In exile, Okonkwo continues to work hard, as he has always done. He in all his fierceness served as a leader who kept Umuofia safe from the intruders. In the seven years that Okonkwo was exiled, things began falling apart in his village.
In only seven years, Okonkwo does not recognize his village. Okonkwo is frustrated by Nwoye because he reminds him so much of his own father, Unoka. Okonkwo views these as signs of femininity which he believes is one of the most disgraceful traits an Ibo man can display. When he starts to beat Nwoye with a heavy stick, his uncle Uchendu demands that Okonkwo leave his son alone. Nwoye leaves the hut and never returns. Okonkwo fears that, after his death, his younger sons will abandon the family ancestors because they have become attracted to the new religion.
Once a village beauty, she ran away from her home and husband to marry Okonkwo. She was smitten with Okonkwo when he beat the notorious Cat in a legendary wrestling match. Okonkwo shamefully beats his youngest wife for her negligence in not preparing dinner.
Achebe ends the chapter dramatically with the proverb, "If one finger brought oil, it soiled the others," suggesting that Okonkwo's crime may lead to the ultimate downfall of Umuofia itself.
Di-go-go-di-go the sound of drumbeats on the ekwe , or drums. Mbanta The name means small town and is where Okonkwo's mother comes from, his motherland, beyond the borders of Mbaino Ikemefuna's original home. Previous Chapter Next Chapter Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title.
Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List. Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe. Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter Adam Bede has been added to your Reading List! Because he was a warrior his funeral was very raucous, full of dancing and ceremonial gunfire. According to Ibo law, Okonkwo had to leave the clan for seven years, killing a clansmen even unintentionally was a crime against the earth goddess.
Okonkwo and his family were forced to flee to their motherland, and their remaining possessions were to be destroyed to purify the land Achebe, Okonkwo was taught the values and ways of the tribe which prepared him for failure in a more modern society.
The family structure that existed caused many struggles with his father and even his sons. Also, the Ibo tribe valued strength and status. Such ideals opened the door for conflict with the missionaries who are trying to enforce laws and civility. This message is very clear in Cry, the Beloved Country as it is in our society. People tend to ignore serious issues rather than confront and solve them.
Historical examples like the Holocaust greatly illustrate this point. Stephen Kumalo is complacent in his village of Ndotesheni and only realizes the extent of the destruction of the tribal structure after he returns from Johannesburg.
The brief life with Okonkwo and death of this innocent young man, and the life of Okonkwo himself, is a microcosm of life in Umuofia. Inconsistencies, brutalities, and conflict abound in even the highest of Umuofian life. And as Ikemefuna is led off to be murdered by the man he calls father, "the whole tribe and its values is being judged and found wanting" Carroll.
When Ikemefuna first arrives in Umuofia, he is housed with Okonkwo because Okonkwo is a great man in the village. He had reached his prime and was a man of wealth. It is decided by the town elders that the boy, Ikemefuna, should be killed in retribution of a woman murdered three years ago. He was afraid of being thought weak. The British came bearing Christianity, a completely new and different sort of religion.
Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart chronicles the life of an individual whose carefully constructed world crumbles as his culture is assimilated into a colonizing society.
This character, Okonkwo, is prestigious within his community, and in most respects views himself and is viewed by his neighbors as an honorable man. Yet for all his seeming honor, Okonwko self-destructs when his world begins to change.
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