The Literature Book

268

sharecropper to become wealthy,

building up the storehouses of

yams and coffers of cowries that

signify prosperity. His second

wife, Ekwefi, is a tribal beauty who

leaves her first husband because of

her passion for Okonkwo; their only

child, Ezinma, is a spirited tomboy

with such an understanding of her

father and the subtleties of village

life that Okonkwo concludes more

than once that she should have

been born a boy.

Questions and answers

In Igbo culture, the wishes of the

gods are passed on by egwugwu—

masked village elders representing

the clan’s ancestral spirits—and

include brutal acts of sacrifice:

these will become the crack in their

culture that allows ingress and

collapse. This may be a “land of the

living [...] not far removed from the

domain of the ancestors,” but there

are few who adhere as slavishly to

the murderous will of the gods as

Okonkwo. His warrior ideology

begins to set him apart from others

who are starting to ask questions

even before the white men arrive.

Ekwefi resolves to defend her

daughter from the gods; Obierika,

Okonkwo’s friend, questions the

practice of abandoning twins at

birth—“but although he thought

for a long time he found no answer.”

The first white man to arrive in

the neighboring village of Mbanta

supplies an answer. He tells the

THINGS FALL APART

tribe that they worship “gods of

deceit who tell you to kill your

fellows and destroy innocent

children. There is only one true

God ...” As the missionary’s

converted interpreter struggles to

explain to the crowd about Jesu

Kristi, the son of God, Okonkwo

asks if God also has a wife. The

missionary ploughs on with an

incomprehensible account of the

Holy Trinity, which seems to be

little different from the multiple

gods of the Igbo tribes, and just

as reliant on blind faith.

Two sides of the story

Achebe exposes the brutality

of colonization, including

massacres and imprisonments,

but also describes the work

of Mr. Brown, a gentle missionary,

who listens as well as preaches,

winning hearts and minds by

combining religion with education,

gifts, and medicine. Okonkwo’s

eldest son, Nwoye, is among those

of the tribe who are drawn to the

poetry of the new religion and

moved by the “gay and rollicking

Decentralized government

with multiple small

diverse groups

and no overall ruler.

One central government

ruling over a single large

political entity.

Belief in the Earth

goddess, and numerous

other deities and

ancestor spirits.

Belief in one God and in

Jesus Christ, his son on

Earth, as the savior and

redeemer of humankind.

Community elders manage

grievances and settle

disputes with the goal

of making peace.

Formal courts settle

disputes, according to

written laws, with the

goal of upholding rights.

European colonizers saw Africans as primitive,

making little attempt to understand their customs

and cultures. The imposition of alien values and

institutions led to profound transformations in

traditional African communities at all levels.

Igbo culture European culture

Masks were worn by Igbo men

for magical purposes during certain

rituals, especially at funerals and

festivals, or, as in Things Fall Apart,

by the egwugwu to administer justice.

US_266-269_FallApart.indd 268 08/10/2015 13:09