Notes for Things Fall Apart: Chapters 1-9

These were my notes for a seminar on chapters 1-9 on Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. More specifically, we were to discuss the traditional African society met in Umuofia (beliefs, rituals, values, traditions), the proverbial Ibo/Igbo language and its function, and comment on the characters of Okonkwo, Unoka, Nwoye and Ikemefuna. The notes are quite unstructured, but I find that easier to work with (or I’m just lazy).

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• 3
  • “he had brought honor to his village by throwing [...]“ — Physical strength is important
  • “He was tall and huge”, “His wives and children could hear him breath”, “[...] he would use his fists” — Again, the physical prowess is very important among the Ibo.
• 4
  • “Unoka was [...] a debtor” — Unoka had failed in his life.
• 6
  • “sentences in proverbs”, “the art of conversation is regarded very highly” — Speech is an art
• 8
  • “warned not to whistle at night” — Religious or supersticious
  • “when the moon shines, the cripple becomes hungry for a walk” — Proverb
• 10
  • “Hiswives [...] lived in perpetual fear” — Okonkwo showed his manliness
• 11
  • “Okonkwo’s prosperity was visible in his household. He had a large compound enclosed by a thick wall of red earth.” — Red earth shows status.
• 13
  • “People came from far and near to consult [the Oracle Agbala]“ — Religious and believing
• 14
  • “[Unoka] said sadly, ‘before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani [...] I also kill a cock for the shrine of Ifejioku” — Unoka is weak and tries to taket shortcuts to prosperity
  • “He neither inherityed a barn, nor a title, nor even a young wife” — Women are objects, a kind of currency. They are inherited.
• 16
  • “an old woman is uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb” — A meta-proverb! The Ibo are hard-core proverb-users.
• 17
  • “Eneke the bird says that since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching.” — Another proverb. Everyone adapts.
• 18
  • “Yam [...] was a man’s crop” — Further downgrading of women.
• 19
  • “Since I survived that year [...] I shall survive anything.” — Okonkwo is positive, iron-willed and resilient.
  • “It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.” — Unoka told Okonkwo this semi-proberb. Did he refer to himself, failing alone?
• 21
  • “Ikemefuna should be in Okonkwo’s care for a while.”, “At first Ikemefuna was very afraid.” — About Ikemefuna’s arrival in Umuofia
  • “He came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him [...]“ — Okonkwo cold-heartedly teaches Ikemefuna manners, ignoring the fact that he is just a child.
• 23
  • “You have committed a great evil” — A friend, Okonkwo, is less worth than the accurate worshipping of the Ibo gods.
• 26
  • “Ikemefuna had begun to feel like a member of Okonkwo’s family.”, “He and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other” — Nwoye felt at homem which also helped Nwoye on an emotional stage.
  • “Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live alone” — About the song that tells about Nnadi, cooking and eating alone. Nwoye is naïve and innocent.
• 28
  • “Every man whose arm was strong” — If his arm is not strong, he is not worthy of participating
• 29
  • “He pressed the trigger” — Okonkwo’s personality with aggressive tendencies is shown. You can draw parallells to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men: In both, a main character’s aggressivity is gradually increased and foreshadowed. They also have similar endings, and both the books’ names are inspired by poems.
• 32
  • “Nwoye’s mother” — Nwoye’s mother’s name is never mentioned, which makes Nwoye the central person instead of his mother. A parallell is the non-naming of “Okonkwo’s wives”‘.
• 33
  • “Sit like a woman!”, “No, that’s a boy’s job” — Okonkwo keeps to principles and gender-discrimination. He forces Ezinma, his daughter, to behave like women should.
• 34
  • “The whole village turned out on the ido” — wrestling (physical prowess) is important
• 38
  • “For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo’s household” — Ikemefuna’s life
  • “He was an elder brother to Nwoye” — Ikemefuna was helpful and important for Okonkwo’s son
• 39
  • “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell” — Nwoye believes that his father is right and that he himself is weak. Therefore, he sacrifices himself for him.
• 41
  • “Umofia has decided to kil him” — The end of Ikemefune
  • “He calls you father” — Fathership is very important, since Okonkwo is encouraged to disobey the laws of the clan in order to honor it.
• 44
  • “Okonkwo [...] cut him down [...] afraid of being weak” — Pride and status is more important than the family, according to Okonkwo.

Maybe Related?

• Notes for Things Fall Apart: Chapters 10-13
• Haiku #33: Homework
• Things Fall Apart: Alternate Shooting Scene
• Courage in Pygmalion, Things Fall Apart and Educating Rita
• Things Fall Apart -- the Tragedy of an Individual or the Tragedy of a Society?