Things Fall Apart- Chapter Questions 1-3

Things Fall Apart- Chapter Questions 1-3

Chapter 1

1. Okonkwo comes from the Umofia clan and he is a respected and wealthy warrior. He lives in a village called Iguedo. He is known as a respected warrior because he fought Amalinze the Cat who had not been defeated for seven years. He differs from his deceased father who ran at the sight of blood and fighting. He is also wealthier than his father who owed people in the village a larger sum of money. This often left his wife and children starving.

2. Okonkwo has a large barn full of yams, a shrine for his ancestors and a hut called an obi for himself which gives him great respect in his society. The yams are the source of food and having this is like men in the western civilization having a luxury such as a fancy car or large mansion. In Okonkwo’s society it is fine to be a polygamist but in the western civilization it is frowned upon and looked at as weird. As in our society money gives you power but in Okonkwo’s having a title and fighting for a title gives you honor. Much like his fight against the Cat. The men having title’s almost equals men in our society having medals and trophies. Job titles are another aspect that make men successful and the higher they are in the business the more respect they get as well as money, it always comes down to money. A man in our society is also more respected if he is faithful to his wife then being a cheater or having several wives and many children much unlike the Ibo people.

3. Proverbs are meant to be analyzed and read in lots of time, they are not to be looked at quickly and bam that’s what that means. They need to be looked over for some time before coming to a conclusion. So this quote is put in the chapter to give the reader some time to think over and digest what he’s saying. So the proverb was used as the beginning of a conversation. Our life is so fast paced that the author put this in there to try and slow it down and make us think about what we were reading.

4. This story is rather authentic because of the language that is used in it. The names are bizarre too which makes you think that they author may know what he’s talking about. As well as the words, the really special ones are italicized and given a definition in the back of the book.

Chapter 2-3

5. The reason for Mbaino sending a virgin and a young man was due to the murder of one of Umuofia’s own when she was shopping at the market in the village of Mbaino. In our society when someone is murdered they normally go to trial and then are hopefully sentenced to jail or if you’re in the states they sometimes get sentenced with the death penalty. Then again sometimes they say the person is not completely right in the head so they give them a therapist to help them. Giving a virgin and a young man isn’t much in return considering a life was lost. If Mbaino refuses then the two villages go to war which may cause the death of more then just one person. For the most part our society doesn’t break out into war over the loss of one person.

6. Much like our society you can have a title passed down through you family whether it’s a good or bad reputation. If it turns out that it is a bad reputation most people, especially males, strive to gain their own reputation and show that just because their own father may have been a failure doesn’t not necessarily mean that they will be. Okonkwo had to overcome this same feat. His father Unoka owed many debts and never held any of the village’s four titles because they had to be paid for and he couldn’t pay for anything. He also died from swelling in his stomach and in their village this was seen as a weakness so he was left to die in the Evil Forest so they wouldn’t offend the Earth by burying him. Okonkwo surpasses his father greatly by being a warrior, farmer and provider for his families. The fact that Unoka could not have a proper burial because of a swelling due to laziness and weakness was somewhat bizarre, even when people in our society die and they aren’t always the best people they still get a funeral or are at least cremated and put in a jar. Even though Unoka was a failure he should at least be put to rest and not have to die alone because no one wants to die alone. Oknokwo being disappointed with his father and not wanting anything to do with him is much like our society. Again it generally happens between males and I think it has to do with their pride and ego. They always want to be the best they can and when they don’t have a very good role model they want to achieve greatness and are quite willing to do so and the do it on their own. Not saying that females don’t have the same ambition but I just think it comes out stronger in males.