The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe‚ is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story‚ we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion‚ politics‚ judiciary and entertainment. One of Achebe’s challenges was to illustrate the Ibo’s religious system. Even though the Ibo people had little contact with the outside world‚ they had developed their own beliefs and practices
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it could have been averted‚ the Europeans are the main reason for Okonkwo’s downfall. At first everything seemed to be fine. Umuofia had its own culture and its own beliefs. Okonkwo was the strongest man and the best wrestler in all of the lands. Okonkwo was masculine‚ industrious‚ respected‚ and wealthy. All of a sudden the white missionaries began to arrive in Umuofia and they started to change everything and tried to tell the natives that their ways of life were wrong and they needed to change
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the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. W. B. Yeats‚ "The Second Coming" Summary: Chapter One Among the Igbo . . . proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten. Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan‚ a lower Nigerian tribe that is part of a consortium of nine connected villages‚ including Okonkwo’s village‚ Iguedo. In his youth‚ he brought honor to his village by beating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Until his match with Okonkwo
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The missionaries had begun to settle and had taken over the weakest villages first until they reached Umuofia. Years later‚ while Okonkwo was still in exile‚ the missionaries had already settled and built their churches in Umuofia and even converted some villagers to Christianity. Nwoye‚ Okonkwo’s son‚ becomes intrigued with the new religion and eventually converts to Christianity too‚ leaving behind his Igbo traditions
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the people of his village? 2. Page #______ What is the “normal course of action” when a member of a neighboring clan murders one of the Ibo? 3. Page #______ How does the oracle of the hills and the cave prevent the powerful Umuofia from going to war with their neighbors? 4. Page #______ Why does Okonkwo behave as a cruel man when‚ “perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo is not a cruel man” (13)? 5. Page #______ Briefly describe the physical layout of Okonkwo’s
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gather them together to fight back against the colonists‚ he failed and let his anger get the best of him. All he did was intensify the fight by killing the messenger‚ and killing himself when the white men demanded to see him. Before returning to Umuofia‚ Okonkwo also did not pay any respects to his people. He tried to keep his friends close but completely disregarded his family in light of his malevolence. Eventually‚ he killed his own “son” and his own clansman. Did he save anyone in the process
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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is an interesting novel about the uprising of a man in the Igbo clan of Umuofia called Okonkwo. Throughout the novel you come to understand that Okonkwo lived his life with the fear of becoming like his father Unoka‚ therefore he strove to become one of the elite men in his clan. Unoka was viewed as a failure because he was a terrible farmer who was lazy‚ couldn’t provide for his wives and children‚ and was heavily in debt. The fear drove Okonkwo to become the
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greatness who met a disastrous end. Okonkwo started with barley anything. And from that nothing he built a well working farm in which he supported his nicely sized family‚ three wives and many children. He was able to obtain one of the highest titles in Umuofia becoming one of the egwugwu. Even with all this fame and glory Okonkwo started to fall off “his rocker”. His village was beginning to be colonized by the British. Okonkwo‚ being the tempered and stubborn person he is‚ he could no longer handle his
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a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw (“hamartia”) and experiences a dramatic reversal (“peripeteia”)‚ as well as an intense moment of recognition (“anagnorisis”). Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide‚ makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition. Okonkwo is “a man of action‚ a man of war” (7) and a member
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stop suffering. Uchendu states Okonkwo’s duties to him‚ threatens that Okonkwo may displease the dead‚ challenges him‚ and forces him to appreciate his current situation‚ and realize that it is not as bad as it seems. Okonkwo has been banished from Umuofia and has come to his motherland Mbanta to seek refuge for 7 years. He is kindly accepted by his mother’s kinsmen‚ and Okonkwo’s uncle and leader of the tribe‚ Uchendu‚ sees clearly that Okonkwo had yielded to despair. At the Isa Ifi ceremony‚ Uchendu
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