Things Fall Apart As A Postcolonial Novel

Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a great example of a literary work that
intentionally situates a colonized people as the cultural norm while depicting the colonizing
people as outsiders - or as "the other."

A key to understanding many of the 20th century critical and literary movements like
postcolonialism is found in the notion of "the other." Essentially this term refers to groups that
are perceived or portrayed as being outside of a cultural norm in a given discourse (that discourse
might be exemplified in literature or political speech). 

The concept of "the other" is central to the critique presented by critical schools that
sought to counter-balance a widespread cultural perspective in the arts that was seen to favor
Western white males over other demographics. Simply put, postcolonialism suggests that there
are a number of negative effects that stem from an unchallenged bias in favor of a single
(economically dominant) group.

"As more and different people began to assert their own rights to explore their heritage
and express their identities, critics began to expose the ideological underpinnings of the literary
canon and how those underpinnings served one group of people while excluding another"
(eNotes). 

Presuming that the white male perspective is the only normal perspective,
postcolonialism suggests, leads to a dangerously skewed worldview wherein morality is
presumed to be "owned" by the dominant group. 

In novels like Things Fall Apart  the colonizing group participates in this presumption,
assuming that the changes they bring to the tribe are good almost by default. The beliefs and
values of the white colonizers are "good" in their eyes because they represent the values of the
normative group. 

What happens when we see the world through a different lens? What happens when we
see the Igbo as the normative group? 

"Although the novel is narrated in the third person, the sympathetic point of view is
located within the Igbo culture, and the reader gradually comes to accept this perspective as
natural" (eNotes).

When the moral norms are situated within the colonized group (the Igbo), the
presumptions of right and righteousness of the colonizers is challenged. The actions of the
colonizers cannot be automatically validated simply by virtue of the fact that they have guns and
money. By depicting the colonizing whites as "the other," Achebe's novel enacts the challenge
raised by postcolonialism against a worldview wherein one demographic stands as a universal
norm.
 Morality is not "owned" by the colonizers in Achebe's novel. The Igbo have customs and
cultural mores that define their lives and their moral sensibilities. It is the Igbo's point of view
that stands as the norm in the novel. The colonists are clearly identified as "the other" as we see
in this late passage in the novel. 

Here the District Commissioner asks Obierika why the tribe does not take
down Okonkwo's body after he has killed himself.

“Why can’t you take him down yourselves?” he asked.

“It is against our custom,” said one of the men. “It is an abomination for a man to take his
own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his
clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. That is why we ask your people to
bring him down, because you are strangers.”

THINGS FALL APART SUMMARY

Though Okonkwo is a respected leader in the Umuofia tribe of the Igbopeople, he lives in
fear of becoming his father – a man known for his laziness and cowardice. Throughout his life,
Okonkwo attempts to be his father’s polar opposite. From an early age, he builds his home and
reputation as a precocious wrestler and hard-working farmer. Okonkwo’s efforts pay off big time
and he becomes wealthy through his crops and scores three wives.

Okonkwo’s life is shaken up a when an accidental murder takes place and Okonkwo ends
up adopting a boy from another village. The boy is named Ikemefuna and Okonkwo comes to
love him like a son. In fact, he loves him more than his natural son, Nwoye. After three years,
though, the tribe decides that Ikemefuna must die. When the men of Umuofia take Ikemefuna
into the forest to slaughter him, Okonkwo actually participates in the murder. Although he’s just
killed his adoptive son, Okonkwo shows no emotion because he wants to be seen as Mr.
Macho and not be weak like his own father was. Inside, though, Okonkwo feels painful guilt and
regret. But since Okonkwo was so wrapped up in being tough and emotionless, he alienates
himself from Nwoye, who was like a brother to Ikemefuna.

Later on, during a funeral, Okonkwo accidentally shoots and kills a boy. For his crime,
the town exiles him for seven years to his mother’s homeland, Mbanta. There, he learns about
the coming of the white missionaries whose arrival signals the beginning of the end for the Igbo
people. They bring Christianity and win over Igbo outcasts as their first converts. As the
Christian religion gains legitimacy, more and more Igbo people are converted. Just when
Okonkwo has finished his seven-year sentence and is allowed to return home, his son Nwoye
converts to Christianity. Okonkwo is so bent out of shape that he disowns his son.

Eventually, the Igbo attempt to talk to the missionaries, but the Christians capture the
Igbo leaders and jail them for several days until the villagers cough up some ransom
money. Contemplating revenge, the Igbo people hold a war council and Okonkwo is one of the
biggest advocates for aggressive action. However, during the council, a court messenger from the
missionaries arrives and tells the men to stop the meeting. Enraged, Okonkwo kills him.
Realizing that his clan will not go to war against the white men, the proud, devastated Okonkwo
hangs himself.

Things Fall Apart Summary from chepter 1-25

Chapter 1 Summary:

We are introduced to Okonkwo, a great man among the Igbo tribe, well known in the nine
villages and beyond. In his youth, he became famous when he defeated Amilinze the Cat, a great
wrester. He is a formidable man, stern and intimidating in appearance; when angry, he stammers.
The stammer makes him angrier, and he uses his fists. He has a hot temper. He has no patience
for unsuccessful men; his father had been such a man. His father, a man by the name of Unoka,
was a lazy do-nothing, who has died deep in debt. The narrator digresses to tell us about Unoka.
Unoka was a great flute player in his youth, but he became a failure as an adult. He was
constantly borrowing from his friends and neighbors, and his children and wife did not have
enough to eat.
One day, a neighbor of Unoka, a man named Okoye, came to discuss the money Unoka owed
him. The rituals of hospitality are described: the guest brings kola, a kind of food eaten during
visits, and the men often speak in proverbs. Okoye was about take the third-highest title in the
land, and he needed to collect resources. Unoka laughed him off, telling him that he had many
other debts he needed to pay first.

Unoka dies deep in debt. But Okonkwo, though young, is already a great man. He has two barns
full of yams, and he has fought bravely in two inter-tribal wars. He has taken two titles already.
He has three wives. The narrator tells us that his high standing was the reason he was trusted to
watch over the doomed boy who was sacrificed to Umuofia to avoid war. The doomed boy was
named Ikemefuna.
Chapter 2 Summary:

One night as Okonkwo prepares for bed, he hears the town crier, beating on his hollow
instrument and calling all the men of Umuofia to a meeting early tomorrow morning. The night
is dark and moonless, and the narrator explains that darkness was frightening even for the bravest
of the Igbo. The forest is a sinister place at night. Okonkwo suspects that a war might be
brewing: he's a distinguished warrior, and war gives him a chance to win greater esteem.

The next morning, the ten thousand men of Umuofia gather in the marketplace. Ogbuefi
Ezuogo, a powerful orator, gives the traditional opening: he faces four different directions,
raising a clenched fist, and cries "Umuofia kwenu," to which the men all cry "Yaa!" He greets
them this way a fifth time, and then he tells them that men from the neighboring village of
Mbaino have killed a girl from Umuofia. The men discuss the situation, and decide to follow the
normal course of action: the will issue an ultimatum, demanding a boy and a virgin as
compensation. The neighboring villages fear Umuofia, because its warriors and medicine-men
are powerful. It's most powerful war medicine (magic) is agadi-nwayi, a magic enforced by the
spirit of an old woman with one leg. The narrator tells us that in fairness to Umuofia, it should be
said that the village never went to war without first trying a peaceful settlement, and even then it
only went if the war was approved by the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. And the Oracle often
forbade war.

Okonkwo is chosen as emissary. He goes and is treated with respect, and he returns with
the young boy and the virgin girl. The girl goes to the man whose wife was murdered. As for the
boy, the village is in no hurry to decide his fate. His name is Ikemefuna. He goes to live with
Okonkwo and his family.

The narrator describes Okonkwo and his family, as well as their living situation.
Okonkwo has a separate hut, or obi, at the heart of their family compound. Each wife has her
own hut. All is enclosed by a large red wall. Yams are the main crop for the Igbo, and the
compound includes a barn for yam-storage. There is also a shrine, or "medicine house."
Okonkwo is quick to anger. He rules his family like a tyrant. He fears failure, and hates the
memory of his idle father; his oldest son Nwoye, shows signs of being like Okonkwo's father,
and so Okonkwo is very hard on him. Ikemefuna is brought home with Okonkwo and given to
Nwoye's mother. The boy is homesick and does not understand why he has been taken from his
family.

Chapter 3 Summary:

When Okonkwo was young, his father Unoka went to Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and
the Caves. He asked why he always had a miserable harvest, despite his prayers and offerings to
the gods. The Oracle told him that the fault lay not in the gods, but in his laziness. Unoka died of
swelling that the Igbo believe is an abomination to the earth goddess. Like others who died
badly, he was left in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo lives in fear of the kind of failure and sad end that
met his father.

Okonkwo did not inherit a barn full of seed yams. He had to start out as a sharecropper for a rich
man named Nwakibie. Nwakibie was generous, but the first year Okonkwo planted was the
worst planting year in Umuofia's living memory. Okonkwo, with superhuman determination,
survived. His father was in his last days then. He gave Okonkwo encouraging praise, but it only
tried Okonkwo's patience.

Chapter 4 Summary:

Okonkwo shows few emotions openly, none of them tender ones. He once insulted a man
at a town meeting, implying that the man was a woman. The man had no titles. Okonkwo was
reprimanded, and a village elder said that the fortunate should show humility; yet Okonkwo has
never been fortunate. Everything he has he has earned himself.

Ikemefuna is terribly homesick, but in time he finds a place among Okonkwo's family.
Nwoye, two years younger, is inseparable from him; even Okonkwo grows fond of the boy,
although he doesn't show it openly. Ikemefuna is a clever boy; he knows how to make flutes and
traps for rodents. He begins to call Okonkwo "father."

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo's youngest wife, Ojiugo, goes out to plait her hair
and neglects to cook afternoon meal for him. When she returns, Okonkwo beats her savagely.
This act is an abomination to the Igbo. No one is allowed even to speak unkindly to another
during the Week of Peace; Okonkwo's transgression threatens the harvest of the whole clan.
Ezeani, priest of the earth goddess, arrives before dusk. He scorns Okonkwo's traditional offer of
kola nut and demands a stiff fine of goods and money from Okonkwo. Okonkwo pays it,
inwardly repentant, but he is too proud to admit openly to his neighbors that he is in error. His
neighbors begin to say he has grown to proud.
It is soon time to plant; as they prepare the seed yams, Okonkwo is very harsh to Nwoye and
Ikemefuna. Yam is a man's crop, and Okonkwo is very demanding. Yams, too, are a difficult
crop to raise, sensitive and labor-intensive. The rainy season comes, during which children
huddle by fires indoors, resting. With planting season over, the Igbo enjoy a resting period before
the work of the harvest.

Ikemefuna and Nwoye have become very close; Nwoye loves the older boy, who is now
like a brother to him. Ikemefuna has an endless supply of folktales, and hearing them makes
Nwoye see the world in a new light.

Chapter 5 Summary:

The Feast of the New Yam approaches. It marks the beginning of harvest season. All old
yams are disposed of, and new and tasty yams are eaten for the feasts. The New Yam marks the
start of a new year, and the beginning of a season of plenty.

Okonkwo, like all rich men, always invites a huge number of guests for the feast. But he
himself is rather impatient with holidays, and would prefer to be working on his farm.
Preparation for the festival makes him testy. Three days before the festival, he becomes furious
when he sees that a few leaves have been cut from the banana tree (banana leaves are used to
wrap food in many tropical countries). When his second wife admits to the act, he beats her
brutally. He then decides to go hunting. Though a great man, Okonkwo is not a great hunter. The
wife who was just beaten makes a snide comment about guns that never shoot, and he tries to
shoot her. He misses. Despite these disturbances, the festival is celebrated happily.

The second day of the new year is the day for wrestling. Ekwefi, Okonkwo's second wife,
loves the wrestling matches. It was watching Okonkwo defeat the Cat that she fell in love with
him. She married another man, but a few years after that she ran away from him and came to live
with Okonkwo. In those days, she was the great beauty of the village. That was thirty years ago.
Ekwefi has only had one child, her daughter Ezinma. Ezinma is a charming, pretty, and clever
young girl, one of her father's favorites, though he rarely shows it. We see her helping the other
wives, doing chores for her mother, and bringing Okonkwo his food.

Chapter 6 Summary:

A huge crowd gathers to watch the wrestling matches. Ekwefifinds herself next to Chielo,
a widow with two children. Chielo is quite an ordinary woman in ordinary life. But she occupies
a position of great power in the village: she is also the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills
and the Caves. She is considered a different person when the spirit of the goddess enters her.
Chielo is very fond of Ezinma. She often gives the girl sweets. The two women talk, and we
infer that Ekwefi has had many children, and that many of them have died. Ezinma is now ten
years old. Ekwefi prays that she stays; her children's deaths have been cause of great sadness for
her.
The matches are exciting, and the great wrestlers all of have their fans. As the main event
of the evening, Ikezue and Okafo, the two greatest wrestlers of Umuofia, square off in a fierce
bout. Okafo wins, and is carried home on the shoulder's of his enthusiastic supporters, while the
young women sing songs of praise.

Chapter 7 Summary:

Three years pass, and Ikemefuna matures into an adolescent in Okonkwo's household.

Ikemefuna and Nwoye are as inseparable as ever, and because Ikemefuna treats Nwoye with
respect, Nwoye is developing into a more confident and hard-working young man. Okonkwo is
pleased by the change, and he knows it is due to Ikemefuna. He often eats with the two boys.
(Typically, the man of the house eats separately in his central hut, or obi, while the women and
children eat in their respective parts of the compound.) Nwoye seems to be pleasing his father
more and more. To make him happy, he grumbles about women and pretends to scorn his
mother's folktales (although in truth he still loves them). Instead, he listens to Okonkwo's stories
of war and violence.
The locusts come. They are not a threat to Umuofia's staple crops, as they come after
harvest, during the cold harmattan season. First, a small swarm of scouts comes, and then a
larger group arrives. Their coming fills the Igbo with joy, because the locusts come only once
every seven years, and they are delicious to eat.

Okonkwo is enjoying locust when Ogbuefi Ezeudu enters. He is a great village elder, and

he has come to inform Okonkwo that the time has come for Ikemefuna's death. They tell
Okonkwo not to bear a hand in the child's execution. The next day, a large group of elders comes
to Okonkwo to discuss it more fully with him. Later that day, Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he
is to be sent home. Nwoye hears, and begins to cry; his father beats him heavily.
A group of men brings Ikemefuna deep into the forest. The boy thinks about how strange it will
be to see his family again; he is excited to see them, but also said to be leaving his new family.
They walk for hours. The other men attack Ikemefuna with hatchets. He runs to Okonkwo,
calling him father, begging for help. Afraid of being thought weak, and full of a terrible fear,
Okonkwo uses his matchet to strike the boy down.

When Okonkwo returns later that night, Nwoye knows that Ikemefuna has been killed. A
terrible sadness comes to him. He does not cry, but something in him has been broken. The last
time he felt this way was during the last harvest season. He had been in the forest with his
family, bringing back yams from the harvest. They heard an infant crying. The women fell silent
and walked faster. Nwoye had heard that twins, considered evil by the Igbo, were left to die in
the forest. He had never come across any. A great sickness and sorrow came over him. He has
that feeling again now.
Chapter 8 Summary:

Okonkwo does not touch food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He drinks, and
though he calls Nwoye into his obi to be with him, the boy is scared of him and steals away
when Okonkwo is dozing. He is weak and listless. On the third day, he asks his second wife,
Ekwefi, to prepare some food for him. Ezinma brings out, encouraging him to eat. As she takes
care of him, Okonkwo thinks repeatedly that she should have been born a boy. Okonkwo is
ashamed that he has been affected by Ikemefuna's death.

He goes to speak with his good friend, Obeirika. Obeirika invites Okonkwo to be with
him later while he negotiates the bride price for his daughter. Okonkwo criticizes Obeirika for
not coming to kill Ikemefuna. Obeirika responds in turn that Okonkwo should not have gone; the
act that Okonkwo committed is the kind of deed the gods punish.

Okonkwo is present for the negotiation of the bride price. There is polite negotiation, as
the two families strive to reach a settlement that will be honorable for both groups. Many men
from both families are present. Okonkwo enjoys himself. The talk turns to different customs, and
they discuss rumors of the traditions in distant lands. Obeirika speaks of a particularly ridiculous
story he heard: far away, the story goes, tribes have been visited by men with white skin.

Chapter 9 Summary:

Okonkwo sleeps well for the first time in three nights. He is woken in the morning by
Ekwefi banging on the door: Ezinma is dying.

Ekwefi has had ten children. Nine have died. The medicine man has said that she has
given birth to an ogbanje, a wicked child who, after dying, returns to its mother's womb to be
reborn and die again. Ezinma has always been a sickly child, prone to swing between periods of
great vivacity and darker times when she seems near death. A year ago, Okagbue, the medicine
man, found Ezinma's iyi-uwa, her supposed link to the world of the ogbanje. So the girl should
not die again.

But Ekwefi, fearful that she might lose the child that is the center of her life, is terrified.
Okonkwo believes it is iba sickness, and he gathers herbs and begins to prepare a medicine for
Ezinma. The girl is held over a concoction of herbs and hot water, and forced to breathe in the
steam.

Chapter 10 Summary:

Umuofia has a great clan gathering. Nine men in the cult of the egwugwu impersonate the
nine founders of the villages of Umuofia. During the ceremony, the men are considered to be the
spirits of the clan. The transformation is spiritual and complete, in the same way that Catholics
believe that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ.

The ceremony is for the administration of justice. Families with disputes come forward to
have their cases tried publicly. The first case involves a woman who has left her husband. He
wants her to return, along with her two children. The woman's family claims that her husband
was abusive. Evil Forest, the egwugwu who listens to the case, decides that the husband must
bear gifts to his in-laws and beg his wife's forgiveness. She will return, but he should not beat her
again.

Chapter 11 Summary:

Ezinma and Ekwefi are spending a peaceful night telling folktales to each other. They are
interrupted by Agbala, the Oracle, who has come for Ezinma. She takes Ezinma onto her back
and carries her away, strictly forbidding the girl's parents from following. Ekwefi hesitates only a
moment, and then secretly follows anyway.
The Oracle takes a long walk, going all the way around the nine villages. Despite the fact
that she carries the child on her back, she moves at an astonishing speed; Ekwefi can barely keep
up. The Oracle finally returns to her sacred cave. She disappears inside. Terrified, Ekwefi waits
outside the cave: she resolves to enter if she hears her daughter crying. To save her child, she
will fight the gods if necessary. Ekwefi is startled by Okonkwo, who has also followed the
Oracle. The two of them wait for the priestess of Agbala to emerge again. Standing in the dark
with him, she remembers when she first came to him. She was young, and she had been married
off to another man. Two years into the marriage, she went to Okonkwo. Without speaking, he
carried her to his bed and began to undress her.
Chapter 12 Summary:

The next day is the uri of Obeirika's daughter. It is a woman's celebration, centering on
the bride-to-be and her mother. Okonkwo's first and third wive's prepare their gifts. Ekwefi,
exhausted by the ordeal of waiting for Ezinma and the Oracle, waits for Ezinma to wake and asks
the other wives to explain her tardiness. No one besides Ekwefi knows that Okonkwo also
followed the Oracle. He waited a suitable "manly" interval first before going straight to the cave.
Finding no one there, he left, but he returned when worry seized him once again. All in all, he
returned to the cave four times before he met Ekwefi there.

Obierika's compound is full of activity, as many people in the village are helping to
prepare for the great feast. While the women are preparing food, they notice a cow has gotten
loose in a neighbor's crops. The women all hurry to push the cow back home; its owner
immediately pays the heavy fine for letting a cow loose in a neighbor's fields. The cow's release
was an accident.
The feast is lively, full of gift-giving, dance, and song. The new in-laws exchange gifts
and praise with Obierika's family, and before living the village they pay respects to the housed of
high-ranking men. Among these men is Okonkwo. He gives them a gift of two cocks.

Chapter 13 Summary:

The village crier announces the death of Ezeudu, one of the great elders of the clan. It
was Ezeudu who first told Okonkwo that Ikemefuna most die. It was also Ezeudu who advised
Okonkwo to take no part in it.
The funeral is a great event. The egwugwu cult is out in full force, as men embodying the
gods and spirits of the clan come out to participate in the funerary rites. During the ceremony,
Okonkwo's gun explodes suddenly. A piece of iron pierces the heart of one of Ezeudu's sons.
Even though the death is accidental, the act is an abomination to the Igbo. Okonkwo is to be
exiled for seven years. That night, Okonkwo packs up his most valuable belongings. His yams
are transported to Obierika's barn. Before dawn, Okonkwo and his whole family set out for
Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother.

As day brokes, men come and destroy Okonkwo's home. They kill his animals and set
fire to the buildings. They bear no malice to Okonkwo, but the laws of the Igbo must be obeyed.
Obierika is sorry for his friend's misfortune. He is a thoughtful man, and he tries to think out why
his friend should suffer. He also thinks of the twins his wife bore long ago, and how he had to
abandon them to certain death. He arrives at no answers.

Chapter 14 Summary:

Okonkwo and his family are received by Uchendu, his mother's younger brother and the
oldest living member of their family. The last time Okonkwo saw Uchendu was at the burial of
Okonkwo's mother; Okonkwo was only a young boy. Uchendu is kind and generous. The
kinsman of Okonkwo's mother donate some land and a modest quantity of seed yams.
But starting over is hard. Okonkwo and his wives are no longer young, and beginning all over
again without the strength of youth is no easy thing. Okonkwo works hard, but it no longer gives
him pleasure. He has always dreamed of being one of the lords of Umuofia, and now it seems
that this setback may have shattered that dream for good. He works without joy and spends his
days moping. Uchendu notices that Okonkwo has given himself over to despair.

Uchendu's youngest son is taking a new wife, and the family performs a ceremony
marking her arrival. All of the daughters of the family return for this day, and remain for a few
days afterward.

On the second day, Uchendu calls everyone together. He addresses Okonkwo, telling him
that he must not give in to despair. A common name given to children is Nneka, "Mother is
Supreme." Although their society is patriarchal, Uchendu points out that when a child is beaten
by its father, it returns to its mother for comfort. In the same way, Okonkwo, exiled by his
fatherland, has taken refuge in his motherland. He cannot allow himself to be bowed down by
despair. Uchendu sternly reprimands him, telling him that many men have suffered more than he.
He must take heart and resolve to keep on living, or his children and wives will die in exile.

Chapter 15 Summary:

In the second year of Okonkwo's exile, Obierika comes to visit him. He brings two bags
full of cowries; they are money he has made off of the yams Okonkwo left with him. Obierika
comes with two young men as his attendants, and he and Okonkwo great each other joyfully.
They eat kola with Uchendu, and Obierika shares a bit of disturbing news.

Abame, a neighboring village cluster like Umuofia, has been destroyed. Not long ago, a
white man arrived in Abame on an "iron horse" (a bicycle). The people of the town did not know
what to make of him. The Oracle warned them that the man was like a scout locust, a harbringer
sent to explore the terrain. The other white men would follow, and when they came they were
going to bring death and destruction with them. Some men killed the white man and tied up his
iron horse. Not long afterward, three white men arrived with a large number of African
attendants. They saw the bicycle and left. Several weeks later, three white men and a group of
African subordinates came into the Abame marketplace armed with powerful guns. They shot
everyone in sight. The only survivors were those who were lucky enough not to be in the market
that day, and these refugees have scattered. The village of Abame is now completely empty.

Uchendu grits his teeth in anger and fear. The men of Abame were fools, he says, for
killing the white man out of fear. They inadvertently brought destruction on themselves.
Okonkwo says that they were fools not to prepare for an attack.

The talk turns to more pleasant conversation. Okonkwo thanks Obierika for his justness
and generosity. Obierika brushes off his friend's thanks, kindly refusing to be praised for what is
natural between friends.

Chapter 16 Summary:

Obierika comes to visit Okonkwo again two years later. Circumstances are less happy. White
missionaries have come to Umuofia; they have built a church and even won converts. Obierika
visits Okonkwo because in Umuofia he saw Nwoyeamong the Christians. When he asked Nwoye
what he was doing, Nwoye responded that he had embraced the new faith. And when he asked
Nwoye about Okonkwo, Nwoye responded that Okonkwo was no longer his father. Greatly
disturbed, Obierika visits Okonkwo, but Okonkwo does not want to talk about Nwoye. Obierika
hears the truth from Nwoye's mother.
When the missionaries first arrived in Mbanta, all of the villagers came to see them. Their
leader was a white man who spoke through interpreters. He informed the people that their gods
were false and only the Christian god was real. Okonkwo, after hearing the convoluted theology
of the Trinity, decided that the man was clearly mad. He left and went back to work. The
Christians then broke into song. Hearing the words of the song, Nwoye felt something stirring in
him. In the poetry of the new religion, he found some kind of answer, some kind of comfort to
soothe away the scars of Ikemefuna's death and the sound of twin children in the forest. He left
the market greatly puzzled.

Chapter 17 Summary:

The missionaries soon asked the village leaders to give them a space for them to build a
church. The village leaders decided to give them a plot in the town's Evil Forest. Every Igbo
village has an evil forest, where the undesirable dead and the powerful fetishes of medicine men
are buried. The Evil Forest is believed to be full of malevolent and unpredictable magical
energies. Everyone expects the Christians to die in a matter of days. When they remain alive, the
people of Mbanto have to concede that the white priests command powerful magic. The Church
begins to win a tiny number of converts.

Mr. Kiaga, an African convert, takes charge of the new church in Mbanto; the white
priest goes to Umuofia. Initially, Nwoye does not dare to go into the church, but he listens to the
men preaching the gospel in the market. He begins to learn the simple stories from the Bible. The
one month mark passes, by the end of which the gods should most certainly take their revenge.
The Christians remain alive. They also win their first female convert, a woman named Nneka.
She is pregnant; the previous four times she has given birth, she has had twins. Following Igbo
custom, the twins were abandoned to a death by exposure. She flees her family and takes refuge
with the new church.
Okonkwo's cousin, Amikwu, is in the market when he sees Nwoye among the Christians.
He goes and tells Okonkwo immediately. When Nwoye comes home, Okonkwo attacks him
viciously. The women scream outside, afraid to enter. Finally, Uchendu sternly commands
Okonkwo to stop. He does, and Nwoye leaves without a word. Nwoye tells Mr. Kiaga that he
wants go to Umuofia, to attend the missionary school where he will learn to read and write.
Okonkwo is furious and bitter that his son has joined the Christians. He wonders what he did to
deserve such a son.

Chapter 18 Summary:

The church grows despite some difficulties. The Christians rescue twins from the forest,
and Mr. Kiaga leads the fledgling community with strength and unshakeable conviction. Trouble
rises between the church in Mbanta and the clan when three converts go into the village and say
that all of the Igbo gods are false. They announce their intention to burn all the shrines. Furious,
the clanspeople beat the three men severely.

Disturbing stories are also making their way to Mbanto. Rumor says that where the white
man's religion goes, the white man's government follows. Churches arrive first, and soon after
the targeted village is forced to bow under white authority.

Controversy rises in the young church over the question of admitting the osu, a caste of
outcasts who are set aside in dedication to the gods. They are not allowed to use razors, and their
dead are buried in the evil forest. Mr. Kiaga demands that the outcasts be accepted. The osu
shave their heads, at Mr. Kiaga's encouragement, and they soon become the most faithful
followers of the new faith. More trouble arises when one of these osu converts kills a python,
which is a sacred animal and the emanation of the god of water.

The people of Mbanto meet to decide what to do about this new religion. Okonkwo
councils war against the Christians, but cooler heads prevail. Fearing that the gods will be angry
with Mbanto if the clan does nothing, the clan decides to ostracize the converts. They are no
longer allowed to enjoy the privileges of clan membership. Initially, that includes not drawing
water from the spring; the first day, the Christians are threatened by violence. But then Okoli, the
man who killed the python, falls ill mysteriously and dies. His death proves the gods are
watching; after that, the clan relaxes its stance towards the Christians.

Chapter 19 Summary:

The seven years of exile are coming to an end. Okonkwo sends money to Obierika to
build two huts where Okonkwo and his family will live until Okonkwo can build the rest of the
compound. Okonkwo has prospered in Mbanto, but he knows he would have prospered more in
Umuofia. These seven years have been an embittering experience.

Before Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, he hosts a magnificent feast for his mother's clan.
The quality and quantity of the food rivals that of a wedding feast; Okonkwo outdoes himself to
show his gratitude to his mother's clan. One of the elders gives a speech thanking and praising
Okonkwo. But the speech ends on an ominous note: the elder fears for the future of their people.
The new religion has come, and some people of the clan have betrayed their tribe's beliefs. He
worries that the Igbo way of life is threatened.

Chapter 20 Summary:

Okonkwo hopes to return to Umuofia with great fanfare. He has two beautiful daughters,
and he has asked them, through Ezinma, to wait until the return to Umuofia to take a husband.
Ezinma has become one of the great beauties of their people. She has also become a healthy,
lively young woman, and none of the children understands Okonkwo's moods better than she.
The church has won a powerful foothold in Umuofia. Even several men of title have joined the
new religion. The white man has also built a court house, where a district commissioner imposes
white law. The DC is served by a gang of kotma, African court messengers who come from far
away. They are greatly hated because they are arrogant and brutal. There is a prison as well, and
even men of title are being put there. The white man says that Igbo laws are foolish, and they
impose their own law on the Igbo.

Okonkwo is horrified. He and Obierika discuss what has happened. He wonders why the
men of Umuofia do not rally and fight; they are a proud and strong people. But Obierika fears
that if they do, the same fate will befall them as befell Abame. Resistance is now difficult,
because fighting the white man would also mean going against the converts. Obierika puts it
succinctly: "The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We
were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our
clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we
have fallen apart" (126-7). They discuss the hanging of Aneto. In a land dispute, Aneto struch his
neighbor Oduche; he did not mean to kill him, but he did. In accordance with Igbo custom,
Aneto prepared to flee. But he was seized, with all his family, and thrown into prison. He was
taken to Umuru, where the whites have a major center of government, and hanged.

Chapter 21 Summary:

The white man brings his destructive religion and the yoke of his laws, but he also brings
a trade center. The people of Umuofia begin to profit from selling local products, and so not all
of the people of Umuofia oppose the whites as much as Okonkwo.
In Umuofia, the Christians are led by a kindly white man named Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown restrains
the zeal of some of the fanatical converts. A convert named Enoch is particularly violent, always
stirring up trouble; Brown strives to moderate Enoch's excesses. Mr. Brown is a wise and patient
man; he befriends many of the local great men, and earns their affection. He spends a good deal
of time with Akunna; they speak through an interpreter on the subject of religion. Neither man
converts the other, but Mr. Brown learns much about the local religion and concludes that
missionary work should be subtle and indirect: direct confrontation will not work. He also tries
hard to get people to send their children to the Christian school. At first, people only send their
lazy children. But more and more people begin to go as they realize that the ability to read and
write opens up great social mobility. The DC is surrounded by Africans from Umaru; these
literate subordinates earn high wages and how power in Umuofia. Mr. Brown's school begins to
produce results.
Soon after Okonkwo's return, Mr. Brown pays him a visit. He has sent Nwoye, now called Isaac,
to the teacher's college at Umaru; Mr. Brown hopes Okonkwo will be pleased by the news.
Okonkwo chases Mr. Brown away from his house, threatening the man with violence. The first
rainy season after Okonkwo returns home, Mr. Brown leaves Umuofia due to failing health from
overwork.
Okonkwo's return has not been as grand an event as he had hoped. The people are
troubled by the new religion and new government; they are occupied completely with these
changes. Okonkwo suffers, not only for personal reasons, but because he fears the clan is dying.

Chapter 22 Summary:

Mr. Brown's replacement is the Reverend James Smith, and he is not the tolerant and
wise man that Mr. Brown was. Mr. Smith is fanatic and uncompromising, seeing the world
entirely in terms of black and white. Under him, fanatics like Enoch flourish.
The festival of the earth goddess comes, when the egwugwu roam around the villages. It falls on
a Sunday, and so the main passages are blocked by the ceremonies, especially for women, who
have to maintain their distance from the masked spirits. On this occasion, the Christian women
who have gone to Church cannot return home. Some of the Christian men beg the egwugwu to
retire briefly, so that the women will be allowed to go home. The egwugwu agree. As they are
retiring, Enoch boasts arrogantly that they would not dare to touch a Christian. One of the
egwugwu strikes Enoch with a cane; Enoch unmasks him. To unmask an egwugwu is considered
a terrible sin. The Igbo believe it kills the egwugwu.

That night, the Mother of Spirits roams the villages, weeping for the death of her son.
The spectacle is terrifying. Mr. Smith hears it, and for the first time feels fear. The egwugwu
approach the church. They will not harm the people, but they could no longer allow the church to
work its evil among the Igbo. They destroy the building.

Chapter 23 Summary:

Okonkwo is pleased by the destruction of the church. At the clan meeting, he had urged
the destruction of the church, the killing of the white man, and the exile of all the Christians.
Though the clan decided only to destroy the church, Okonkwo is pleased that something was
done.

Mindful of what happened in Abame, the men walk around armed. However, soon
afterward the District Commissioner returns from his tour. He invites the leaders of Umuofia to
come meet with him. Six men are invited, among them Okonkwo. The meeting is a trap; the six
men are taking prisoner, and the DC demands the stiff fine of two hundred bags of cowries.

Ezinma, recently married, cuts short her stay with her husband to return home. She goes
to see Obierika to demand what the men plan to do. Obierika is off at a secret meeting, and
Ezinma is satisfied that someone is doing something.
In prison, Okonkwo and his colleagues are humiliated and beaten by the kotma, the African
messengers of the court. Days pass. A clan meeting is called, and the clan decides to pay the fine
of 250 bags of cowries. The fine was increased by the kotma, who will pocket the surplus.
Chapter 24 Summary:

The men are released, and they go home in silence. Okonkwo seethes with hatred. His
back bears the ugly stripes of the whip. A clan meeting is planned for the morning. Okonkwo
hopes that war is coming. He takes out his ceremonial war garb, and remembers the most
glorious war of his youth: Umuofia killed 12 men, while the other clan only killed two.

At the meeting, Okonkwo is ready to speak. He is worried that Egonwanne, a pacifist and
powerful orator, will sway the people to peace. He resolves to fight, even if he must fight alone.
The first man to speak is Okika, one of the six who was imprisoned. He begins a powerful
speech on the necessity of action. They must fight, even against the Christian converts. They
must resist before it is too late.

Five court messengers come up the path. Okonkwo rushes to block their way. He stands
before them, brimming with hatred. The court messenger tells them that the white man has
commanded this meeting to stop.

Okonkwo strikes the men down with his matchet. The other four men flee. Okonkwo
knows from the reaction of the clan that they will not choose war. They muttered in confusion
instead of seizing the other four messengers. In disgust, Okonkwo walks away.

Chapter 25 Summary:

The District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo's compound. He leads a small band of

soldiers and court messengers. They find Obierika and several other men gathered inside. The
DC fiercely asks Okonkwo to step forward. Obierika responds that he is not there. The DC
demands that they produce Okonkwo, or they will be thrown into jail. Obierika and the other
men mutter amongst themselves, and Obierika says he will take the DC to where Okonkwo is.
Perhaps the DC's men can help them. He leads them to a tree behind Okonkwo's compound.
Okonkwo has hanged himself.

No one in the clan can touch the body. Suicide is a crime against the earth goddess, and so the
body must be handled by outsiders. Obierika says bitterly to the DC that Okonkwo was one of
the greatest men of Umuofia. Because of the white man, he has been driven to suicide and will
be buried like an animal.

The DC is quite curious about Igbo customs. Okonkwo's death may make a lively paragraph in
the book he plans to write about the British victory over the savages of Africa. He has already
chosen a title: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.