Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
Notes for All Things Fall Apart
Chapter 1 – p. 2
Chapter 2 – p. 2
Chapter 3 – p. 3
Chapter 4 – p. 4
Chapter 5 – p. 5
Chapter 6 – p. 6
Chapter 7 – p. 7
Chapter 8 – p. 7
Chapter 9 – p. 8
Chapter 10 – p. 8
Chapter 11 – p. 8
Chapter 12 – p. 9
Chapter 13 – p. 10
Chapter 14 – p. 10
Chapter 15 – p. 11
Chapter 16 –p . 11
Chapter 17 – p. 11
Chapter 18 – p. 11
Chapter 19 – p. 12
Chapter 20 – p. 12
Chapter 21 – p. 12
Chapter 22 – p. 13
Chapter 23 – p. 13
Chapter 24 – p. 14
Chapter 25 – p. 14
Ibo words and Phrases – p. 15
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
chapters 1-5 Assigned January 3













Okonkwo threw the cat, Amalzine (unbeaten for 7 years) – called cat because we never touch
the earth
Use of metaphoric language (paragraph 2)
Motif
Drums = power, announcement, excitement
….you become that of what you focus on…
Okonkwo –
o Huge
o Tall
o bushy eyebrows
o wide nose ( making him look sever)
o Wealthy farmer
o 2 barns full of yams
o 3 wives
o 8 children
Okonkwo had no patience for unsuccessful men; his father
Unoka o father,
o died 10 years ago
o lazy borrowed money
o care free
o Tall
o thin
Unoka played the flute with other musicians
People laughed at him, loafer, wife and children barley had anything to eat
The people swore not to lend anymore but he somehow always got more from them
Okoyeo Neighbor
o Plays ogene
o Not a failure, 3 wives and a barn full of yams
o Going to take idemili title, the ceremonies expenxive
Okoye asked for the 200 cowries Unoka borrowed 2 years ago
Okoye says he will pay him but not today
Chapter 2


Ikemefunao Sacrificed to Umuofia Village to avoid war and blood shed
Town messenger announced at night that all men from Umuofia needs to gather at the market
place in the morning
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Darkness held vague terror, children were told not to whistle during the night because of the
evil spirits
 Animals were more sinister
 On moonlit nights everyone would go out, “when the moon is shining the cripple becomes
hungry for a walk
 Ogbuefi Ezeugo –
o Powerful orator, chosen to speak on occasions
 Wild animals killed a daughter of Umuofia, the wife of Ogbuefi Udo
 Umuofia –
o Feared by others
o Powerful in war and magic
o Preists and medicine were feared by all of the surrounding country
 Either Mbaino picks war, or an offering of a male and a virgin
 They only went to war when the oracle accepted
 When Umuofia and Okonkwo went to Mbaino they were respected and honored, they received
a boy of 15 (Ikemefuna), and a young virgin
 The virgin went to live with Ogbuefi Udo to replace his wife, and the boy lived with okonkwo for
3 years
 Okonkwo ruled with house with his hand, so his wives and children were scared of him
 His life was dominated by fear, he was ruled by the passion to hate everything Unoka (his father)
loved
 Nwoye –
o Firist son of Okonkwo
o 12 years old
 Okonkwo constantly beated Nwoye because he was lazy, making Nwoye develop a sad faced
youth
 AGBALA – another name for a women or a man who didn’t have a title
 OBI – hut
 Okonkwo worshiped his God and ancestoral spirit with sacrifices for his family
Chapter 3





Oracle was named Agbala
Story in Umuofia says that Okonkwo’s father would go up to the oracle to ask why he always
had a miserable harvest
The preistes is the only one who ever beheld the Agbala
Chika – a women preist
o Full of power from her God
o Greatly feared
Unoka told the preistes his problem, and she screemed at him in the middle of it….she told him
he needs work like a man like the others, other than sacrifice
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Unoka died from swelling, which was an abomination to the earth goddess, so he was carried to
the evil forest to be left to die
 Took his flute with him when he was brought to the evil forest
 Nwakibie –
o Man who had the highest title in the clan
o Wealthy
o 3 big barns of yams
o 9 wives
o 30 children
 Okonkwo worked for him, and he received his first yam seeds from him
 Okonkwo ate kola nut and drank wine with Nwakibie, 2 sons (Igwelo/Idigo), 2 elderly
neighbors ….and at the end all of Nawakibie’s wives
 Idigo gave Igwelo the dregs of the palm wine
 Okonkwo, in the end, asks for yams
 Nwakibie says he stingy with his yams and usually says no, but he gives Okonkwo twice 400 yam
seeds
 Okonkwo had to take care of his sisters and mother; however, they did farm women crops
 At first there was a drought so when okonkwo planted his yams they all died, but he still had the
800 from Nwakibie and the 400 from his fathers friend
 That year, it poured down rain for days, it uprooted trees and the sun didn’t come out making
the yams not grow
 It was a funeral for farmer, and since Okonkwo survived it better than others….”since I survived
that year, I shall survive anything”
Chapter 4







Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit, (a man with no title contradicted what Okonkwo said
and without looking at him he said that “this meeting is for men”)
Okonkwo was a work of his hands, which is why Umuofia made him go carry a message of war
to Mbaino, who were in fear of him….treated him like a king and gave him a virgin and 15 year
old boy
When the elders decided for Okonkwo to watch Ikemefuna they didn’t expect him to stay for 3
years, Ikemefuna was very afraid (tried to run away a few times) but was treated well from the
mother of Nwoye…
Okonkwo heard he wasn’t eating and he stood infront of Ikemefuna with a huge stick in his
hands, making him eat yams…after Ikemefuna went behind the house and vomited (sick for 3
market weeks)
After he vomited he overcame his sadness and fear
Ikemefuna was naturally a lively boy so he became popular at the house especially with Nwoye
(2 years younger) because Ikemefuna seemed to know everything
Okonkwo even grew to like him without showing it because that would be considered a
weakness…he was very stoic with the exception of anger
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Okonkwo broke the week of peace when he beat his youngest wife because she was late for
feeding him an afternoon meal
 Ezeani came to his house and scolded him of how he could ruin the whole clan because he
insulted the earth goddess
 Ezeani told okonkwo to bring a hen, length of cloth, a she goat and 100 cowries to the shrine of
Ani
 Okonkwo did what he was told and he even brought some palm wine
 Now one worked during the week of peace, they all talked about what okonkwo did
 Ogbuefi Ezeudu –
o Oldest man in the village
o Could only remember 1 or 2 people who broke the peace during the week of peace
 After the week went by all men and their family started to make a new farm
 Nwoye and Ikemefuna helped Okonkwo with the fetching and counting yams
 Ikemefuna started to feel like he was really part of Okonkwo’s family, although he still though
about his mother and 3 year old sister, is it not come across his mind as much because he was so
attached to Nwoye
 Nwayieke –
o An old women with only 3 teeth
o Lives near an udala tree
Chapter 5











Feast of the New Yam was every year before the harvest began, honoring ancestral spirits and
the earth goddess
Vegtable soup and yam foo foo was the main dishes of the festival, there was so much that
there was always plenty left over, even if neighboring villages came
“a man whose arm is strong is expected to bring a lot of guests”
Okonkwo was never enthusiastic about feats, he would of rather worked on his farm
3 days away from the festival the wives were painting the walls and decorating themselves and
the children with paint and shaving their hair into patterns
Okonkwo beat one of his wives because she used some leaves from the banana tree to wrap
food
Okonkwo told Ikemefuna to get his gun, so he could go hunting, and the wife who was just
beaten murmured something about a gun that never shot….he heard her and aimed it at her
and shot, it did not hit her, she was unhurt but very frightened
Ekwefi –
o Second wife
o Loves wrestling
Ezinma –
o Only daughter of Ekwefi
First day of the festival, everyone drank and ate
Second day there was wrestling between Okonkwo’s village and neighboring villages
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Ezinma asks Ekwefi if it was true that when someone becomes grown up they do not get burned
by fire, Ekwefi agreed to it
 When someone is calling someone else from outside, that person would answer “is that me?”
just in case it was an evil spirit
 Ezigbo – “the good one” was Ezinma’s nickname from Nwoye’s mother
 Ilo - village playground, a place where ceremonies and dances took place
 Obiageli – Nwoye’s sister
 Ezinma and Ekwefi finish up the yams when they hear weeping outside, which sounds like
Obiageli
 Nkechi – third wife’s daughter
 All the children brought the food to Okonkwo to eat
 On the ways to the house, a Obiageli broke her pot…she balanced it on her head, crossed her
arms, and swayed her hips like an adult women would and it fell, shee laughed when that
happened…but when she got near the house she started to cry about it so she wouldn’t get in
trouble
 The mother believed her and said that she would get her a new pot…the brothers were about to
tell the mother the truth but Ikemefuna looked at them with a glance telling them not to…so
that there could still be peace
Chapter 6










Drummers were in the circle waiting for the wrestlers to get there, they played their drums
facing everyone
There were young men who kept order, beating the ground of the legs of people who wouldn’t
back down, keeping order
Boy groups of 15 or 16 years olds fought first
The 3rd boy finish the match so quick, Maduka
Maduka –
o Big sensation
o Won his match of wrestling almost immediately
After, the drummers rested before the real matches would begin
Ekwefi talks to Chielo
Chielo –
o Women
o Priestess of Agbala ( oracle of hills and caves)
o In normal life she had 2 children and was friendly towards Ekwefi and loved her
daughter, Enzinma
12 men on each side of the circle, one would go into the circle and pick someone from the
opposite team to fight
Okafo and Ikezue were the team leaders and fought against each other
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Palm fronds were helpless during their fight
 Okafo and Ikezue were fighting and they were evenly matched so the judges started to go
towards them to break them apart so Ikezue tried to get Okafo to fall at the last minute but
Okafo dodged and countered Ikezue, making Okafo the winner
Chapter 7













Nwoye grew up and enjoyed doing difficult and masculine tasks, Okonkwo was pleased with his
sons development ( because of Ikemefuna)
Nwoye preferred the women stories, but listened to his father’s bloody stories and so his father
stopped beating him
Joy broke out because the “locusts are descending” and everyone left their play and work to
watch
Everyone prayed and hoped that the locust would camp out a Umuofia (instincts told them that
they were good to eat, even though they haven’t been to Umuofia for years
At night all the people went out to catch the locusts ( grasshoppers)/ and they dried them to
eat them
Ogbuefi Ezeudu –
o Oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia
Obuefi told Okonkwo that Umuofia decided to kill him, and he doesn’t want Okonkwo to be
involved since he calls him father
Group of elders came back the next day and requested Ikemefuna, and Okonkwo told
Ikemefuna that he was going to be brought home
Ikemefuna did miss his mother and sister but he somehow knew that he wasn’t going home
Ikemefuna is at first nervous but is calm because of Okonkwo, he thought about his little sister
and mother
He sang a song in his head from when he was little which was used when he faced matters like
his thought of his mothers dealth, ( song ends of right foot = alive, song ends of left foot = ill)
There was a different man behind Ikemefuna because when he heard a cough he turned around
and it was not Okonkwo
The man hit Ikemefuna with his machete, and he cried for his father saying the man killed him,
and Okonkwo was dazed with fear that he drew out his machete and cut him down, he was
afraid of looking weak
Chapter 8





For 2 days Okonkwo did not eat, he only drank palm wine…he called Nwoye to his obi but he
was scared of him so was soon as Okonkwo fell asleep Nwoye left the obi
3rd day he requested food, and was brought fish and roasted plantain
Keeps telling himself that Enzinma should have been a boy
Okonkwo scolds himself telling himself he has become a women because he is sad about
Ikemefuna’s death
Obierika –
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
o A friend of Okonkwo
 Ogbuefi Ndulue –
o Ire village
o Died in the morning
 Ozoemena –
o Oldest wife of Ogbuefi
 Chanted his name 3 times and left, later found dead on a mat
 Akueke –
o Step sister of Maduka
 They decided Akeuke’s bride price at 20 cowries
 Amadi –
o Everyone who knows him laughs
o Leper
o Leprosy “ the white skin”
Chapter 9










He was able to sleep
He woke up when Ekwefi banged on his door, Enzinma was dying she told him
Okonkwo went to go and get plants for iba medicine
Ekwefi gave birth to 10 chilrdren but only Enzinma survived
By the time Enzinma was born Ekwefi only accepted her as the other people did, but after the 4
5 and 6 years of living she started to love Enzinma and take care of her
Everyone follows Enzinma to find out where she dug he iyi – uwa
She said it was near the orange tree, and they started digging for it
Okonkwo was digging and found it after making a huge hole
Happened a year ago (the last 3 )
Okonkwo finished the medicine and gave it to Enzinma
Chapter 10








No women ever asked about the secret and most powerful cult in the clan
Evil Forest was the leader of the nine egwugwu
Evil Forest represented the village Umueru ( children of Eru ) eldest of nine sons
Spirits addressed humans as bodies
Uzowulu presents his case of how he doesn’t owe his in laws anything
Odukwe says that it is true that they took his wife and children away but that is because the 9
years they have been together he always have beaten her
Evil Forest told Uzowulu to go to his wife with wine and beg her to come back to her
Evil Forest told Odukwe if Uzowulu comes with wine to accept him and let his sister ( Uzowulu’s
wife go with him)
Chapter 11
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Night is so dark there has to be pal oil lamps in all 4 corners of obi to see where things are
 Nwayieke –
o Lived 4 compounds away
o Known for late night cooking
 Only sound heard in the night was bugs and Nwayieke ‘s mortar and pestle
 Idigo –
o Grinds good snuff
o Fallen ill
 Folk stories told by women and children
 Chielo started to prophesying to Okonkwo so all the women and children listened
 They heard Ezinma’s name
 Agbala says she wanted to meet Ezinma but Okonkwo pleaded to come back later since she
would be asleep, but she Agabala wouldn’t listen
 Agbala told Ezinma to climb on her back so she wouldn’t notice how long their trip was going to
be
 Ekwefi chased after Agbala in the dark
 Ekwefi could hear intervals of both of their voices
 Agbala was going to the farthest village (Umuachi) instead of the cave
 They reached Umuachi and Agbala turned around and started back where she came from
 The moon came up and Ekwefi could see them clearly, they went into a cave…..if Ekwefi hears
Ezinma cry she would rush into the cave to protect her and die with her
 Ekwefi heard a noise behind her and turned around only to see a man who had a machete in his
hand ( okonkwo )…..he though she was going to go into the shrine with Chielo, he told her she
could go home and he would stay and wait…..she said she was going to wait also, then she
started to remember when they were young
Chapter 12








Ummuna – wide and extensive group of kinsmen
Obierika o Friend of okonkwo
Celebrating Obierika’s daughters uri
Everyone was invited and they ate breakfast fast so that they could help Obierika cook food for
the whole village
The night before Agbala left the cave with Ezinma still on her back without looking for showing
any shock of seeing Okonkwo and Ekwefi there
Agbala went back to Okonkwo’s house and put Ezinma back into her bed and left without saying
a word
A cry in the distance made all the women leave their cooking, Chielo stated that if all of them
leave while cooking ti would catch on fire so they allowed 5 women to stay back
After they delt with the problem they went around looking to see who didn’t come out when
the cry occurred.
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Maduka –
o Son of Obierka
 Wifes family brought 50 pots of palm wine
Chapter 13









Ezeudu died and okonkwo remembered the last time he came to visit him and shivered when he
thought of Ikemefuna
Drums of death, guns and cannon fire
All of the clan was at his funeral because he was a great man, warriors visited in their age groups
Ancesterol spirit or egwugwu would sometimes appear from the underworld
“As the evening drew near, the shouting and the firing of guns, the beating of drums and the
brandishing and clanging of machetes increased.”
“The drums and the dancing began again and reached fever-heat.”
Okonkwo commited a female crime (shot the boy who was dancing with his gun) because it was
inadvertent, leaves for 7 years
Went with his family to his homeland, Mbanta, a little beyond boarders of Mbiano
Men in garbs of war went to Okonkwo’s home in the morning and set everything on fire and
killed all his animals, they had nothing against him, they were just the messengers of the earth
goddess ( they were cleansing the land which Okonkwo polluted )
Chapter 14













Mother young brother receives him
Uchendu
o Eldest surviving member in the family
Accepted them without question because he could guess what had happened
Okonkwo was given land ( built obi + 3 huts for wives) and received 300 yam seeds from each of
Uchendu’s sons
The nuts of the water of heaven – solid drops of frozen water
Work no longer gave okonkwo pleasure
Achieved everything but lord of the clan
“a man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi”
Amiku o Youngest son of Uchendu
o Marrying new wife
22 people came to the ceremony of confession
Njide
o Eldest daughter of Uchendu
Nnneka – “ mother is supreme”
Akueni –
o Daughter of Uchendu
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
Chapter 15







Obierika visited with 2 bags of cowries after two years
Iwke –
o Obierika’s father
o Great man
“Abome is no more”
Whiteman appeared and oracle said he would break the clan apart destruction, other white
men coming
3 whitemen went into market and killed everyone except the old and sick he didn’t leave heir
house along with some women and men who brought their chii and faught back
Nothing to fear from someone who shouts
Obierika says to thank him for the money Okonkwo should kill one of his sons for himself
Chapter 16




2 years after the visit from Obierika, Obierika meets Nwoye
Whiteman says he is their brother, son of God ( same color + language )
Says there is only 1 true God
Okonkwo was convinced that the whiteman was mad
Chapter 17







Uchendu offerd some of the Evil Forest to the missionaries
Mr Kiaga
o Interpreter
Okonkwo got Nwoye by the neck and hit him with a stick for being late
If all Okonkwo’s sons abandoned their ancestors he would rather have killed them
Nwoye secretly is attrackted to the faith
Noeka –
o Wife of Amadi
Okonkwo was called “ The Roaring Fire”
Chapter 18





Stories of the whitemen who brought religion and government; if more troublesome they would
just be driven out of the clan
Osu – outcasts
Mr. Kaiga says that he the outcasts don’t shave their hair, he won’t let them into the church
Mr. Kaiga says the heavens speak only falsehood, word of God is true
Royal python (our father) – revered animal in clan; allowed to go anywhere
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Counsel said it is not their custom for fighting the Gods; let the Gods deal with the killer of
python
 Okonkwo and the council decided to ostracize the Christians
 Mr. Brown
o White missionary
 Mr. Kaiga tells women to get items to clean the Church for Holy Week, but they come back
saying men had chased them away with whips
 Okoli was said to have killed the pthon, he died that same day…..after that clan thought that the
Gods could fight their own battles because of the death so they decided not to molest them
anymore.
Chapter 19








After Okonkwo’s 7 years in Mbanta he sent money to Obieika to build him huts for his family for
their return
Rainbow – python in the sky
Obiageli called Enzinma salt because she did not like water
Okonkwo said he wanted a feast for his mothers kinsman who took care of them
When kola nut was broken, Uchendu prayed for health and children(no wealth) because if one
has children and health have wealth
Children and wives brought out palm wine
Next they brought out yams because it is lighter than foo foo, also yams have always gone first
One of oldest members stands up and talks about how he worries for the younger people
because they do not understand how strong the bond of kinship is
Chapter 20







A clan is “like a lizard, if it lost its tail it would soon grow another”
Okonkwo already had a plan for his return, build two more huts for 2 new wives….build bigger
barn….initiate sons to ozo society
Okonkwo told his sons that if they wanted to be a woman to go follow Nwoye because he would
only have a son who is a man
Enzinma created a bond between Okonkwo because she had sympathy and she understood his
every mood.
Enzinma became one of the most beautiful girls, people called her Crystal of Beauty just like her
mother in her youth
Okonkwo told Ezinma that he would be happy if should got married in Umuofia and she
agreed….she and her step sister, Obiageli, declined every proposal from every man
Own men and sons joined the strangers (whitemen)
Chapter 21

Enoch –
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
o The son of the snake cult priest
 Story says that Enoch ate the sacred python and the father cursed him
 Mr. Brown was respected by everyone
 Akkuna –
o Great man in village
 Akkuna had one of his sons go to Mr. Brown’s school to learn the whitemans knowledge
 Another name for God…..Chukwu
 Akkuna and Mr. Brown talk about the Gods
 The Gods are Chukwu’s messengers/ servants
 Mr. Brown begged for families to send their children to his school
 At first they only sent slaves or lazy children but then he influenced them to go because he said
that soon men and women would come to Umuofia and take over
 Nwoye ( okonkwo’s son) got a new name and was called Isaac
 In Okonkwo’s eye the clan became soft women and started to fall apart
Chapter 22











James Smith –
o Successor of Mr. Brown
o Believed in slaying the prophets of Baal
Mr. Smith said that anyone who believes in the stories from the devil are unworthy of the Lord’s
table
“There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him. Mr.
Smith danced a furious step and so the drums went mad.”
Enoch was called the outsider who wept louder than the bereaved because his devotion to the
new faith seemed far greater than Mr. Brown
A greatest crime someone could do it unmask a egwugwu or reducing immortal prestige in front
of uninitiated
Enoch unmasked an egwugwu and killed a ancestral spirit
All masked egwugwu came and went to Enoch’s compound the next day, furious
Mr. Smith said that they couldn’t do anything physically to them so they prayed to the Lord and
decided to hide Enoch
Ajofia –
o Leading egwugwu in Umuofia
Ajofia told both Mr. Smith and Okeke (interpreter ) that they will not harm the whiteman
because of his brother but said that they have to burn his shrine and that the two of them
should leave so that they will not get hurt when they burn it down
Mr. Smith could not save the church and the church Mr. Brown had built was in ashes
Chapter 23

Okonkwo was almost happy because the clansman finally agreed to do something substantial
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Okonkwo was one of the 6 leaders who were invited to the headquarters and he told the rest
of them they should be fully armed because the times have changed
 When the 6 men met with the District Commissioner they were handcuffed and promised
not to be harmed if they cooperate
 The Commissioner said that they will have to pay 200 cowries in order to be released
because they were part of molesting others
 When the Commissioner left, he told the guards to treat them with respect because they are
leaders of Umuofia
 Head messenger ( prisons barber )shaved all their head while they were still handcuffed
 3 days past and the court messenger went to Umuofia and told everyone that their leaders
had to pay 250 cowries each immediately or they would be hanged in Umuru
 during the night everyone was silent, it “was like a startled animal with eras erect, sniffing
the silent, ominous air and not knowing which way to run”
 all the men in Umuofia were called to the marketplace in the morning, and they decided to
collect the 250 cowries for the whiteman. (they had not known that 50 cowries were going to
the court messengers, who increased the fine for their own good)
Chapter 24










nno - welcome
when the fine was paid, the 6 men were released after a talk with the Commissioner about
the queen
male friends and relation met Okonkwo in his obi, Ezinma made him food and he ate it
without an appetite just to please her
Okonkwo had stripes on his back from where a whip had hit his flesh
“Worthy men are no more” – Okonkwo
Egonwanne was Okonkwo’s obstacle because he is a coward and he might convince Umuofia
not to go to war
Okika –
o One of the 6 men who was held captive
Okika had a speech and said that they need to do what their fathers would have done if a
Whitman came to them, root out evil even if their brothers are part of it
5 court messenger approached the meeting and was ordered to stop the meeting
Okonkwo got his machete and cut the first messengers head clean off
Chapter 25





District Commissioner arrived at Okonkwo’s house, a small group of men were in his obi
Obierika said that Okonkwo wasn’t there when they asked
Obierika says that they can take them where he is and asks for their mens help
They accepted, and Obierika brought them to where Okonkwo was
Okonkwo was hanging from a tree, he took his life
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 It’s an abomination to take his own life, offense against Earth, body is evil, only strangers can
touch the body
 The District Commissioner ordered the body to be cut down along and brought to court along
with everyone else there
Ibo words and Phrases
-agadi-nwayi: old woman.
-Agbala: woman; also used of a man who has taken no title.
-Chi: personal god.
-efukfu: worthless man.
-egwugwu: a masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village.
-ekwe: a musical instrument; a type of drum made from wood.
-eneke-nti-oba: a kind of bird.
-eze-agadi-nwayi: the teeth of an old woman.
-iba: fever.
-ilo: the village green, where assemblies for sports, discussions, etc., take place.
-inyanga: showing off, bragging.
-isa-ifi: a ceremony. If a wife had been separated from her husband for some time and were then
to be re-united with him, this ceremony would be held to ascertain that she had not been
unfaithful to him during the time of their separation.
-iyi-uwa: a special kind of stone which forms the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world. Only if
the iyi-uwa were discovered and destroyed would the child not die.
- jigida: a string of waist beads.
- kotma: court messenger. The word is not of Ibo origin but is a corruption of "court messenger."
- kwenu: a shout of approval and greeting.
- ndichie: elders.
- nna ayi: our father.
- nno: welcome.
- nso-ani: a religious offence of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally earth's taboo.
- nza: a very small bird.
- obi: the large living quarters of the head of the family.
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
- obodo dike: the land of the brave.
- ochu: murder or manslaughter.
- ogbanje: a changeling,- a child who repeatedly dies and returns to its mother to be reborn. It is
- almost impossible to bring up an ogbanje child without it dying, unless its iyi-uwa is first found
and destroyed.
- ogene: a musical instrument; a kind of gong.
- oji odu achu-ijiji-o: (cow i. e., the one that uses its tail to drive flies away).
- osu: outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix
with
the freeborn in any way.
- Oye: the name of one of the four market days.
- ozo: the name of one of the titles or ranks.
- tufia: a curse or oath.
- udu: a musical instrument; a type of drum made from pottery.
- uli: a dye used by women for drawing patterns on the skin.
- umuada: a family gathering of daughters, for which the female kinsfolk return to their village of
origin.
- umunna-: a wide group of kinsmen (the masculine form of the word umuada).
- Uri: part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid.
Notes From Class

Okonkwo was banned from Unuofia because he was not following culture (he is a bad
example of life in Umuofia)
Part 1




Death of different means
Imprint of significance of a death ( ex. Ant vs human)
Ezinma
o Supposed to be a male
o Only surviving child
o A symbol ( hope/ survival ) she was the only child who survived
o She symbolizes the traditional culture
Body is apart from spirit
Part 2





During clash of culture, once on belief is proven wrong then they accept the other
Changing cultured ( throwing baby out with the bath water )
Missionaries converts 1 person who concerts the other/ not converting the whole
village
Repeated words, Whitman/ albino
Compassion
Xiashan Hughes
World Literature A2
January 4, 2014
 Revolves around Jesus
Part 3


Anit Climatical Moment
Okonkwo’s the only one left protecting culture, hangs himself on a tree