Summary of Chapters 1-6: Things Fall Apart

In this story we learn about the Ibo tribe. The main character, Okonkwo is a tall, huge and famous man. He is known throughout the nine villages. He has a lot of power, everyone respects him; he is a wealthy farmer and has 3 wives. He supports his three wives and eight children; each wife has her own hut.

 

But his father, Unoka, who died ten years ago, was a thin and a debtor man. Everyone laugh at him. He was very poor and had lots of debts. 

Unoka once visited an Oracle and the Oracle told him that he failed because of his laziness. Unoka died of a shameful illness. Those suffering from swelling stomachs and limbs are left in the Evil Forest to die.

Okonkwo hated everything that Unoka had loved; his had a lot of fear of being like his father, fear of failure and weakness.

Okonkwo did not have the start in life that others had; Unoka was never able to have a successful harvest. Okonkwo asked wealthy clansman, Nwakibie, to give him 400 seed yams to start a farm, and he gave him eight hundred. Later, a friend of his father gave him another four hundred. Unfortunately Okonkwo just kept one third of the harvest. That year’s devastating harvest left a profound mark on Okonkwo.  

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo sees that his youngest wife is not in the house and she did not prepare the afternoon meal. When she came back he beats her. The priest says to Okonkwo that he has to sacrifice a nanny goat and a hen and pay a fine.

After the Week of Peace, the villagers begin to clear the land in preparation for planting their farms.

Okonkwo becomes angry, and he beat his second wife, Ekwefi. Then he decides to go hunting, he is not a good hunter, and so Ekwefi says something about guns that never shot. He gets angry, he shoots with the gun but he did not hurt her.

Here we can see how all the wives take care of each other.

The day after the feast is the annual wrestling contest; Ekwefi, in particular, enjoys the contest because Okonkwo won her heart when he defeated the Cat. Ezinma, Ekwefi’s only child, is Okonkwo´s favorite but rarely demonstrates his affection.

The wrestling match takes place on the village ilo. It was the first time people saw such a large crowd. The wrestling begins between boys of 15 or 16 years old. Maduka, wins one match. As the wrestling continues, Ekwefi speaks with Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves.  The last match was between the leaders of the teams: Okafo wins.

Things Fall Apart

Achebe, C. (1958) Things Fall Apart. New York: Reed Consumer Books.