Things Fall Apart
Study Questions – World Lit
Chapters 1-3
What are your first impressions of the African society that is described in the novel?
 Village Life

Work

Entertainment
1. How did Okonkwo become famous even beyond the nine villages of Umuofia?
2. Why did Okoye come to see Unoka? Do you think Okoye was angry with Unoka?
3. How was Okonkwo able to become wealthy and famous when his father owed so much to
everyone?
4. Judging from the last few sentences of Chapter 1, how important do you think Ikemefuna
will be in this story?
What do the words “doomed” and “ill-fated” tell you?
5. What important news does Ogbuefi Ezeugo bring the 10,000 men in the marketplace –
and what action is taken?
6. What happened to the boy, Ikemefuna? How does he feel about his new home?
7. What is Okonkwo’s greatest fear?
8. How did Okonkwo find a positive side to the sad harvest?
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9. Prediction: Will Ikemefuna be treated as a son or as a slave by Okonkwo and his family?
Chapters 4-6
1. The oldest man at the kindred meeting thought that Okonkwo happened to have good luck
and success. Do you think Okonkwo was “just lucky?”
2. How did Okonkwo treat Ikemefuna?
3. How did Okonkwo get in trouble with Ezeani?
4. Why does Okonkwo threaten to break Nwoye’s jaw, strangle him, break his head?
5. Do you find any irony in Okonkwo’s prayers to his ancestors (pg 39) to “protect him, his
children, and their mothers”?
6. On pages 40-41, what evidence do you see that the Ibo peoples’ lives are controlled by
superstition?
7. How do you know Ezinma means everything to her mother?
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8. What were the most exciting moments in the wrestling matches?
9. Prediction: Why will the villagers of Umuofia be delighted with an invasion of locusts?
Chapters 7-9
1. Why did Okonkwo tell the boys stories of violence and bloodshed?
2. How do the Ibo people feel about the invasion of locusts? Would you try one?
3. What was your initial reaction to Ezeudu’s statement, “Umuofia has decided to kill him”
(pg. 57)?
4. Nwoye felt something inside him give way when he realized Ikemefuna had been killed.
What other time had he felt this way?
5. What seems to bother Okonkwo most about Ikemefuna’s death?
6. Why do you think Achebe included the story about Ndulue and Ozoemena?
7. From the description of Akueke on page 73 and the description of the haggling over the
bride-price, what can you conclude about the Ibo’s opinion of women?
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8. Why is Ezinma’s illness so upsetting to Ekwefi?
9. Prediction: What will happen to Ezinma next?
Chapters 10-13
1. What are egwugwu?
2. What is the purpose of the gathering at the ilo?
3. As Ekwefi waits outside the ring of hills for Chielo to bring Ezinma out, who suddenly
appears? Were you surprised?
4. To what might you compare the uri for Obierika’s daughter?
5. How does the ekwe serve as a sort of public-address system?
6. Explain the ironic connection between Ezeudu’s warning to Okonkwo and Okonkwo’s
crime.
7. How did Obierika justify destroying Okonkwo’s living quarters, animals, and barn?
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8. Prediction: How will Okonkwo and his family be treated in Mbanta?
Chapters 14-16
1. Uchendu and his sons are generous and helpful to Okonkwo. If he had committed an
intentional –“male”- crime, how might they have acted differently?
2. What are the “nuts of the water of heaven”?
3. Why is Okonkwo so depressed?
4. What do you think is the purpose of the family meeting called by Uchendu, pages 133135?
5. What frightening news about Abame does Obierika bring?
6. Is Obierika serious when he tells Okonkwo he could thank him by killing one of his sons—
or himself?
7. The white missionary spoke through an Ibo interpreter. What was funny about this?
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8. Why did Nwoye tell Obierika that Okonkwo is not his father?
9. Prediction: What effects do you think the arrival of the missionaries will have on the future
lives of Okonkwo, his wives, and his children?
Chapters 17-19
1. How did Uchendu’s plan to offer the missionaries land in the Evil Forest backfire?
2. Do you think Mr. Kiaga was within his rights to encourage Nwoye to forget about his
parents – or had Nwoye already decided for himself anyway?
3. At first, why didn’t the clan worry much about the new church?
4. How was Mr. Kiaga able to keep the church from floundering when it began admitting osu,
outcasts?
5. What would Okonkwo really enjoy doing regarding the church?
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6. Does Okonkwo’s reaction to the church seem typical of the way he reacts to most things?
7. Prediction: One of the tribal elders at the feast voices his fears about the future and the
effects he fears the “abominable religion” will have. What could this possibly foreshadow
about Okonkwo’s return to Umuofia?
Chapters 20-22
1. What does Achebe mean by “the tragedy of his [Okonkwo’s] first son”?
2. What plans does Okonkwo have for Ezinma and Obiageli?
3. What have the white men brought to Umuofia in addition to the church?
4. According to Obierika, how have the whites “put a knife on the things that held us
together”? (pg. 176)
5. Important political issues in the United States are education, jobs, and the economy.
What evidence is there that these are now becoming important issues in Umuofia?
6. What is at stake for Okonkwo – and why is it particular important to him to maintain his old
ways?
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7. How does Reverend Smith compare with Mr. Brown?
8. Explain the line on page 187, “It seemed as if the very soul of the tribe wept for a great evil
that was coming—its own death.”
9. Prediction: “…for the moment the spirit of the clan was pacified” (pg. 191): How long will
it be before there is more trouble?
Chapters 23-25
1. How did the District Commissioner trick the Ibo men?
2. How would the Ibo probably have been treated differently in prison if they were
Englishmen? Would they even be in prison?
3. In chapter 23, what evidence do you find of dishonesty, greed, inhumanity, and
corruption?
4. How did the arrest of the leaders of Umuofia put the other villagers at a disadvantage?
5. Why does Okonkwo think Egonwanne is a coward?
6. At what point does Okonkwo know that the people will not go to war?
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7. How do you think the District Commissioner would react if presented with the concept of
the Ibo as unique human beings, “different but equal”?
8. Could Okonkwo have made any choices other than these last two decisive ones—to take
the messenger’s life, than his own?
9. Would you consider Okonkwo’s final acts those of a fool or those of a brave hero fighting
to defend his people’s way of life?
10. How do you think Achebe intended for you to see Okonkwo?
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