Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe
Pg 1-125

Okonkwo-
Okonkwo is very well respected and “well known throughout the nine villages and
beyond.”(3) His popularity is largely due to the fact that at eighteen years old, he had
“brought honor to the village by throwing Amalinze the cat” (3), a wrestler who had been
unbeaten for seven years. Although during the fight, Amalinze was a, “wily craftsmen,”
Okonkwo, “was as slippery as a fish” which helped him throw Amalinze in the end.
However the wrestling match is not the sole reason for the respect Okonkwo has
in the village. In a village where age is respected, but “achievement is revered,”(8)
Okonkwo proves himself to be a hard worker, “ a man of action.”(10) Okonkwo's great
pride is what truly drives his intolerance for idleness and his great strength stimulates this
intolerance.
Unlike his father who was lazy and a debtor, Okonkwo is a, “wealthy farmer and
has two barns fully of yams,” (8) although he borrows Ezwedo’s money to start this barn,
again unlike his father he pays it back. Okonkwo’s desire to work hard is to the point of
obsession and even during festivals, he would be “very much happier working on the
farm”(37).
In his family, Okonkwo is a complete authoritarian, “he rules his household with
a heavy hand” (13). His wives and children live in fear of his fiery temper. Okonkwo is
not really a cruel man, but his greatest fear is ever becoming like his idle, “agba” (13)
father and so his passion is to hate everything his father loved which among other things
includes, “gentleness” and “idleness” (13). Even in his household, Okonkwo never
shows any emotion openly except for anger, believing that showing emotion is a”sign of
weakness”(28). Okonkwo’s anger sometimes becomes too much and he acts without
much thought, he is also known to “beat his [wives]”(29) and sometimes very heavily.
In addition it is not only his wealth that gains him popularity and respect, it is the
fact that he “not afraid of the sight of blood.” Okonkwo is pretty cruel, and to an extent
likes war, a sharp contrast to his father. He was the first to bring a human head in the last
war” (10) his fifth head.

Physique
“He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wise nose gave him a severe look.”
(4)
“he breathed heavily.”
“when he walked, his heels hardly touched the ground, he seemed to walk on springs, as
if he was going to pounce on somebody.” (4)

Unoka
Unoka is Okonkwo’s father who died ten years previously. He is the driving force behind
Okonkwo’s wealthy and strong will. This is because in his time, he was “lazy and
improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow”(4). For Unoka he liked
parties and merriment, and “if money came to him, immediately bought gourds of palm-
wine, called round his neighbors and made merry”(4). Not surprisingly he was “a debtor,
and he owed every neighbor some money…”(4). Although as a young boy he had been
greatly liked but “Unoka the grownup was a failure” (5). He was “poor and his wife and
children had barely enough to eat” (5). In the village, “people laughed at him because he
was a loafer” (). Although he was indeed a failure, he was also quite persuasive and
“always succeeded in borrowing more” (6).
Unoka never liked war and was somewhat of “a coward and could not bear the sight of
blood”(6).
The only thing that Unoka was really good at was playing his flute. He was a musician by
nature and had a band that, “would go to such hosts for as long as three or four markets,
making music and feasting.”(5) Anytime “Unoka played with them, face beaming with
blessedness and peace” (5). He was happiest when playing the flute in spite of the sorrow
and grief that was evident in his music.
During his life, he never took a title and, therefore, never gained status or respect
from the villagers.
 Sadly Evil fortune seemed to follow Unoka to his grave. He died of a horrible
illness a swelling of the stomach and limbs and because this was perceived as an
abomination by the earth god he was left to rot above ground in the Evil Forest,
never to be given a burial(32).

Physique:
“he was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop”(4)
“he wore a haggard, mournful look except when he was drinking or playing his flute”(4).

Ikemefuna:

Ikemefuna comes from the Mbaino village, he was given to the Umuofia village as
“compensation of murdered wife of ogbuefi Udo”(11). Ikemefuna fills the void in
Okonkwo's life that Okonkwo's own son cannot. Although it is obvious that Okonkwo
prefers him over his true son, Nwoye, Ikemefuna and Nwoye became “inseperable”(43).
Ikemefuna had “endless folktales,” (34) which he told Nwoye all the time. Although he
misses his home, eventually the thought of home becomes, “faint and distant” (57). He
grows fond of Okonkwo and considers him his father, his dying words are, “my father
they have killed me” (61). This last sentence is very powerful become even though he is
aware that his father is involved in his death, his love for him is still present in the last
moments of his death.

Ekwefi

Ekwefi is Okonkwo’s second wife. Once a village beauty, she ran away from her home
and husband to marry Okonkwo. Okonkwo “won her heart”(39) when he beat the
notorious Cat. Although she has “suffered a great deal in her time”(40) her love for
wrestling contests is still present. Ekwefi, like Okonkwo’s other two wives, suffers quite
a bit under his forceful and aggressive rule of the household. At one point, just because
he was in a bad mood, Okonkwo beat Ekwefi badly and even threatened to kill her with
his gun. Inspite of all the hardships she suffers through, Ekwefi is the most spirited of
Okonkwo’s wives and frequently stands up to him and talks back. Like when Okonkwo
accuses her of killing a banana tree and she stands up for herself pointing out that it isn’t
really dead. Still, Okonkwo beat Ekwefi badly and even threatened to kill her with his
gun(38).
Ekwefi’s life has been full of sadness. She has bad luck with giving birth to
children; despite giving birth to ten children, only one has survived. Thus, she has a deep
bond with her only daughter, Ezinma.
Her pain and bitterness in losing nine other children leads her to treasure her one
daughter very much (79).
Ekwefi’s history of loss and bitterness renders her a strong woman, capable of
standing much pain and disappointment. Like her daughter Ezinma she also has
masculine traits that sometimes annoys Okonkwo.
When she finds Ezinma ill she is “the only one who has the audacity to bang on
his door” (76). But she also takes her punishment with gritted teeth and without
complaint. This kind of strength and boldness has something masculine about it, she
passed these traits to her daughter, Ezinma.

Ezinma

Ezinma is Okonkwo’s eldest daughter and Ekwefi’s only child. The girl has a very close
relationship with her mother, and she is her father’s favorite child. Okonkwo frequently
wishes that, “she should have been a boy” (64) this illustrates just how much he loves and
values her.
She was a curious little girl posing her Mother with many questions as they cook and wait
for the new year wrestling matches to begin (40). However, because she is her mother’s
only child, Ezinma is coddled and often acts in a bolder manner than the other children.
She grows up more privileged and adored than many of her peers. Her deep love for her
mother is based on forbidden acts, like eating (forbidden) eggs together secretly in
Ekwefi’s locked bedroom (76). Ezinma calls her mother by her given name (40), and she
has the boldness to ask Ekwefi questions that other mothers would find annoying(41).
Much Like Ekwefi, Ezinma has more confidence than most girls her age (60). she sits
like a man, asks to take on the tasks of a boy, talks with shamelessness unknown to her
sex, and even sometimes contradicts her father (86).
Ezinma alone seems to win Okonkwo’s full attention, affection, and, ironically, respect.

Obierika

Obierika is Okonkwo’s best friend and also a respected man in Umuofia.

Obierika looks out for his friend, selling Okonkwo’s yams to ensure that Okonkwo won’t
suffer financial ruin while in exile and comforting Okonkwo when he is depressed. (123).
He often offers reasonable counterpoints to Okonkwo’s desire for rash action,(65) although
Okonkwo rarely takes his friend’s advice.
He is one of the few characters who is truly concerned with moral ambiguities and he encourages
Okonkwo to view the world in a more balanced and less hasty manner (65).
Obierika uses his intellect and reason to come to decisions. However, his rationality is not cold
and calculating, nor is it used to further selfish means, still he follows traditional ways even taking
part in burning his best friend’s farm due to the traditions of the village (124).

Nwoye

Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son who Okonkwo, whom Okonkwo fears is too feminine(53).
As a child, Nwoye is the frequent object of his father’s criticism and remains emotionally
unfulfilled. Okonkwo’s fear that he resembles his grandfather, Unoke(66) is what leads him to be
very harsh towards him, never showing pride or satisfaction in anything he does.
Nwoye likes to listen to “folktales told by his mother”(), He secretly prefers them to the” bloody
war stories told by Okonkwo”().

Eventually, Ikemefun comes to fill the role of both brother, companion and friend to Nwoye. He
grows to love Ikemefuna and forms a deep brotherly attachement to him (43). For Nwoye in a
strange way, Ikemefuna fills the role of both father and brother for Nwoye, providing him with a
peer to share his thoughts and a role model (45).
Nwoye has an incredible ability to feel and sympathize, sometimes even more than the female
characters in the book. As a result Okonkwo isn’t impressed and aggressively tries to keep his
son from acting like “a woman”(52).
When Okonkwo returns from the group murder of Ikemefuna, Nwoye immediately knows what
happened, then “something seem[s] to give away inside [Ikemefuna]”(61). Nwoye grows
increasingly alienated from his father and seems to lose respect for him. Without Ikemefuna’s
companionship and influence, and with a loss of faith in his father, Nwoye reverts to his former
gentle nature, instead of adhering to the false masculine one he pretended to have in
Ikemefuna’s presence ().

Chielo
A priestess in Umuofia who is dedicated to the Oracle of the goddess Agbala. Chielo is a
widow with two children.
She is good friends with Ekwefi and is fond of Ezinma, whom she calls “my daughter”( )
At one point, she carries Ezinma on her back for miles in order to help purify her and
appease the gods.

Ogbuefi Ezeudu -
The oldest man in the village and one of the most important clan elders and leaders.
Ogbuefi Ezeudu was a great warrior in his youth and now delivers messages from the
Oracle.

Setting:
“two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their
instruments, hung above the fireplace.”4
Village- (called) Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors- it was powerful in war and
magic… 11

- Okonkwo’s close friend, whose daughter’s wedding provides cause for

festivity early in the novel.