Things Fall Apart Chapter 24-25: The Death of Okonkwo

"Okonkwo's machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body. The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape...'It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. That is why we ask your people to bring him down, because you are strangers'" (Achebe 204-207). 

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on the people who lived through it?

In Chapter 24, the men of Umuofia are finally released from the imprisonment of the white men. After they are released, Okonkwo seeks vengeance as they are brutally beaten and tortured in the hands of the white men. The village of Umuofia calls a meeting and everyone attends, which excited Okonkwo. But Okonkwo is upset that the village will not go to war with the white men because they do not want to harm their brothers which have converted to Christianity. When a white messenger invades the meeting, Okonkwo pulls out his machete and kills the messenger. This creates a stir in the meeting and Okonkwo disappears. When the District Commissioner comes to seek out Okonkwo, his friend Obierika leads the way. Unfortunately for the District Commissioner, Okonkwo has already committed suicide and is left dangling from a tree. Obierika ironically asks the District Commissioner to untie Okonkwo because it is against their beliefs to touch a man who has committed an abomination (suicide). The District Commissioner agrees and has his men bring down Okonkwo. The District Commissioner later thinks about the book he is planning to write and how he will include the story of Okonkwo in his book. Through this summary we can see how imperialism led to tension, violence, and even death. As Okonkwo began to see the diminishing strength and courage in his village he began to give up on life and what he had worked so hard to build. He soon realized he was standing alone and in the end took his own life. Imperialism led to a divide within villages and clans, and led to great tension between people of different religions. 

Things Fall Apart Chapter 22-23: Umuofia Leaders Caged and Mistreated

"He told the court messengers, when he left the guardroom, to treat the men with respect because they were the leaders of Umuofia...As soon as the District Commissioner left, the head messenger, who was also the prisoners' barber, took down his razor and shaved off all the hair on the men's heads. They were still handcuffed, and they just sat and moped...The six men ate nothing throughout the day and the next. They were not even given any water to drink, and they could not go out to urinate or go into the bush when they were pressed. At night the messengers came in to taunt them and to knock their shaven heads together" (Achebe 194-195). 

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on the people who lived through it?

In Chapter 23 we get a sense of the violence that erupted between the clan and the white Christians. After receiving an invitation from the District Commissioner to discuss the fighting that had erupted, the men of high title within the clan decide to go and meet with the District Commissioner. When they arrive at the meeting they are seated. The District Commissioner then invited twelve of his men to the meeting as well for the purpose of "hearing the story." The men of high title are suddenly handcuffed and led into the guardroom. The District Commissioner tells his men to treat the men of Umuofia with respect because they were the leaders of Umuofia. Although the men agree they later begin to treat the men of Umuofia like animals. They shave their heads, do not allow them food or water, and let them urinate on themselves. The way the white men treat the prestigious leaders of Umuofia goes to show the lack of respect the white men  had for the men of other color. Imperialism caused people to be treated like less of human as new people invaded their territory and made it their own. 

Chapter 20 and 21- Things Fall Apart

"But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart" (Achebe 176)
"Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women" (Achebe 183).

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on the people who lived through it? 

In Chapter 20, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia after seven years of exile in his motherland of Mbanta. He returns with the mindset that he will be held with high esteem and gain the highest title in the land. But what Okonkwo doesn't realize is that Umuofia has changed a lot within the past seven years. The white missionaries have gained many followers and even gained some men with high title. This betrayal has created a stir in Okonkwo's plan because he believes that his high title would be meaningless now. Imperialism impacts the clan tremendously as the clan begins to fall apart as more and more people begin to join the white missionaries and convert to Christianity. Christianity has sparked an interest in the people of the clan, and therefore they leave behind their old faith for this new faith that welcomes anyone (even those considered outsiders or evil by the clan). Imperialism creates a divide among the people of Umuofia and creates tension between the people of the new religion and the people of the old religion.

Chapter 17/18/19- Things Fall Apart

"They offered them as much of the Evil Forest as they cared to take. And to their greatest amazement the missionaries thanked them and burst into song...At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. But they were still alive, building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher, Mr. Kiaga. That week they won a handful more converts" (Achebe 149-151).

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

In Chapter 17, we rehash on how Nwoye came to join the white men and follow their faith. The people of Mbanta decide to give the white missionaries a section of land after they ask for a place to build their church. They think they are being clever by giving them all of the Evil Forest because of their predisposed beliefs about the evils it entails. They believe that the white missionaries will be dead by a certain time but not one of them had died. The white missionaries in fact gain converts and even gain their first woman convert. Nwoye joins the white men after he was seen among the Christians by his father's cousin (Amikwu). Okonkwo becomes furious and beats his son. His uncle stops the beating and Nwoye escapes and is never heard from again. Okonkwo questions why he was given such a despicable son and even goes as far to question whether the child is even his. He later realizes it is because of his personal god or chi, which explains his great misfortune and his exile from Umofia. The white missionaries have a great impact on the village of Mbanta, as they gain more and more converts which creates a divide within families. Imperialism also makes people question their faith, for example, when the Evil Forest doesn't kill any of the missionaries the people begin to question if their faith and beliefs are realistic. 

Chapter 15 and 16- Things Fall Apart

"The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable stir in the village of Mbanta. There were six of them and one was a white man. Every man and woman came out to see the white man.... "We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die," he said". (Achebe 144-145). 

According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

In Chapter 16, we get a taste of how imperialism began in Things Fall Apart. As white people began to integrate themselves into the societies of the Ibo people, the Ibo people began to question their own beliefs. When the white missionary enters the village of Mbanta, Okonkwo and his people do not take him seriously. As the missionary talks to the people of Mbanta through his translator, the translations are rough and comical and their new ideas are unbelievable. The missionary attempts to encourage the people of Mbanta to forget their own Gods and their own beliefs, and instead believe in a new God. The people of Mbanta do not take him seriously, but Nwoye (Okonkwo's son) finds interest in the words of the missionary and joins them. This makes Okonkwo very unhappy and he does not like to speak of him anymore. But, in the beginning of Chapter 16, we hear from Obierika that the white missionaries have had a huge impact on Umuofia and have begun building a church and converting people after their visit to Mbanta.

Chapter 13 and 14- Things Fall Apart

"The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land. The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years" (Achebe 124). 

Customs and Rules 

In Umuofia, the people abide by certain rules and beliefs that their ancestors have set for them and which they have used for generations. After Okonkwo accidentally kills Ezedu's (the dead man for whom they are having a funeral) son, he is banished from the clan for seven years. This has a horrific toll on Okonkwo because he has to give up everything he has worked so hard for since his youth. His belongings were burned and he took nothing with him except his wives and children. His friend Obierika questions why Okonkwo would be banished for something he committed accidentally but never figures out a real answer to his question. Despite Obierika's close friendship with Okonkwo, he helps the large crowd of men set fire to Okonkwo's houses and demolish his walls, kill his animals, and destroy his barn which he had worked hard to maintain. This demolition is considered a cleansing process which needed to be done because Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. In conclusion, although Okonkwo accidentally killed Ezeudu's son, he was still banished for seven years on a "female" offense (considered a smaller offense than a male) because of the customs and rules set by the ancestors of the clan.

Chapter 11 and 12- Things Fall Apart

"On the following morning the entire neighborhood wore a festive air because Okonkwo's friend, Obierika, was celebrating his daughter's uri. It was the day on which her suitor (having already paid the greater part of her bride-price) would bring palm-wine not only to her parents and immediate relatives but to the wide and extensive group of kinsmen called umunna. Everybody had been invited-men, women and children. But it was really a woman's ceremony and the central figures were the bride and her more" (Achebe 110). 

Arranged Marriages 

In the novel, gender inequality is constantly exhibited. Women are considered the property of their husbands, and husbands have the ability to treat their wives however they wish; which is seen in Okonkwo's constant beating of his wives for minuscule wrongdoings. In Chapter 12, we get a taste of how men and women are brought together. Women are not given the opportunity to choose who they wish to marry based on personality, looks, etc., but rather choose a suitor who can "financially support" them based on their bride-price. This decision of a suitor is done in front of everyone and is in the public eye. Everyone helps out with the cooking of the food, and the preparation for the ceremony. Although this type of marriage proposal is done in almost every marriage in the village, it is interesting to notice that Okonkwo and Ekwefi did not take this traditional route. Okonkwo and Ekwefi fell in love but were not able to marry because of Okonkwo's financial instability at the time. Ekwefi in fact married someone wealthier, but later returned to Okonkwo when he was financially stable.

Chapter 9 and 10- Things Fall Apart

"The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. Then he took it away to bury in the Evil Forest, holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him. After such treatment it would think twice before coming again, unless it was one of the stubborn ones who returned, carrying the stamp of their mutilation- a missing finger or perhaps a dark line where the medicine man's razor had cut them" (Achebe 78-79).

The Importance of Stories and Myths in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 

In Things Fall Apart, story-telling and myths have great importance in the village where Okonkwo and his family live. After Okonkwo's wife, Ekwefi, had failed to keep a child long after birth, Okonkwo decided to seek help from a medicine man. A medicine man apparently being the one who has all the answers to situations similar to these. The medicine man believed that there was only one child, and this child was dying and coming back to life repeatedly. To fix this problem, the medicine man decided to mutilate the dead child to scare it off and teach it a lesson. After this, Ekwefi had Ezinma, who although ailing seemed determined to live, and so she did. The radical steps the medicine man took, and the trust Okonkwo had in him shows the importance of myths and stories in Okonkwo's tribe. Although Ezinma lived, it is quite possible that it was only a coincidence and not due to the medicine man's mutilation of the "rebirthing child."

Chapter 7 and 8- Things Fall Apart

"Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors. He wanted him to be a prosperous man, having enough in his barn to feed the ancestors with regular sacrifices. And so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (Achebe 52-53).

Gender Inequality 

In this quote we get a sense of the gender roles and gender inequality that took place during the time of the book "Things Fall Apart." Okonkwo, a prosperous man who desires strength and success believes that women are like property, and a man who knows how to control his women would be prosperous. Okonkwo desires his son to obtain these qualities and beliefs as well. Nwoye (Okonkwo's son) begins to spend a lot of time with Ikemefuna (the traded boy from another town) and begins to grasp some of his traits in the process. With the help of Ikemefuna, Nwoye begins to find annoyance towards women. This annoyance creates a desire within him to control the women around him. This annoyance makes Okonkwo happy because he realizes his son is becoming a true man, something he doubted earlier, before Ikemufuna entered their lives. Okonkwo now believes that his son will become prosperous like himself and feels comfortable knowing that his legacy will continue.