge, but when times are hard maternal families have an obligation to support family members. Okonkwo is taken care of by his mother's brother, even though his mother had died and he didn't know his uncle.
Who is Chukwu? How does Chukwu compare with the Christian concept of a supreme being?
Chukwu is considered the supreme source of life, goodness, and creation, though traditionally viewed as more distant, allowing lesser spirits (Alusi) to manage daily human affairs, unlike the often more personal, intervening nature of the Christian God.
Explain the importance of folktales in the informal education of the children. Why does Nwoye like the tales of his mother better than those of his father?
Folktales teach cultural values and can serve as cautionary tales. Nwoye likes his mother's stories better because they are both more meaningful and less violent.
Why is Okonkwo exiled? Why is the exile ironic?
He accidentally killed a teen when his gun went off at a funeral.
It is ironic because Mr. Macho Kamacho committed a feminine crime and because he had already killed Ikemefuna without punishment.
Why is Ikemefuna killed? Why does Okonkwo participate in the slaughter in spite of an elder’s advice not to become involved in the sacrifice?
Ikemefuna is killed because the Oracle says so. There doesn't need to be a reason.
Okonkwo participates because he does not want to be perceived as weak.
Explain the concept of ogbanje. Show how it is reflected in the relationship of Ekwefi and Ezinma.
Ogbanje is the name for a troublesome soul that reincarnates in successive failed pregnancies/stillbirths. The Igbo thought that they could discourage an ogbanje from returning to a mother by mutilating the baby.
Ekwefi had multiple babies that died and didn't survive infancy and Ezinma was not expected to survive either. She was known to be an ogbanje and watched carefully by her parents and the community, but also treasured.
Obierika tells Okonkwo, “He [the white man] has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” Explain the significance of this statement.
It calls back to the title and refers to men with titles joining the Christian missionaries. The grounding force of the shared Igbo traditions and faith has been disrupted.
Wrestling is a recurring image. In addition to the literal match at the beginning of the novel, what are other examples of the theme of wrestling and how do they contribute to the overall theme?
wrestling with old/new, wrestling with right/wrong, wrestling with thought/action
being pinned
being thrown
How does the killing of Ikemefuna foreshadow the fall of Okonkwo?
It foreshadows his eventual downfall by illustrating his fatal flaw—a fear of being perceived as weak.
Describe actions that depict Obierika as Okonkwo’s alter ego.
Obierika is similar in age and position to Okonkwo and his friend, but he is more moderate and thoughtful and restrained.
example: he says he would not have interfered with the Oracle's instruction to kill Ikemefuna, but he would not have been a part of it himself.
How do the Igbo marriage negotiations and rituals compare with other nineteenth-century cultures in which the bride’s family pays a dowry? What do these rituals reveal about the level of sophistication of pre-colonial Igbo civilization?
How does Okonkwo’s suicide represent a break in the traditional Igbo culture?
It is an "abomination" against the Earth Goddess and a cowardly act. Okonkwo spent his whole life being a traditionist and a warrior and his suicide is a shameful and ironic reversal.
Explain the concept of the divine masculine and feminine and how it helps to explain how Things Fall Apart for Umuofia.
The two need to be in balance for peace and stability. When colonizers become the aggressors (masculine), villages respond by becoming too passive (feminine) and are overtaken with neither peace nor stability as a result.
In the novel’s opening, Okonkwo is wrestling. How does this contrast with the ending, when Okonkwo is deliberating about an adequate response to the British humiliation of the Igbo elders in jail?
He used to be respected for strength and violence, but now he is actually stuck thinking and finding himself powerless to act in any way that would be effective.
How does the Reverend Smith’s personality differ from that of Mr. Brown?
Smith is much more dismissive of the customs of the village and more punitive.
Brown attempted to understand the people and their customs, but Smith does not.
Obierika, a close friend, mourns the exile of Okonkwo, yet participates in the destruction of Okonkwo’s property. Explain how Obierika’s response to the exile signals a questioning of community traditions.
Obierika does help to destroy Okonkwo's property, but the whole time he meditates on how unfair it seems. Later he does not "shun" Okonkwo, as expected, and mourns his twin children that were left in the Evil Forest to die. Obierika's perspective shows the need for cultural evolution.
How is Christianity depicted? Why does Achebe focus on the Trinity?
Christianity is depicted as similar in structure to the Igbo cosmology of a single supreme God/Chukwu and other divine messengers and intercessors.
The focus on the Trinity shows that Christian faith also has a supreme God that is explained by unified divine messengers and intercessors.
How does the image of "the falcon cannot hear the falconer" from Yeat's poem on the first page relate to the story?
Once a society becomes untethered from shared values and social organization, it is unmoored until another system is put into place to restore order.