Things Fall Apart
Chapters 4-6
Chapter 4
• Okonkwo is respected for his rise from great
poverty. But he had little patience for dealing
with others who were not successful, or who do
not take a title.
• Ikemefuna misses his mother and little sister and
is afraid even though Nwoye’s mother treats him
as a son. Ikemefuna is well-liked by Okonkwo’s
children; even Okonkwo becomes very fond of
him, but true to his nature, he shows no emotion.
Chapter 4
• Thoughtlessly, during the Week of Peace,
Okonkwo’s youngest wife, Ojiubo, leaves her
hut without having cooked dinner. He beats
her, breaking the peace of the sacred week.
• The priest reprimands Okonkwo and demands
payment for his sins.
• After the Week of Peace every villager begins
to clear the brush from the land for the
planting of their farms.
Chapter 4
• Nwoye and Ikemefuna help; however
Okonkwo finds fault with their work. Okonkwo
wants his son to be a great man and a great
farmer, and hopes that criticism will drive his
son to be a great man.
• Ikemefuna begins to feel like a member of
Okonkwo’s family as he and Nwoye become
close.
Chapter 5
• The annual Feast of the New Yam, a festival
held to honor the earth goddess, Ani, is
approaching. Okonkwo does not like the feast
and prefers to work on the farm.
• Okonkwo invites each of his three wives’
relatives. The women clean and decorate their
huts; the children shave their hair in beautiful
patterns.
Chapter 5
• Okonkwo becomes enraged when he finds a
dead banana tree on his land. After she
admits to cutting a few leaves from it,
Okonkwo beats his second wife, Ekwefi, until
his anger is satisfied.
• Although a great man, Okonkwo is not a
hunter. After beating Ekwefi, he decides to go
hunting with the gun made for him by the
village blacksmith.
Chapter 5
• Okonkwo calls to Ikemefuna for his gun, and
Ekwefi, whom Okonkwo has just beaten,
murmurs an uncalled for remark about “guns that
have never been shot.” Enraged, Okonkwo,
shoots the gun at Ekwefi, but misses.
• The second day of the new year brings to
Okonkwo’s village the annual wrestling match
with the neighboring village.
• Ahhh! The fresh smell of testosterone in the
morning!
Chapter 5
• It is Okonkwo’s second wife Ekwefi’s favorite part
of the festival because many years ago Okonkwo
won her heart by throwing “the cat” in the
greatest contest in memory.
• In the distance drums can be heard announcing
the coming of the match while Okonkwo eats the
meals that his wives have prepared for him.
• Even though he is too old to wrestle any longer,
the beating of the drums fills Okonkwo with fire.
Chapter 6
• The entire village shows up on the village green
for the wrestling match. Seven drums sit arranged
according to their size. Three drummers work
back and forth from one drum to the next.
• The drums helped to excite the crowd, a bit like
the opening act at a concert.
• Finally, the two teams come into the circle,
exciting the crowd. The first two wrestlers are
young boys of fifteen or sixteen.
Chapter 6
• During the final match, one of the young
wrestlers performs a move few have ever seen.
Quickly, the other boy is flat on his back; the
winner was Maduka, son of Obierika.
• The village prepares for the real match. Five
matches end with the judges stopping them
because they are equally matched. It is the last
match between Ikezue and Okafo, the best of the
wrestlers, that is much anticipated.
• In the end Okafo is the victor and is swept off his
feet by his supporters.