GROUPE 22

THING FALL APART CHAPTER 22

Members :

AÏZANNON EVRARD

AGNOUN B. CELINE

BIBI AKANE Sylvain

CAPO-CHICHI Steeve D. O.

DOUTÉ André

ECHOUBIYI Noël

MINTONGNON DAVID

NAWIN AKOS

OUIN-OURO RAÏSSA

SERO PIERRE

SIHOUN Gabriel

SOTIBATE W. Hélène

ZATO Philomène

LECTURER : AGUESSY
 OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION
II. SUMMARY OF DE CHAPTER
III. STUDY OF THE CHARACTERS
a) Definition of character
b) Say weither the character is Round/Dynamic/Minor/Static/Flat
IV. THEMATIC STUDY
a) Minor theme
b) Main theme
V. FIGURE OF SPEECH
a) Definition
b) Inventory of the figures in the chapter
c) Definition and illustration of each figure speech
VI. THE WRITER’S STYLE
a) Definition of style
b) Cheking the use of diction and syntax with illustration
VII. Personal Stand

CONCLUSION
 I. INTRODUCTION

The novel Things Fall Apart (1958)is written by the late Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)

who was a Nigerian author. Thesetting of the novel is in the outskirtsof Nigeriaina small

fictional village, Umuofiajust before the arrival of white missionariesinto their land.Due to

the unexpected arrival of white missionaries in Umuofia, the villagers do not know how toreact to
the sudden cultural changesthat the missionariesthreaten to changewith their new

political structureand institutions. Hence, this essay aims at analysing the chapter 22 of the novel
Things fall apart.

II. SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER 22

Summary :

The new head of the Christian church, the Reverend James Smith, possesses nothing of Mr. Brown’s
compassion, kindness, or accommodation. He despises the way that Mr. Brown tried to lead the
church. Mr. Smith finds many converts unfamiliar with important religious ideas and rituals, proving
to himself that Mr. Brown cared only about recruiting converts rather than making them Christians.
He vows to get the church back on the narrow path and soon demonstrates his intolerance of clan
customs by suspending a young woman whose husband mutilated her dead ogbanje child in the
traditional way. The missionary does not believe that such children go back into the mother’s womb
to be born again, and he condemns people who practice these beliefs as carrying out the work of the
devil.

Each year, the Igbo clan holds a sacred ceremony to honor the earth deity. The egwugwu, ancestral
spirits of the clan, dance in the tradition of the celebration. Enoch, an energetic and zealous convert,
often provokes violent quarrels with people he sees as enemies. Approaching the egwugwu, who are
keeping their distance from the Christians, Enoch dares the egwugwu to touch a Christian, so one of
the egwugwu strikes him with a cane. Enoch responds by pulling the spirit’s mask off, a serious
offense to the clan because, according to Umuofian tradition, unmasking an egwugwu kills the
ancestral spirit.
The next day, the egwugwu from all the villages gather in the marketplace. They storm Enoch’s
compound and destroy it with fire and machetes. Enoch takes refuge in the church compound, but
the egwugwu follow him. Mr. Smith meets the men at the church door. Then the masked egwugwu
begin to move toward the church, but they are quieted by their leader, who belittles Mr. Smith and
his interpreter because they cannot understand what he is saying. He tells them that the egwugwu
will not harm Mr. Smith for the sake of Mr. Brown, who was their friend. Mr. Smith will be able to
stay safely in his house in Umuofia and worship his own god, but they intend to destroy the church
that has caused the Igbo so many problems. Through his interpreter, Mr. Smith tries to calm them
and asks that they leave the matter to him, but the egwugwu demolish his church to satisfy the clan
spirit momentarily.

III. STUDY OF THE CHARACTERS OF CHAPTER 22

a) Définition of character

A character is a person, animal, or object/thing presented as a person in a narrative. There are two
required elements of a story ; the first being characters, the second is the plot or events of the story.

b) Chapter 22 Round Dynamic Minor Static and Flat Characters

Mr James Smith : Round and Dynamic character

Enoch : Round and Dynamic character

Okeke : Minor and Flat character

Ajofia : Round and Dynamic character

The Egwugwu : Minor and Static character

IV. THEMATIC STUDY

a) Minor themes

The minors themes of thing fall apart chapter 22 are :

Intolérance

Thirst for quarrel

Revange

 Intolerance

Reverend Smith is a more extreme religious leader. He believes his faith is the one true faith, that he
has nothing to learn from the Umuofia, and he recognizes the power the whites now wield and so he
wants to create conflict
  Thirst of querel

The two religions finally clash in a major confrontation because Enoch destroys an important symbol
of the Umuofia religion when he pulls the mask off the egwugwu. Enoch, formerly powerless, here
makes a show of his newfound might.

 Revange

The clan retaliates against the Christians by doing the same thing that Enoch did—they destroy the
symbol of Christianity by burning down the church. Remember back to earlier judgments by the
egwugwu, in which they would adjudicate conflicts by determining what price a guilty person must
pay to make up their wrong action against another person. Here they do something similar : they
force the whites to pay a « fine » (losing their church) equal in value to their offense (ripping off the
mask). And they seem to think the matter is settled. But, of course, it is not. They have
misunderstood their own eroded power as well as the willingness of the Christians to accept or agree
that this is a fair exchange.

b) Main theme

The main theme of things fall apart chapter 22 is :

Religion

Religion is the main arena where both cultural differences and similarities play out in the chapter 22.
Religion represents order in both societies, but they manifest differently. While religion in Umuofia
society is based on agriculture, religion is seen as education in the white man’s world.

V. FIGURES OF SPEECH
a) Définition

A figure of speech is a creative use of language to generate an effect.

b) Inventory of the figures in the chapter

-Simile
-Personnification
-Metaphor
-Hyperbole
-Metonymy
-Oxymorone
-Synecdote
c) Definition and illustration of each figure speech

Definition :
Simile :

A simile is a figure of speech that describes something to be something else, but uses the words
“like” or “as” to do so.

Illustration :

Personnification :

It is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities
or abilities.

Illustration :

Metaphore :

An implied comparison made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.
Among the most common metaphors are those that refer to our senses of touch, taste, sight, hearing
and smell.

Illustration :

Hyperbole :

A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect ; an extravagant statement.

Illustration :

Metonymy :

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely
associated

Illustration :

Oxymorone :

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Illustration :

Synecdote :

A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole, the whole for a part, the specific for
the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing made from it.

Illustration :
 VI. THE WRITER’S STYLE

a) Definition of Style

Style in literature is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words — the
author’s word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work
together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text.

b) Cheking the use of diction and syntax with illustration

Use of diction :

-Informal diction

Illustration :

Use of syntax :

Illustration :