Things Fall Apart

About the Book

Things Fall Apart is about a man from Nigeria living in the village of Umofia named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a self-made farmer and a very talented wrestler. However, he is aggressive towards his wives and son Nwoye; he beats them and even almost kills one of his wives. Okonkwo resents his late father because he was not a successful farmer, forcing his family to starve. Furthermore, his father was very interested in poetry and music, characteristics which Okonkwo deems feminine. He resents his son Nwoye because Nwoye is also interested in poetry and music. However, his daughter Ezinma is masculine in spirit and Okonkwo remarks several times that he wishes she were a boy. He also adopts a son named Ikemefuna, who influences Nwoye to be more masculine like his father pleases. However, he kills Ikemefuna when the Oracle, or goddess, declares that Ikemefuna must be killed because he is afraid of appearing to be less masculine. Okonkwo has a very good friend, Obierika who tells him that he would not have killed his son if it was him in his shoes. This is the first instance in which Okonkwo seals his fate with his over-obsession of masculinity. The second instant that causes Okonkwo’s downfall is not due to his obsession with masculine appearance, but rather his aggression, a “masculine” characteristic. At a funeral, he kills the son of the deceased by shooting a gun too early, causing him to be exiled from Umofia for seven years.

When he gets back, he notices that the village has been conquered by the Europeans, and they have adopted Christianity. They tried to ostracize them at first, but then some of them embraced the European culture and Christianity. Okonkwo criticizes the villagers for not fighting back and calls his tribe “womanish”. At first, the missionaries’ leader is a man named Mr. Brown, who dismisses the religious beliefs of the clansmen, but he does not allow the clansmen to be harmed by the Europeans. Mr. Brown then gets sick and replaced with Mr. Smith, who is much stricter and intolerant. One of the clansmen then plots to burn the church to the ground, resulting in the clan leaders being thrown in jail. Once they are released, they hold a meeting which they discuss the state of Umofia under the White man’s rule. The meeting is interrupted by five messengers from the court, whose leader is killed by Okonkwo. Okonkwo then realizes that his tribe did not want to go to war. At the end, Okonkwo hangs himself; when the commissioner and Oberika discover his body, Oberika yells at the commissioner telling him the circumstances of Okonkwo’s death are his fault. The commissioner decides that the circumstances around Okonkwo’s death would make a good book.

Impact

The first time I read this book was in my Readings in Non-Western Literature class that I took at Rowan University. At the beginning of the book, I was rather irritated with this book because I hated Okonkwo because he was so abusive. I also did not understand why yams kept getting mentioned repeatedly. Then, I learned that those were the most important crops in Nigeria, so I had a better understanding. As I continued with the book, I really liked the book. I know it is really sad to say, but I like tragedies because they really show how certain characteristics can lead to one’s downfall. I often do not think of tragedies as being realistic because if we died because of our flaws, the whole world would be dead; however, they say a lot about human nature and how certain flaws can get us into trouble. I also liked how the story showed how Okonkwo’s aggression is good and bad. I feel like with a lot of Shakespearean tragedies, they analyze only how a tragic flaw is a bad thing. However, when Okonkwo notices how his fellow clansmen did not fight the Europeans, it shows the reader how we need figures like Okonkwo who are willing to fight for a valuable cause, like their culture. When I found out we might be reading it again for my senior seminar, I was pretty excited.

Values

Like King Lear, Things Fall Apart shows a man who is seems to value appearances. However, where Lear values what is being shown to him rather than what is actually true, Okonkwo is obsessed with his own appearance; he obsesses about how he will look less masculine to others. When he kills Ikemefuna, he does it because he is afraid that others will say that he is not masculine; thus, he loses his son of whom he is fond. Because of his excessive concern with masculinity, he develops the characteristic of aggression, a characteristic that is deemed to be masculine. This aggression and obsession with masculinity is Okonkwo’s tragic flaw. This aggression causes him to act before thinking, which is what happens he shoots the son of the deceased at the funeral, which causes him to get exiled. This aggression is also portrayed when he kills the messenger when his clan did not want to go to war. This is what causes him to kill himself, an ironically feminine death because he cannot face life.

The value Things Fall Apart teaches is that one should be oneself and not be so concerned with appearance and make decisions that one thinks is best. The masculine and feminine debate is irrelevant because one should not base his or her personality based on two simple ideas. One should develop his or her identity based on what really characterizes oneself. Maybe Okonkwo is aggressive by nature or he wants to be aggressive because of his obsession with masculinity. This is all unclear to the reader, but another value Things Fall Apart teaches is to think before one acts out on aggression. As I said before, Okonkwo gets into a lot of trouble because he lets out aggression that is not always necessary. He kills a messenger even though his tribe does not want to go to war. Although Okonkwo should fight for his culture, he should agree upon this with his clansmen, making sure this is what they want to do. Instead, he assumes that they want to go to war and kills the man. Therefore, Things Fall Apart teaches people an excessive concern with masculinity and aggression can get one into trouble.

Significance to My Students

Things Fall Apart is so significant to my students because it teaches them not to pick on their peers because they are “less masculine” or “less feminine” than what is expected. Masculine and feminine are just two ideas on which one should not form their entire identity. In other words, they should accept their peers based on their own individual identity other than two principles. Likewise, students should not be too concerned about how they appear to others like Okonkwo, but they should be themselves and not worry about appearances. Our appearances should reflect who we really are and not what people think we should be.

Another reason Things Fall Apart is significant to my students is that it teaches students to control their tempers and think before the unleash that temper. If students are aggressive, their peers will not feel safe in their learning environment. Okonkwo proved that he is dangerous repeatedly in the story when he beat his wife and killed his adopted son. In fact, Okonkwo’s aggression causes him most of his own trouble in the story. Thus, if students are a danger to others, they are most likely a danger to themselves as well. Furthermore, aggression often leads to undesirable consequences. If students are overly-aggressive, they are punished for it by having to sit out of recess. Aggressive behavior never leads to a desirable consequence and students should be aware of that.