BY ORITONDA NEMALALE PLEASE GET SEATED AND SETTLE DOWN THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER SUMMARY • The changes brought by the white man are appreciated by many people in the village.They mostly appreciate the Trading Store which has made Palm-Oil and Kernel things of great value, bringing money into Umofia . • People are beginning to accept the white men's religion. Mr. brown is a man who treads softly on his faith, so he gained respected and made friends with some of the great man in the clan. • Mr. Brown learns that one way to get people to like his religion is not to attack them but to help them, He builds a school and hospital in Umofia. • Okonkwo’s return goes unnoticed, and he blames it on the changes brought by the white man which have emasculated the clan to become soft like women. THEMES BETRAYAL RELIGION : : MASCULINITY : CHANGE IN TRADITION : In Okonkwo’s eyes, he saw the clan’s acceptance of the white men and their religion as betrayal to the clan’s tradition. When Mr. Brown came to tell him about how well his son Nwoye is doing. Okonkwo sent him away showing us that he also saw his abundance of the clan as betrayal. The white men have convinced a large number of people to do things the way of the white men do it following the religion of Christianity. When Okonkwo came back to the village , he was deeply grieved when he saw how the warlike men of Umuofia had been civilized and soft towards the white men like women . Akunna and Mr. Brown have a long conversation which talk about how different their religions are .The two religions are very similar and they just have different names for things … Mr. brown’s mission to make Umuofia believe everything and call it the way the whites do , was succeeding. AUTHOR’S INTENTION • The authors purpose for this chapter is very clear.The white foreigners have brought a new religion which comes with a new way of doing things. At first people are sceptic about these men but they learn a way to influence them into being okay with them. • They have obviously brought in many things into Umuofia such as The trading store, school, hospital and judicial system and rules of government. • Mr. Brown’s idea of helping the village by building a school, trading store and many more things was just a way to manipulate the village to believe into his religion and accept the religion and its way of doing things. • Are they better off with or without these additions to their lives • The Igbo have lost their Independence SETTING • Most of the chapter, the action is the dialogue between Mr. Brown and Akunna.They spend long hours talking in Akunna’s obi about religion. As they talk, they refer to certain objects to back up their statements. Like when Mr. brown pointed at piece of wood which is called Ikenga which the Igbo worship and call god.To Mr. brown it was justt a piece of carved wood. • The setting is also in the village itself because Mr. Brown has built a hospital and school which many are making using of after he begged them to bring their kids his school. NEW VOCABULARY 1. Kernels - the inner, softer part of a nut, fruit 2. singlets - men's undershirts 3. Excess - an amount of something that is more than necessary. 4. Zeal - an excess amount of energy or enthusiasm. NEW VOCABULARY 6. Supreme - the greatest or highest in rank 7. Expedient – something that is appropriate , even if it isn't the best option. ( say you forgot to do your homework … a expedient solution to that would be copying someone’s else work) 8. Tread - defined as to step on, over or to float on water. 9. Prestige - high status or widespread respect achieved through success or influence 10.Rite – a religious ceremony or act . IGBO VOCABULARY 1. Chukwu – the supreme being of Igbo spirituality. 2. Ikenga – a carved wood figure which represents a god. 3. Kotma - court messenger ( an African person who was hired by the white to carry out their work ) 4. Ozo society – a ceremony whereby a title is granted to someone . CHARACTER PROFILES • MR BROWN • AKUNNA • 1st White Men In Umofia • Mr. Brown Succeeded In Winning Over A Large Number Of People Because He Listens To The Villagers’ Stories, Beliefs, And Opinions. • His Civil Conversations With Akunna Show That He Has The Ability To Listen And Does Not Only Want To Be Heard . • He Is Very Manipulative And Uses His Words And Gifts To Do So . • He Encouraged Children To Come To His School By Telling Them Other People Will Come To Rule Over Them If They Don’t • He Gifted People With Singlets And Towels To Encourage Them To Come Learn In His School • well-respected leader of the Umuofia people. • He saw good and trusted Mr Brown’s mission of education before most people. • He was well-liked and it’s easy to see why because just like Mr Brown … he was a very good listener. • Mr. Brown took an interpreter to speak to Akunna. Both men seem to realize from the start of their conversations that neither will convert to the other's religion, so the purpose of their talks is simply to gain knowledge about each other's beliefs. Mr brown learns about most of the Igbo culture through his conversations with Akunna CHARACTER PROFILES • NWOYE • Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son who Okonkwo considers weak , very much like his father Unoka . Okonkwo isn’t impressed and aggressively tries to keep his son from acting like “a woman. Nwoye resembles his grandfather Unoka, he's drawn to gentleness and music, even though he recognizes that his father disapproves. • This tension between Okonkwo and Nwoye leads to an eventual split when Nwoye becomes one of the clan members who leave the clan to join the Christians. • Nwoye’s betrayal of his father by converting to Christianity can be read as an attempt to get back at his father for his crime. LANGUAGE • IRONY : Mr. Brown tells the people that if they don’t send their children to his school , other people will come and rule over them . He has already clearly started ruling over them , so what he says is ironic and hypocritical . CULTURE • IN THIS CHAPTER WE ARE INTRODUCED TO MANY UMOFIAN CULTURALAL THINGS . • THE VILLAGE GIFTED MR BROWN WITH AN ELEPHANT TASK TO SHOW THEIR RESPECT TO HIM BECAUSE IN THE IGBO CULTURE , A CARVED ELEPHANT TASK REPRESENTS HIGH RANK AND DIGNITY. • HOWEVER SOME PEOPLE STILL DID NOT APPROVE MR BROWN AND REFER TO HIM AS EVIL SPIRITS . TRADITION • WE FIND FIND THAT THE PEOPLE CAN CARVE A GOD INTO A PIECE OF WOOD … THEY CARVE A PIECE OF WOOD AND CALL THAT PIECE OF WOOD THEIR GOD / CHUKWU . IN SOME CASES THE PEOPLE HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONAL CHUKWU IN WHICH STAYS WITH THEM IN THEIR OBI . AN EXAMPLE OF ONE PERSON LIKE THAT IS MR BROWN . • AT SOME POINT IN THE CHAPTER WE GET TO HEAR ABOUT THE OZO SOCIETY … AND INITIATION RITE WHICH WAS PERFOMED ONCE IN 3 YEARS IN UMOFIA. • THIS WAS A INITIATION RITUAL WHERE OKONKWO WANTED TO INITIATE HIS SONS INTO . • FOR ONE TO BE IN THE OZO … IT MEANS THEY ARE PART OF A CLASS OF MAN HOLDING AN OZO TITLE . THIS TITLES WERE GRANTED TO THEM DURING THEIR INITIATION RITES. CLASS • In this chapter, when Mr. brown’s school is up and running. He goes family to family begging parents to send their children to his school. At first, they only sent their slaves or their lazy children because they were not really sure of what was behind this act.This falls under class because it shows how the families knew or thought that maybe it was not safe to send their children to the school …and so they sent those kids who they would not really mind losing. BLOOD CHILDREN LAZY CHILDREN SLAVES RACE • The white foreigners have made friendships with some of the great men of the clan • An example of that is Mr., Brown’s relationship with Akunna. • Mr. Brown gained respect regardless of his race and on one of his frequent visits to a village, he was presented with a carved elephant tusk, which symbolizes a sign of dignity and high rank. • Race did not really play a part because the people respected him for his passion and faith. GENDER Among the Igbo people, man rule ultimately. The more masculine one is, the higher they are respected among the community. Women were to obey to men and when they did not obey …well things got ugly. Through colonization, Igbo woman gained more freedom through the new religion being brought into the village (CHRISTIANITY). So by this chapter …the white men had brought in many new things in Umuofia . One being that they brought a judicial system which came with rules of government. Through this addition of rules and laws the women had started to gain more freedom and were starting to be seen equally as the men . BELIEFS • The Igbo People believe in many gods . They believe that a person can have their own personal god in their obi.The god can be a carved piece of wood which can be called a Ikenga or Chukwu . • They also believe that someone can be a god and that a god should be feared • They have a belief that objects represent high status … when they gave Mr Brown an elephant task they did it to show their respect because an elephant task represents high rank. • The white men believe that the are no other gods and that the is only one supreme god .They do not believe that a piece of wood or a person could be called god .They did not think of him as person. • In their religion God is a loving father and need not be feared by those who do his will. REFERENCES https://youtu.be/vpt2sik5R1M https://youtu.be/SV9GjndQzHM THIS NOTES ARE TO BE USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPORSES ONLY . THE END
