Summary Of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Within the novel “Things Fall Apart,” the author, Chinua Achebe, explained how a warrior named Okonkwo was a victim of himself. Okonkwo was a victim of tragic events that surrounded his life. These events eventually lead him to his fate. Okonkwo had a father who was weak, and he was a failure in the eyes of the men of the village, Umuofia. Okonkwo’s worst fear was to be the kind of man his father was, so he tried his best not to let his fear become a reality.

Okonkwo strives to be everything but his father. This is clear from the very beginning when it says, “He had no

Hewes “would receive an inheritance three times in his life, each one a reminder of the importance or potential importance of relatives” (Young 17). Although Hewes thought his start in life was disadvantageous, it was nowhere near as bad as Douglass’s start in life. No matter the severity in poor conditions, however, it is undeniable that both men experienced a less than

This springs a collision between Okonkwo and Nwoye. Nwoye wants to become Christian and Okonkwo does not approve of what the white men introduced to the Ibo culture. There were other people in the clan like Okonkwo that went against their faith and claimed that everything the Christians believe in was false. Nwoye knows his father has a bad temper and so when Okonkwo found out that he wanted to convert, Nwoye knew that it would cause conflict, and Okonkwo would want to kill him. " Answer me," roared Okonkwo, "before I kill you!"

This could be in relation to building a house for their family to live in, having access to a home-like environment or being able to connect with right people to create a home. Garnet experiences all three of these. At a young age, he isn’t provided with a home-like environment but instead is shuffled around foster homes like a playing card. As he grows up, he doesn’t have the means of purchasing or building a home, or even the desire to settle down to start one. Again as he ages, he lacks the capabilities of connecting with the right people to create a family or home.

As seen in Okonkwo’s participation in Ikemefuna’s death, we see a demonstration of his rash thinking. Okonkwo’s irrational decision - making, as well as his fear of being perceived as weak like his father drove him to kill Ikemefuna. If Ikemefuna has not been killed, then this would have prevented Nwoye from converting to Christianity. As seen “after the missionaries finished singing, Nwoye pondered about what he just heard, the hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul the question of Ikemefuna who died” (Achebe 128). Okonkwo’s participation in Ikemefuna’s murder ultimately pushed Nwoye to Christianity and this caused Okonkwo to lose respect in himself for not raising a better son.

This, in turn, caused Troy 's mother to abandon him, leaving him without love from a parent or anyone to show him the correct way to treat females, a sin that affects his relationship with Rose as an adult. His father 's treatment of Troy made Troy believe there was more to his suffering than what was humanly possible "The gal jumped and run off...and when my daddy turned to face me, I could see why the devil had never come to get him...cause he was the devil himself"(Wilson 52).This metaphor used by Troy, adds a certain weight to the gravity of his situation as a teen. His father wasn 't just cruel but was the devil, a symbol of pure hate and all evil.

Which his father funeral was also his nineteenth birthday. Baldwin also reveals that he was extremely scared of his dad. He and siblings thought of him as a bitter individual. Baldwin’s dad was extremely pleased about being black. He didn't have any white companions, and did not want his children to become friends with whites either.

Never could he truly fit in with them because of his background and this causes the oppression to rise in him. If it hadn’t been for the war, he wouldn't have to have been trying to get these boy to like him. He lost everything in the war and then it motivates him to try to get used to his new environment. One day he talks to the kids who are assembled together in the gang and say ""It's a beautiful house," and still watching the ground, meeting no one's eyes" (pg. 3).

Although Okonkwo thought his son had changed into a young man after Ike’s death he returned back to his old habbits of being lazy and not caring about fufilling the family traditions. This was nearing the end of Nwoye’s time in his family before soon joining the missionaries and their family for

Another turning point in which McCandless lost trust in his father occurs during the revealing of his father’s secret, second family after questioning a number of old family friends. This pushes McCandless past his limit, and results into him rejecting his

Shin was trying hard to be a nice person, but he cannot deal with the guilt of knowing that he did some horrible things back at Camp 14. “He told Kyung that he ‘disgusts’ himself, that he cannot escape dreams of his mother’s death, that he cannot forgive himself for leaving his father behind in the camp, and that he hates himself for crawling over Park’s body.” (page 182) He finds it impossible to let go of what he did in the past. Sometimes, he even feels like he is still in the camp.

The theme manliness was developed through Okonkwo’s actions. For example, in the book, the narrator said, “...Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought of weak”(61). This action that the narrator reveals to us, shows us that Okonkwo feels that he needs to kill Ikemefuna to prove his manliness. This is one example of a bad decision/action Okonkwo made because he was afraid of being thought of as weak.