Things Fall Apart Notes
Ch. 17 - 25
READING REVIEW
CH 17
Missionaries come to Mbanta and request land to build a
church. Nwoye leaves home and goes to the Missionaries.
He plans to come back and convert his mom and siblings.
Ch. 18
Missionaries rescue twins and accept the Osu, or
Outcasts. Mr. Kiaga’s strong and firm beliefs converts
many Igbo. One of the converts boasted about killing the
sacred python. The elders warn the angered Igbo to not
do anything and to let the gods speak for themselves.
They soon learn that the man who boasted of killing the
snake has died of an illness. The Igbo have some
confirmation about trust in their gods.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device an author
uses to give a hint of what is to come in the
story.
Read the two passages from chapter 7 and 15.
What do the locusts foreshadow?
Foreshadowing
1.
How do the locusts descend into the
village?
2. How is the arrival of the locusts
both a positive and negative thing?
3. What do the locusts foreshadow?
4. What is significant about the man
that visited the village?
5. How are these two passages relate?
What inferences can you make
about the story?
Underline a quote from the text for each
question and answer the question in
your own words.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
They first come in a small swarm
then as a large slowly-moving mass.
They are a good thing to eat, but
it’s negative because the locusts eat
all the greenery and leave the earth
brown.
They could foreshadow starvation,
the white man and the missionaries
arrival, death, sickness from eating
the locusts.
The white man was the first person,
the harbinger, to see the land.
The way they descend are similar,
small and then large groups, and
they both caused destruction. The
white men are going to descend to
Umuofia next.
Ch. 17 Themes
The struggle between change and tradition .
A church was built in the Evil Forest (p. 149) and
they didn’t die. This shocked some people and
convinced them to convert. The Igbo faced losing
clan members to the Christian missionaries.
What defines masculinity?
Okonkwo feels cursed to have an effeminate
(woman like) son. “Why, should he…of all people,
be cursed with such a son?” (p. 152)
Ch. 17 Conflicts
Character vs. Society
Mr. Kiaga converts the Igbo to Christianity. For
example, Nneka (p. 151) who always had twins, and
Nwoye.
Character vs. Character
Okonkwo beats his son for being with the missionaries
and Nwoye leaves his family.
READING REVIEW
Ch. 19:
Okonkwo’s 7 year exile is almost done. Okonkwo has a
feast for his mother’s family and friends in Mbanta to
thank them before he leaves. He is grateful to them
but secretly regrets the missed opportunity to have
further increased his status and influence among his
own clan. He also regrets having spent time with such
un-masculine people.
Read and circle words related to Igbo values.
Underline conflicts. Ch. 19
“We come together because it is good for
kinsmen to do so…I fear for the younger
generation…because you do not understand
how strong is the bond of kinship. You do not
know what it is to speak with one voice. And
what is the result? An abominable religion has
settled among you. A man can now leave his
father and his brothers. He can curse the gods of
his fathers and ancestors…I fear for you; I fear
for the clan.” (p. 167)
Ch. 19 Statement
What concern does the speaker have?
He has concern for the future of the village. The
younger generations will lose their values.
What does this foreshadow?
This foreshadows events that will affect other
tribes.
Igbo Vocabulary
Ch. 18
Osu- outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the
osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix wit the
freeborn in any way.
Ch. 19
Ummuna- a wide group of kinsmen
Ch. 20
Ozo- name of one of the titles or ranks
Kotma- court messenger
Part Three CH 20-25
• The old ways of Umuofia are dissolving.
The Europeans have brought several new
cultural traditions, a new religion, a
government, and have introduced trade
with the outside world.
READING REVIEW
Ch. 20:
Okonkwo has been planning since he got exiled how
to make a comeback. He wants to make a bigger
compound, marry 2 more wives, and get titles for his
sons. He asks his favorite daughter, Ezinma, to wait
until they get back to marry. Ezinma asks Obiageli to
wait too. Okonkwo hopes to attract attention with 2
beautiful, marriageable daughters.
Umuofia has changed a lot in 7 years. The white
men’s church and judicial system have become strong
and has weakened the ties of kinship in the clan.
Underline Points of misunderstanding.
Ch. 20
Does the white man understand our customs about land?
How can he when he does not even speak our tongue?
But he says that our customs are bad; and our own
brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our
customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our
own brothers have turned against us? The white man is
very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his
religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed
him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan
can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the
things that held us together and we have fallen apart.
• (p. 176)
Excerpt Ch. 20
1. What actions by the missionaries and the
speaker’s kinsmen prompt his statements?
They turned their own brothers against them. The
kinsmen or brothers abandoned their gods.
2. What misunderstandings are there between the
Igbo and the missionaries, and what is the overall
message of the statement?
There was misunderstandings about gods, about
language, and tradition. The overall message, things
start to fall apart. Division in the tribe weakened
them.
Ch. 21
Characters
Mr. Brown- A missionary; “he trod softly on its faith” (p.
178)
Theme- The struggle between change and tradition.
“the clan had undergone such profound change…the new
religion and government and the trading stores….(182)
What defines masculinity?
Being accepting shows you are soft like a woman (183)
Ch. 21 -22
Good Thinking Questions:
Why was Okonkwo’s return not as memorable as he
wished?
Why was Okonkwo deeply grieved?
What did Enoch do to an egwugwu? What does this
scene foreshadow?
Ch. 22 Summary
Reverend James Smith, a strict and intolerant man, replaces Mr.
Brown. Instead of being understanding and trying to learn about the
culture, he condemns them. One convert, Enoch, unmasked an
egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor the earth deity, an act
equivalent to killing an ancestral spirit. The next day, the egwugwu
burn Enoch’s compound to the ground. They then gather in front of
the church to confront Reverend Smith and his fellow Christians. They
tell the Christians that they only wish to destroy the church in order to
cleanse their village of Enoch’s horrible sin. Smith replies that he will
stand his ground. He forbids them to touch the church, but his
interpreter alters Smith’s statement for fear that the unvarnished truth
will be too harsh and that he will suffer as the messenger of bad news.
He tells the egwugwu that Smith demands that they leave the matter
in his hands. They ignore Smith’s orders and burn the church.
Ch. 23 Summary
The church burning pleased Okonkwo, but now the men need to be on
guard. The District Commissioner requests to meet with the elders
after he returned from his tour. The elders come with machetes, but
the commissioner says they should discuss the church’s burning “as
friends.” When they put their machetes on the floor, a group of
soldiers surprises them. They are handcuffed and thrown in jail for
several days, where they suffer insults and physical abuse. A bail is set
at two hundred bags of cowries. The kotma, or court messengers, tell
the people of Umuofia that they must pay a fine of two hundred and
fifty bags of cowries or their leaders will be hanged—by upping the
price these messengers will make a profit. The town crier announces
an emergency village meeting. Even Ezinma returns home from her
twenty-eight-day visit to her future in-laws. The next morning they
decide to collect the cowries necessary to pay the fine.
Missionaries
Mr. Brown:
• Kind
“he trod softly on their faith.” (p.
178)
• Respected
“He came to be respected, even
by the clan.” (p. 178)
• Understanding
“In this way Mr. Brown learned a
good deal about the clan” (181)
• Successful
“In the end, Mr. Brown’s
arguments began to have an
effect (181)
Mr. Smith:
• Racist
“He saw things black and white,
and black was evil…” (184)
• Mean
“Mr. Smith danced a furious step,
and so the drums were mad”
(185)
• Closed Minded
“He saw things black and white,
and black was evil…” (184)
Ch. 24 P. 198
1. Why are the women and children afraid to
greet the prisoners upon their arrival home?
2. What mood was the village in?
3. Why do the men have a meeting?
4. What course of action does Okonkwo want
the men to take?
5. Who interrupts the meeting? What happens?
CH. 24 Proverbs
“Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad
daylight, then know that something is after its
life.” (203)
Ch. 24 Themes
• The struggle between change and tradition.
Okonkwo could not stand to see his village become weak.
He was angered they didn’t want to take action. “Worthy
men are no more…those were days when men were
men” (200).
• What defines masculinity?
Okonkwo’s “manly” anger caused him to do something
careless. He killed the messenger.
“In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete…He knew Umuofia
would not go to war….” (205).
Ch. 25
1. What is Okonkwo’s tragic end? Why do you
think he did that?
2. How is Okonkwo’s death similar to his
father’s?
Ch. 25 Rituals and Traditions
Suicide is an abomination against the Earth. The
clan can’t touch the body of a person who commits
suicide and have to call an outsider to take the
body.
“It is an abomination for a man to take his own life.
It is an offense against the Earth ,and a man who
commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His
body is evil, and only strangers may touch it.” (p.
207)