![]() ![]() Next Section Character List Previous Section About Things Fall Apart Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Borey, Eddie. Embittered and grieving for the destruction of his people's independence, and fearing the humiliation of dying under white law, Okonkwo returns home and hangs himself. His act of resistance will not be followed by others. The other court messengers escape, and because the other people of his clan did not seize them, Okonkwo knows that his people will not choose war. Enraged, Okonkwo kills the court messenger. The clan meetings are the heart of Umuofia's government all decisions are reached democratically, and an interference with this institution means the end of the last vestiges of Umuofia's independence. During the meeting, court messengers come to order the men to break up their gathering. ![]() In prison, they are humiliated and beaten, and they are held until the clan pays a heavy fine.Īfter a release of the men, the clan calls a meeting to decide whether they will fight or try to live peacefully with the whites. The leaders arrive, and are quickly seized. Soon afterward, the District Commissioner asks the leaders of the clan, Okonkwo among them, to come see him for a peaceful meeting. The offense is grave, and in response the clan decides that the church will no longer be allowed in Umuofia. He is backed by armed power.ĭuring a religious gathering, a convert unmasks one of the clan spirits. The clan is no longer free to judge its own a District Commissioner judges cases in ignorance. Worse, the white man's government has come to Umuofia. The church has won some converts, some of whom are fanatical and disrespectful of clan custom. Okonkwo returns to Umuofia to find the clan sadly changed. When Okonkwo learns of Nwoye's conversion, he beats the boy. However, with time, the new religion gains momentum. They win converts, but generally the converts are men of low rank or outcasts. The missionaries arrive first, preaching a religion that seems mad to the Igbo people. His mother's family is headed by Uchendu, Okonkwo's uncle, a generous and wise old man.ĭuring Okonkwo's exile, the white man comes to both Umuofia and Mbanto. There they are received by his mother's family, who treat them generously. He flees with his family to Mbanto, his mother's homeland. But the accident and exile are proof that at times man cannot control his own fate, and Okonkwo is forced to start over again without the strength and energy of his youth. Central to his beliefs is faith that a man masters his own destiny. In accordance with Umuofia's law, Okonkwo and his family must be exiled for seven years. Later, during a funeral for one of the great men of the clan, Okonkwo's gun explodes, killing a boy. Terrified, Ekwefi follows the Oracle at a distance, fearing harm might come to her child. Late one night, the powerful Oracle of Umuofia brings Ezinma with her for a spiritual encounter with the earth goddess. Ezinma is sickly, and sometimes Ekwefi fears that Ezinma, too, will die. Ekwefi has born ten children, but only Ezinma has survived. He is constantly disappointed by Nwoye, but he has great love for his daughter Ezinma, his child by his second wife Ekwefi. Okonkwo is shaken as well, but he continues with his drive to become a lord of his clan. Nwoye is spiritually broken by the event. He does so despite the advice of the clan elders. Okonkwo, fearful of being perceived as soft-hearted and weak, participates in the boy's death. But eventually the Oracle calls for the boy's death, and a group of men take Ikemefuna away to kill him in the forest. In particular, Nwoye, Okonkwo's oldest son, loves Ikemefuna like a brother. He becomes like a part of Okonkwo's family. He lives in Umuofia for three years, and during that time he lives under Okonkwo's roof. The boy, whose name is Ikemefuna, is to be sacrificed, but not immediately. The girl is to become the offended party's new wife. To avoid war, the offending clan gives Umuofia one virgin and one young boy. One day, a neighboring clan commits an offense against Umuofia. He has taken three wives and his barn is full of yams, the staple crop. Through hard work, he has become a great man among his people. Okonkwo has risen from nothing to a high position. Umuofia is a powerful clan, skilled in war and with a great population, with proud traditions and advanced social institutions. The bulk of the novel takes place in Umuofia, a cluster of nine villages on the lower Niger. ![]()
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