Plot Summary Of Okonkwo's Things Fall Apart

Plot Summary of the Novel

Things fall apart focuses on the lifetime of the protagonist of the novel, Okonkwo. As the novel develops Okonkwo accidentally kills a person and he and his family are exiled from Umuofia. At the time of his exile white missionaries arrive in Umuofia and try to change the village. When Okonkwo returns to his village he sees various transformations that Umuofia has undergone at the time of his exile. Unhappy with the amendment, Okonkwo and other villagers come together to drive the white missionaries out of their land. Their efforts go in vain because the missionaries send their messengers to abort the meeting.

For example, the cramp of eye- lid was thought to be a nasty omen. Once Okonkwo’s daughter Ezinma said that her eye- lid was twitching, her mother Ekwefi replied, “it means that you're going to cry” (TFA 40). Likewise, people were frightened of answering back once they were called by their names. Once Nwoye’s mother addressed Ekwefi by her name, she replied, “Is that me?” (TFA 41) the idea within the omens and ill-omens was so deep rooted within the psyche of the igbo individuals, that it had become instrumental in shaping their behavior and conduct: “That was the method individuals answered calls from outside. They never answered affirmative for concern it would be an spirit calling” (TFA 41). Big and ancient silk cotton trees were thought-about sacred and it had been believed that the spirits of excellent children lived in these trees, waiting to be born. Similarly, the birth of twins was thought-about a bad omen and that they were place in earthenware pots and were thrown away within the forests. This fact highlights the blind irrational beliefs of the individuals, that made them so cruel, that they hardly felt any sorrow or regret in throwing away their newly born within the

You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog” . Thus the White was unsuccessful in crushing the native African religious beliefs of the African society. The natives refused to just accept the white man’s authority as far as decision making was concerned. Before the arrival of the colonial powers, they lived in an exceedingly patriarchal- collective political system. Decisions were made by the elder males within the village and by the husband in the