Chapter 1

The opening chapter introduces us to the main character Okonkwo, a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. The reader is initially introduced to him in the state he has attained as a respected member of the community before retracing the steps he had to undertake to achieve this position. As a wrestler, Okonkwo defeated Amalinze the Cat, prior to which the Cat had been undefeated for seven years. The victory cements his new start in life. He has shown the clan that he is not like his father and that he will build on the reputation of his own deeds.

Okonkwo’s father Unoka was, in his youth, a musician who enjoyed playing the flute and being part of harvest festivals. However he shunned hard work and borrowed money rather than earned it. His family was poor and Unoka was, therefore, a man of low reputation. Anecdotally we know that one of Unoka’s lenders came to collect ‘cowries’ owed but was rejected by an arrogant Unoka, who used a proverb to suggest that he will pay his biggest debts first. The use of the proverb introduces the language tradition of the Igbo people who suggest that ‘proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten’. Drums are also a form of Igbo communication, whipping the crowd into a frenzy when the wrestlers are fighting (chapter 1) and interrupting the night to announce a meeting (chapter 2) that will send Okonkwo as an emissary.

Determined to be the opposite of his father, whom he despises, Okonkwo makes himself into a great man. He works hard as a wrestler and uses this fame to get his start as a yam farmer working from sun up to sun down to prove himself. He becomes respected and wealthy. The respect he earns leads to him being charged with the care of a young boy named Ikemefuna.

Chapter 1 Quotes

Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Chapter 1

He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. (About Okonkwo) Chapter 1

And that was how he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbours to avoid war and bloodshed. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna. Chapter 1

Chapter 2

On hearing the drums, Okonkwo hopes that a war might be brewing as he is a distinguished warrior and war gives him a chance to win greater esteem. The drums are for a meeting. Okonkwo is chosen at the meeting to approach the nearby village of Mbaino to negotiate, peace or war, after the villagers had killed a daughter of the Umuofia clan. He returns with a young girl, to replace the one killed, and a young boy. The elders ask Okonkwo to take care of the boy until his fate is determined. He has a place for him as Okonkwo has become quiet wealthy, able to support three wives and eight children with each wife having her own hut. Okonkwo has a barn full of yams, a shrine for his ancestors, and his own hut called an obi.

Okonkwo is quick to anger and fast with his fists if upset. He rules his family with a rod and fears failure like the traits of his idle father. Okonkwo is strong but fails to see that his wives and children are not as physically strong although he drives them to work as hard as he does. All of his wives and children fear him. His oldest son Nwoye shows signs of being like Okonkwo’s father and therefore Okonkwo is especially hard on him. Ikemefuna is brought home with Okonkwo and given to Nwoye’s mother. The boy is homesick and does not understand why he has been taken from his family. Nwoye and Ikemefuna become close friends.

A glimpse of a civilised society emerges: democracy, laws, ambassadors, agreements, peace and justice. Even in this state Okonkwo is unsettled, hoping instead for bloodshed. Although he will change somewhat over the course of the novel, it will still be the warrior seeking a fight which endures in Okonkwo’s heart.

Chapter 2 Quotes

Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth. Chapter 2

‘These sons of wild animals have dared to murder a daughter of Umuofia.’…And in a clear unemotional voice he told Umuofia how their daughter had gone to market at Mbaino and had been killed. Chapter 2

Umuofia was feared by all its neighbours. It was powerful in war and in magic, and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country. Chapter 2

Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external, but lay deep within himself. Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The third chapter of Things Fall Apart gives us more insight into the main character, Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s childhood and young adulthood contain events that have influenced Okonkwo’s flawed character. Even the oracle at the time had admonished Okonkwo’s father. Chika, the priestess of the Oracle, told Unoka that he hadn’t offended the gods but that his laziness had brought him misfortune and that he should go home and work like a man. Okonkwo despises his father and is driven, inflexibly, to be the opposite.

After Unoka dies he is laid in the Evil Forest, a sign that he was not acceptable to the earth goddess and died without title or reputation. Okonkwo sets about breaking the shame he inherited by visiting Nwakibie, a respected man of the village who is very wealthy as shown by his three barns. He believes in Okonkwo, based on his hard work and wrestling prowess, and gives him seed yams ready to plant despite the fact he had turned down many others who asked the same. It is an opportunity for the reader to understand the language of the Igbo and the constant use of symbolic language. Okonkwo needing to praise himself suggests that ‘The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said that he would praise himself if no one else did’.

Okonkwo is immediately faced with hardship; severe drought followed by torrential rains out of natural seasons place extra pressure on him. He is resolute that he will succeed and repay the faith Nwakibie has shown in him. It is this willpower that defines Okonkwo as a person. Okonkwo at this stage believes he has been given a positive ‘chi’. The Igbo believe that an individual’s fate and abilities for the coming life are assigned to the chi, their personal god, and each individual is given a chi by the creator, Chukwu.

Chapter 3 Quotes

She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. She then went down on one knee, drank a little and handed back the horn. She rose, called him by his name and went back to her hut. The other wives drank in the same way, in their proper order, and went away. (About Anasi) Chapter 3

Unoka was an ill-fated man. He had a bad chi or personal god, and evil fortune followed him to the grave, or rather to his death, for he had no grave. He died of the swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. Chapter 3

Chapter 4

During a meeting of the clan we see the first of several examples of Okonkwo’s pride and lack of sympathy surfacing. Okonkwo holds titles within his community and is speaking at a meeting when a man without a title contradicts him. Okonkwo rudely snaps that ‘this meeting is for men’ shaming the man in public. The elders ask the man to be quiet but later admit that it was very rude and proud of Okonkwo to say such a thing. In light of the language structures the reader has seen where parables and clichés soften conversation, such an outburst seems extra harsh.

Ikemefuna moves in to Okonkwo’s house and refuses to eat until he is taken home. Okonkwo unsympathetically stands over the boy with a threatening stick, forcing him to eat. Eventually the boy begins to settle in the village. To Okonkwo’s delight, Ikemefuna becomes like an older brother to Nwoye. Okonkwo himself likes Ikemefuna but refuses to show any affection because doing so would be a sign of weakness, which he refuses to tolerate in himself or others. Ikemefuna eventually starts to call Okonkwo ‘father’.

Ikemefuna came to Umuofia around the start of the Week of Peace, an interval between harvest and planting, when there are to be no harsh words or actions in the village. During this time, however, Okonkwo breaks the peace by beating his third wife Ojiugo when she fails to cook his meal on time. Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess, comes to punish him and beats Okonkwo for violating the rules of the sacred week and possibly making the earth goddess angry. Ezeani gives Okonkwo instructions for righting his wrong: he must bring a sacrifice to the shrine. Okonkwo does so but is unrepentant in nature revealing to members of the village that he is so proud that he is disrespectful to the gods.

After the Week of Peace ends, new crops are planted. Okonkwo starts the laborious process of planting yams with the help of Nwoye and Ikemefuna. He constantly criticizes the boys for not preparing them correctly and threatening them aggressively. Okonkwo knows that the boys are too young to really be able to perform the task as he would like but is so single-minded that no member of his household should be soft or lazy that he continues to treat the boys harshly.

Chapter 4 Quotes

‘Looking at a king’s mouth,’ said an old man, ‘one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast.’ He was talking about Okonkwo, who had risen so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan. Chapter 4

He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo’s household, especially with the children. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, who was two years younger, became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything. (About Ikemefuna) Chapter 4

Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else—with a heavy hand. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. Chapter 4

But it was really not true that Okonkwo’s palm-kernels had been cracked for him by a benevolent spirit. He had cracked them himself. Anyone who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Seasonally dictated events mark the year for the Igbo communities and the harvest season is celebrated with a feast. Okonkwo’s awareness that he would rather be working than celebrating gives insight into the restless nature of his temperament. As the festival approaches he brutally beats his wife for the seemingly unremarkable act of picking a few leaves from a tree. He chases her after a sarcastic comment and shoots at her, although he misses. Through this we see Igbo society as patriarchal but female characters such as Ekwefi are far from scared. After a beating, she still makes fun of her husband. The introduction of Okonkwo’s daughter Ezinma, and Okonkwo’s reasonable treatment of her because of her gender in contrast to his punitive treatment of Nwoye, shows the expectations on her are very different.

Despite Okonkwo’s outbursts the festival is celebrated with all of his household including Ekwefi, despite her beating and near shooting. Like many of the village, Ekwefi eagerly anticipates the spirited wrestling matches between men of the village and men of neighbouring villages. This contest is the same kind in which years earlier Okonkwo not only won the wrestling match but also Ekwefi’s heart.

The inclusion of a gun at this time foreshadows the arrival of western society. Through trade, certain instruments from the new world have already arrived and been accepted and appreciated by the Igbo ahead of the arrival of the men who will want to settle amongst them.

Chapter 5 Quotes

But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it. He would be very much happier working on his farm. (About Okonkwo) Chapter 5

And after a pause she said: ‘Can I bring your chair for you?’
‘No, that is a boy’s job.’ Okonkwo was specially fond of Ezinma. She looked very much like her mother, who was once the village beauty. But his fondness only showed on very rare occasions. Chapter 5

Chapter 6

In an orderly fashion the wrestling matches begin with teams facing off, youth first and then the main event. Obierika’s son Maduka wins his match and brings himself and his family some recognition. In the final bout, a pair that were evenly matched the previous year are only separated when one makes a rash decision to try and end the deadlock. The decision costs him the match; an image we will see repeated in Okonkwo’s final days, and a warning about rash decision making and the need for a win over a draw or compromise.

During the day Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves, speaks with her friend Ekwefi. Chielo calls Ezinma ‘my daughter’, perhaps a reference to the family nature of clanship or perhaps a reference to Ezinma’s status as an ogbanje, a reincarnated spirit of a dead child that Chielo may have believed was her own lost child. Chielo asks about the girl’s health and tells Ekwefi that she thinks Ezinma will stay this time. Chielo exemplifies a powerful woman among the Igbo whose position is considered higher than those of the council of men. In this we see gender disparity is about an established order not petty chauvinism.

Chapter 6 Quote

‘And how is my daughter, Ezinma?’
‘She has been very well for some time now. Perhaps she has come to stay.’ (Chielo and Ekwefi) Chapter 6