Things Fall Apart
By: Chinua Achebe
1958
Mia King
Plot synopsis
“Things Fall Apart” is a story of a
very strong wrestler named Okonkwo
who was well known in all of the nine
villages of Nigeria. He was frightened
by the of Unoka, his father, who is a
coward and lazy. In settlement with
the neighboring tribe Umuofia, they
get to take a boy from their village.
In addition to that Ikemefuna comes
to live with Okonkwo for four years.
“But his whole life was dominated by
fear, the fear of failure and
weakness” (10). I was always afraid
of doing wrong and not coming up
with a good excuse to back it up. I
was also afraid of being taken over
by those who I love and cherish.
“Worshippers and those who came to seek
knowledge from the god crawled on their
belly through the hole and found
themselves in a dark endless space in the
presence of Agabala” (13). Since I am a
Christian, I see people striving to come to
church and seek God for his forgiveness
and righteousness in Him to become part
of the body of Christ. Some people have
to push themselves just to be in God’s
presence.
“The year that Okonkwo took eight
hundred seed-yams form Nwakibie
was the worst year in living memory.
Nothing happened at its proper time;
it was either too early or too late”
(19). During the summer in
Knoxville, it seems like a three
months of drought during that time
of seasons. It would either happen
early or late.
“Ezinma took the dish in one hand and the
empty water bowl in the other and went
back to her mother’s hut. ‘She should have
been a boy,’ Okonkwo said to himself again”
(56).
Every time I used to do something for my
dad that my brothers were suppose to do,
he would always tell me that I should have
been a strong built boy. That remark
surprised me because at first I thought he
was crazy, but he was trying to make a
point.
“He was talking about Okonkwo, who had
risen so suddenly from great poverty and
misfortune to be one of the lords of the
clan” (22).
All of the things that I have been through
can tie into this statement in many
reasons. I have not became one of the
lords of the clan, but I have became
someone better than what I used to be.
“Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy
hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in
perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his
little children. Perhaps down in his heart
Okonkwo was not a cruel man” (10).
My mom was the ruler of the house instead of my
dad. She always wanted stuff to be the way that
she wants. She used to frighten me because she
would always get angry when she didn’t have
things her way. I know that deep down in her
heart she was not a cruel person, but she was
strict and wants things her way.
Theme
The theme throughout “Things Fall
Apart” is: Wherever you come from,
you can be someone if you take the
time to do the hard work and have
determination.
If I wanted to be someone, then I
cannot give up, and keep going until
the job is done. Also, you have to do
the work in order to succeed in life.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart.
New York City, New York. Random
House, Inc.:1958