Things Fall Apart Chapter 1-5 Analysis

Leslie Crampton

CH 202

Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart Chapters 1-6

The book focuses on Okonkwo and Unoka, his father who dies ten years ago in deep debt. Okonkwo is a respected warrior as he was able to defeat Amalinze the Cat when he was younger. Okonkwo tries to be everything but his father. He fears weakness and associates it with his father. Okonkwo has a barn full of yams though at times he encounters terrible growing seasons. In chapter five, the village is preparing for the New Yam feast, taking place before the harvest. To prepare for the feats, all yams that were left over from the previous year must be thrown away and everything that was used to prepare, cook and dish up yams must be washed thoroughly before they are used for the new crop. Okonkwo think that the feast is a waste of time and would instead prefer to be tending to his crops. Okonkwo beats one of his wives. The second day of the festival,

wrestling matches are held between men of the village and neighboring villages. It is the same kind of match that Okonkwo won when he was young.
Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart Chapters 7-12
A very exciting event took place in Umuofia, locusts have shown up. This thrills villagers as they usually come once a generation, returning each year for the next seven years until they disappear again for another generation. Villagers go out and collect them to eat. Ezeudu goes to visit Okonkwo and tells him that Oracle commanded Ikemefuna be killed as revenge for the woman killed in Mbaino three years earlier. Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he is going back home to Mbaino but he does not believe Okonkwo. During the walk back home, Ikemefuna is attacked by a man with a machete. He cries for help to Okonkwo, but afraid to appear weak, he kills the boy with the machete. After this incident, Okonkwo has trouble sleeping and eating. He finally gets so rest after Ikefuna’s death but is woken up by one of his wife banging at the door to tell him that his daughter is dying.
Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart Chapters 20-21
Okonkwo had begun planning to make his compound bigger by building two new huts for his two new wives since his first year in exile.

However, the village has changed after seven years of being gone. The church converted many, white men established a government and a prison was built in order to punish those who broke the white men’s law. Okonkwo does not understand why and how people of his village have not yet driven the white men and their religion out of Umuofia. He discovers that there are quite a lot of people who like the changes in the village as palm oil and palm nut kernels are being exported, white men are bringing wealth to the village. Mr. Brown, a white missionary meets often with one of the elders to discuss their views on religion. He also built a hospital and school and tries to get parents to send their children to the school. Soon enough, village people begin to send their children off to school. Okonkwo does not like the changes that occurred during his leave and is disappointed that not many took notice of his return to

Umuofia.