THINGS FALL APART
BUT THEY ARE GETTING BETTER
Clan Course
In this segment you will get summary of the book chapter by chapter along with a Clan Course Video. This will help you understand while you’re reading the book. It also helps you develop a mental image of not only what’s going on, but the background as well.
Part 1
Chapters 1-13
Chapter 1:
In chapter one you get to know about the setting, its nine connecting villages including the main characters village, Iguedo. Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. Okonkwo won his honor when he was young; he flipped the “Amalinze the Cat” in a wrestling match. Okonkwo despises his father because he is a weak man who always borrows money from people, but never repays them. He tries to forget about his father but can’t because his Son, Nwoye, is very similar to, feminine and lazy.
Chapter 2:
Because of an unsolved murder, war is threatening to break out between Umuofia and a neighboring village, Mbanio. The only way to stop the war was Mbanio had to give them a young boy and a virgin, and so they did.
Chapter 3:
Unlike his father, Okonkwo is a successful farmer. He has many fields of yams. He also owns his Obi (house), a shrine, a barn, and a house for each of his 3 wives. When he was young he had to build his own fortune. Usually a tradition in these tribes where to leave your belongings to your child, but Okonkwo didn’t receive any because of all the debts his father owned. His father eventually dies from a shameful illness, swelling of the stomach and limbs. He went off into the evil forest to die an ill-fated death.
Chapter 4:
In the beginning, Ikemefuna was scared of being around Okonkwo because of his extremely powerful reputation, but eventually he started to get accustomed. Okonkwo treated him like more of a son than Nwoye. Although Okonkwo has feelings towards Ikemefuna he can’t show it because of the Oracle. On the Week of Peace, Okonkwo broke a rule by beating up one of his wives. As penance he had to sacrifice two animals and pay a fine.
Chapter 5:
Every year before the harvest, the village holds the annual Feast of the New Yam to thank the earth goddess, Ani. For preparation, women decorate their huts, throw away unused yams, and paint their and their children’s skin with festive colors. During these festive times Okonkwo beats up his second wife, Ekwefi. After that insistent he decides to go hunting, while hunting he aims a gun at her but fails to hit. A flash back also occurs of Ekwefi remembering how she fell in love with Okonkwo at a wrestling match (she ran away from her husband).
Chapter 6:
During the festival, wrestling matches occurs. Maduka (son of Okonkwo’s friend Obierika) wins his match in seconds. Ekwefi also speaks to Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle. They speak of Ezinma. The priestess refers to her as my child because she has past the age of 10 and of being an ogbanje (an evil child who dies and reenters their mother’s womb to cause pain).
Chapter 7:
Ikemefuna had been with Okonkwo’s family for three years now. Okonkwo always invites Nwoye and Ikemefuna to listen to war stories, but instead Ikemefuna goes to his mother’s obi to listen to her stories. This shows Okonkwo that his real son is getting to feminine. Later on Locusts flood their crops (this tends to happen every 7 years) and destroys most of it. When the villager find out that Ikemefuna refers to Okonkwo as father, they tell him that the oracle says that he cannot participate in the young boy’s death. When it is time to kill Ikemefuna, Okonkwo lies to him and tells him that heir taking him home. When their out of the village Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna to prove that he doesn’t have an emotional attachment.
Chapter 8:
Okonkwo later goes into a state of depression, even when Ezinma brings him food, he refuses. With all of her help, Okonkwo can’t stop wishing that Ezinma was a boy so he’d have a son that he could be proud of. Later on a man’s wife died so they help a proper burial. Also Obierka ask Okonkwo for help on how to deal with his daughter’s bride price.
Chapter 9:
For a couple nights Okonkwo finally sleeps well. One night Ekwefi knocks at his door and tells him that Ezinma is dying. Okonkwo knows that is just a fever so he calls for medicine. The medicine man warned them that she might be an Ogbanje (evil child). When she was little she suffered an illness but then recovered. When she was 9, a medicine man found her an iyi-uwa (small rock that links ogbanhie’s physical link to the spirit world).
Chapter 10:
The village holds a ceremonial gathering or court. The trial was about a man and his wife. The problem was that the man would frequently beat his wife, so one day the wife’s brothers stole her. In the end the husband paid the brothers palm wine to return her. Also the brothers told the husband that if he ever beat their sister up again, they’ll cut off his gentiles.
Chapter 11:
Ezinma heals and her mother tells her a story about a tortoise and a birds. The priestess then informs Ekwefi that she wants to talk to Ezinma. The priestess takes Ezinma to the oracles cave. The priestess told her parents to stay away but they did not comply and went with them anyway.
Chapter 12:
Nothing really happens with Ezinma. But once they arrive at their village Obierka holds Uri, a betrothal ceremony for Obierika’s daughter. All the women in the village help make the food for this giant occasion.
Chapter 13:
Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s death is announced. Ezeudu was a great warrior so his funeral was very big. While beating the drums and firing guns, Okonkwo accidently shoots Ezeudu’s 16 year old son. And for doing this he and his family were sentenced to 7 year of exile. So Okonkwo gathers his belongs and moves his family to his mother land. As their leaving they watch other clan members’ burn down his houses and farms.
Part 2
Chapters 14-20
Chapter 14:
Okonkwo and his family are exiled to his mother's homland .Okonkwo's family is welcomed by Uchendo, younger brother of Okonkwo's mother, and other relatives of
Okonkwo's mother. Along the way, the villagers help the family start a new life. They begin to build huts and grow yams. Okonkwo is very disappointed by the fact
that he is in exile. Uchendo, Okonkwo's uncle, encourages Okonkwo by reminding him that he also lost everything and yet he's still alive.
Chapter 15:
Two years later, Obierika, who is selling Okonkwo's yams until he returns, brings cowries to Okonkwo. While his stay, he tells a story about a village that no longer exists, Abame. A white man appeared on an 'iron horse' and the Oracle warned the villagers saying that more would come and destroy the village. Out of fear the villagers killed the man and hung the bicycle unto a tree in the middle of the village. When the
other men found out, they murdered the entire village. In the end, Okonkwo and Uchendo called the Abame people fools because they should've been prepared to attack.
Chapter 16:
Obierika returns to the village and begs Okonkwo to tell the story of
how Nwoye converted to Christianity. However, Okonkwo refuses to tell the story. Through Nwoye's mother, Obierika hears the full story. One day, the villagers visited the white men to see where they lived. Most of the villagers paid no attention because they sang hymns and spoke in a different language.
Chapter 17:
The converters wanted to build a church and so the villagers offered
them a piece of land in the Evil Forest, hoping that they will not accept it. The missionaries were not afraid of the myths the villagers told and so they started building the church. Within a few weeks, the church is built and nothing happens to the white men which surprises the villagers. Soon more and more villagers are converted, including Nwoye. When Okonkwo
finds out, he disowns his son.
Chapter 18:
The villagers and the missionaries lived in peace for while until
the white man's church gained more and more converts. The church
even accepted the village outcasts. An incident occurs where a convert
kills a royal python which was the most respected animal in the tribe. Okonkwo suggests to use violence against the white men and instead the clansman decided to exclude them.
Chapter 19:
As the exile comes to an end, Okonkwo regrets his banishment and seeing the seven years as a lost opportunity to better himself. Okonkwo decides to throw a feast for his relatives and thank them. At the end of the feast, an elder gives a warning to the younger generation, fearing the clans would split.
Chapter 20:
Okonkwo makes plans to build more huts for two more wives. Basically his plans are to make him look more superior and wealthy. But when he
arrives at the village, he realizes that the Christians have gained a lot of
land. The villagers are consumed by Christianity and Okonkwo doesn't
understand why they are not fighting back.
Part 3
Chapters 21-25
Chapter 21:
Okonkwo believes that the white men should be kicked out of the village, but not everyone agrees. Mr. Brown, the leader of the converts, and Akunna, the clan leader, often meet and discuss issues in public. The year Okonkwo returns, Mr. Brown leaves for health reasons and Okonkwo is upset that his return hasn't created a great commotion. His daughters recieved good proposals and his sons gained titles, yet he spends most of his time thinking about the strong men in Umuofia have become womanly to
go against the Christians.
Chapter 22:
Mr. Brown is replaced by Mr. Smith who is more strict and has no tolerance for the Igbo culture. He encourages the new converts to humiliate the villagers. Enoch, one of the new converts, taunts an egwuegwu and unmasks the egwuegwu. Following the crime, the head of the egwuegwu burns down the church.
Chapter 23:
After the destruction of the church, the men of Umuofia carry weapons just in case the white men attacks. Five days after the burning of the church, the District Commissioner invites Okonkwo and other men to talk about the incident. Okonkwo
decides to ambush them, but instead the District Commissioner arrests them. The District Commissioner sets a price of their release which is two hundred bags of cowries. The next
morning the villagers gather two hundred and fifty bags of cowries.
Chapter 24:
Once Okonkwo and the other men are released they plan for revenge. The next morning, the
village meets and discuss if they should go to war. Once the kotma comes and tells them to stop the
meeting Okonkwo is furious and behead one of the kotma. Once Okonkwo realizes that the clansmen
where frightened by the court messengers, he knows that Umuofia will not go to war.
Chapter 25:
The District Commissioner and his guards arrive at Okonkwo's compound and ask to see Okonkwo. Oberika agrees to take them to see Okonkwo. Soon they find his
body dangling from a tree. Oberkia tells the men that only strangers may touch his body and they'll need to bury the body and do the proper rituals. As the Commissioner leaves, he considers to include Okonkwo in his book that he is writing, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. (Underline of Italicize)
Written by Ivana Vega and Randy Chung
Edited by
Videos by Micah Leval
Videos edited by Olivia Carbajal, Calene Balthazar-Suda and Amelia Imada