Things Fall Apart – June CC Book Club Selection

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna because he did not want to be thought weak. Later, he regretted it. </p>

<p>

Dazed with fear, Okonkwo raised his machete and cut him down.

</p>

<p>To me, it does not seem like he acted out of pride. I think a lot of the things he did were done out of fear, if only the fear of being like his father.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>I think we’re all drawing basically the same conclusions about Okonkwo—just getting a little sidetracked by semantics.</p>

<p>This is what I mean: It is true that Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna out of fear, but where does this fear come from? Baptist Theologian John Piper wrote, “Fear of men really is a mark of pride. It is presumptuous. […] When we allow ourselves to fear the displeasure of man, we are acting arrogantly. We are presuming to set our wisdom above God’s promise.” </p>

<p>That is how I see Okonkwo’s situation. The fear that drives him to strike down others stems from his prideful belief that it is his right and his destiny to be greater than other men.</p>

[PATheaterMom]

<p>It is such an interesting character study! I agree with Mary that Okonkwo is fearful of losing his identity and reputation as a fearsome and brave man. I think Achebe is masterful in telling the story from Okonkwo’s perspective. When Okonkwo got recognition as a young man it had to be so formative of his identity. It was the first really great thing that had happened to him and many good things followed.
The tragedy was that he tried to hold on to the glory of youth and never matured. All of his children and wives were more mature than he. His fear of losing the high regard he gained in youth overcame his compassion in the present.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I once went to a Conflict Resolution talk where we were told that all conflict comes from fear. I do see Okonkwo as both prideful and fearful and stuck in the past. As a character study it’s masterful, my problem is that I really don’t like reading books about people I dislike. And I did not like Okonkwo, not one bit!</p>

<p>I was just flipping through the book to remind myself of things and was shocked to see this conversation at the end of Chapter 15. Okonkwo is talking to Obierika who has been taking care of his yams while he is in exile. Okonkwo says, “I don’t know how to thank you.” Obierka replies, “I can tell you, kill one of your sons for me.” “That will not be enough,” Okonkwo says. “Then kill yourself”, Obierka replies. “Forgive me, I shall not talk about thanking you any more.”</p>

<p>Interesting forshadowing.</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>The best novels provide a degree of insight into – and even sympathy for – the flawed, unlikeable characters. I think Achebe did that with Okonkwo. At the end of the book I felt sorry for him.</p>

<p>To my mind, the book is not primarily a portrait of a bad man. Rather, it shows how certain individuals may embody the more brutal traits of a society. </p>

<p>Achebe’s genius lies in how he respects Ibo culture while deploring certain aspects of it and does exactly the same thing with the Christians.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

… my problem is that I really don’t like reading books about people I dislike. And I did not like Okonkwo, not one bit!

</p>

<p>I agree. I feel exactly the same way (which was my problem with The Glass Room - what a collection of unlikeable people passed through that house!) I wondered how I would feel - as the reader - had Achebe made “things fall apart” for a more sympathetic main character. I don’t think I feel as much sympathy for him as NJTM does.</p>

<p>Speaking of that gun misfiring … remember this passage with second wife Ekwefi:

Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping. Neither of the other wives dared to interfere beyond an occasional and tentative, ‘It is enough, Okonkwo,’ pleaded from a reasonable distance.</p>

<p>His anger thus satisfied, Okonkwo decided to go out hunting. He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith who had come to live in Umuofia long ago. But although Okonkwo was a great man whose prowess was universally acknowledged, he was not a hunter. In fact he had not killed a rat with his gun. And so when he called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun, the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. Unfortunately for her, Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. He threw down the gun and jumped into the barn, and there lay the very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. He heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun.

</p>

<p>Ekwefi’s comment nicks Okonkwo’s pride and he reacts. Here Achebe foreshadows the later killing of Okonkwo’s young clansman with the gun (and, if you think about it, his later hot-headed use of machete to kill the court messenger - violently reacting in anger.) Anyway, there’s accidentally misfiring a gun and then there’s incompetence with firearms. Okonkwo’s incompetence causes the “inadvertent crime.”</p>

<p>Back to the incident in which Okonkwo shoots at Ekwefi. He seems not to understand that action will meet up with consequence eventually. He shoots and then goes about the business of the day - praying for the well-being of his family (who might stand a better chance should he not beat or shoot at them.)

In spite of this incident the New Yam Festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo’s household. Early that morning as he offered a sacrifice of new yam and palm-oil to his ancestors he asked them to protect him, his children and their mothers in the new year.

</p>

<p>I think it’s only a matter of time before “things fall apart” for Okonkwo. The missionaries serve as a catalyst, a harbinger of a changed future. But I think Okonkwo would have ended up where he did regardless. His actions concern the tribe before the missionaries ever come.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

@NJTheatreMOM

Achebe’s genius lies in how he respects Ibo culture while deploring certain aspects of it and does exactly the same thing with the Christians.

</p>

<p>I agree. Achebe walks that line with skill and affection, which is one of the things I liked about the book. I was struck by the respect/deplore contrast during the section about the Week of Peace, a sacred time during which no work is done and “a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor” (p. 30). This beautiful tradition is juxtaposed in the same chapter with the clan’s ultimatum to its enemies to provide the village of Umuofia with a virgin and a boy, the former to be given away to a man she did not know and the latter to be brutally sacrificed. </p>

<p>

@buenavista

It was interesting that “Nwoye’s mother” was always referred to that way, or as his “first wife.” I don’t think we ever learned her name. Maybe that is how Achebe distances this family group, as opposed to Ekwefi and Ezinma?

</p>

<p>Okonkwo is a hard worker and a good provider and I think that earns him a certain amount of respect in the eyes of his wives, but there does not seem to be any deep abiding love, not even with Ekwefi. Okonkwo distances himself from his wives even more than is the cultural norm.</p>

<p>Do you remember the story of the death of the elderly Ogbuefi Ndulue? When he passed, his grieving wife Ozoemena lay down beside his body and died. The men discuss it:</p>

<p>

”It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind,” said Obierika. “I remember when I was a young boy there was a song about them. He could not do anything without telling her.”</p>

<p>“I did not know that,” said Oknonkwo. “I thought he was a strong man in his youth.”</p>

<p>“He was indeed,” said Ofoedu.</p>

<p>Okonkwo shook his head doubtfully.

</p>

<p>Okonkwo equates love with weakness. He never learns that it is from loving and being loved by others that we draw our greatest strength.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@NJTM

Achebe’s genius lies in how he respects Ibo culture while deploring certain aspects of it and does exactly the same thing with the Christians.

</p>

<p>I agree. To me, the strength of the book lay therein.</p>

[12rmh18]

<p>I’m having a hard time posting from a hotel with spotty Internet, so I’ll keep my comments short. I felt the same way as mathmom about Okonkwo being an unlikeable character, which was my initial reaction to the book. The one vignette where Okokwo demonstrated love was when he followed Chielo & Enzinma into the Evil Forest out of concern for his beloved daughter. But for the most part, he seemed to equate love with weakness, hence his participation in poor Ikefuma’s death. I agree that Achebe managed to respect both Ibo & Christian cultures while showing the collision of those cultures. This discussion has given me insight on parts of the book that I overlooked and I may read the rest of the trilogy. Thank you.</p>

[buenavista]

<p>

The tragedy was that he tried to hold on to the glory of youth and never matured. All of his children and wives were more mature than he. His fear of losing the high regard he gained in youth overcame his compassion in the present.

</p>

<p>I agree. I don’t think he knew how to do anything else. He sort of raised himself, and didn’t have parental guidance in how to behave, so he only knew to survive. He’d figured out the rules in his world and how to become a success, but flexibility was not one of his strengths. Adapting to change is a constant in the modern world, and whether or not we’re good at it, we’re used to it. Okonkwo wasn’t.</p>

[SouthJerseyChessMom]

<p>just chiming in to say I’m enjoying this discussion, and following from the sidelines.</p>

<p>I started the book about two weeks ago, liked it a lot,but became distracted with some other books friends were encouraging me to read, and didn’t get back to When Things Fall Apart in time for the discussion —
my bad. </p>

<p>Carry on---- interesting!!!</p>

[Mary13]

<p>12rmh18, I hope your spotty hotel internet at least means you are on vacation having a wonderful time somewhere!</p>

<p>Hi SouthJerseyChessMom! We’ve missed you. :)</p>

<p>

@12rmh18

I felt the same way as mathmom about Okonkwo being an unlikeable character, which was my initial reaction to the book.

</p>

<p>

@ignatius

I feel exactly the same way (which was my problem with The Glass Room - what a collection of unlikeable people passed through that house!) I wondered how I would feel - as the reader - had Achebe made “things fall apart” for a more sympathetic main character.

</p>

<p>

@buenavista

He sort of raised himself, and didn’t have parental guidance in how to behave, so he only knew to survive. He’d figured out the rules in his world and how to become a success, but flexibility was not one of his strengths.

</p>

<p>^ I think these comments dovetail nicely. I didn’t like Okonkwo either. Who would? He was terribly self-centered and his glimmers of kindness were few and far between. But unlike the characters in The Glass House–who were as shallow and as one-dimensional as they come—Okonkwo has depth and complexity. He is not a good man, but he is written in such a way that we struggle to discover why that is, and we care about the world he inhabits. </p>

<p>I don’t think I would have found the book quite as compelling if Okonkwo had been a sympathetic character. His difficult personality added another challenging layer to the story, and made me reflect particularly on the concept of compassion – my own as well as the characters’. I felt somewhat indifferent to Okonkwo’s suffering and his suicide, and afterwards felt uncomfortable about my response. Should there be degrees of how badly we feel when tragedy befalls someone else? As St. Matthew put it, “If you love only those who love you, what virtue is there in that?”</p>

<p>Achebe creates characters that seem real to me and make me want to understand them better–and by extension, understand myself better. I think that’s one of the hallmarks of a great book.</p>

[SouthJerseyChessMom]

<p>Well done Mary13^^^</p>

[sylvan8798]

<p>I’ve read several books where the main character committed suicide at the end. Usually, I hated it and felt like it was a cop-out on the part of the author. However, in the case of Okonkwo, it seemed to make sense and to be the natural way to end the story. It sort of punctuates the theme that change is going to mean the end of the old ways and the beginning of the new ones.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>

4. The threads of the story are related in a circular fashion, as opposed to a conventional linear time pattern. What effect does this impose on the tale of Ikemefuma? What effect does it have on the story of Ezinma?

</p>

<p>I’m not sure I fully understand what a circular story structure is. I had mentioned in post 43 that the linear plot made the book easy to read. Oops. I just meant that the order of events is easy to follow: there are no dream sequences or lengthy flashbacks, the story isn’t told in reverse order, there is no time travel, and there are no journal entries from characters with amnesia ;). </p>

<p>I looked at this website, but soon I became befuddled and yellow story nodes began to dance before my eyes: [Storytelling:</a> Story Structure](<a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jparise/research/storytelling/structure/]Storytelling:”>Storytelling: Story Structure)</p>

<p>Then I found this: <a href=“http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/novelwise_hs/find/bytitlepdf/thingsfallapart_pdfs/t_f_apart_plot.pdf[/url]”>http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/novelwise_hs/find/bytitlepdf/thingsfallapart_pdfs/t_f_apart_plot.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And now I need to find someone to help me fill it out. Anyone have any thoughts on the circular structure of the novel?</p>

[psychmom]

<p>Mary, I was nodding along when I read your post about the book being straightforward and a good choice for students.</p>

<p>I think “circular” in this instance refers to the father/son dynamic: it opens with the shameful death of one and closes the same way with the other. It goes around in circles. That would mean Nwoye is headed for the same fate :(</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>I’d say that these are the plot elements that lead from the death of Okonkwo’s father to his own death:</p>

<ul>
<li>Beating of wife Ouiigo during Week of Peace.</li>
<li>Shooting gun at Ekwefi.</li>
<li>Killing Ikemefuna.</li>
<li>Exile.</li>
<li>Murder of court messenger.</li>
</ul>

<p>I’m not entirely sure what is meant by circularity!</p>

[ignatius]

<p>^^^ I’d describe that as linear.</p>

<p>In my oh-so-very-humble opinion, Achebe writes in a circular fashion. One example of many:</p>

<p>Chapter One

… he came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna.

</p>

<p>Chapter Two

And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo’s household.

</p>

<p>and not until Chapter Seven does Achebe circle back

For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo’s household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him.

</p>

<p>One definition of circular structure that also - to me - takes into account the addition of parables found in Things Fall Apart:

CIRCULAR STRUCTURE: A type of artistic structure in which a sense of completeness or closure does not originate in coming to a “conclusion” that breaks with the earlier story; instead, the sense of closure originates in the way the end of a piece returns to subject-matter, wording, or phrasing found at the beginning of the narrative, play, or poem. An example of circular structure might be “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” which ends with an ellipsis identical to the opening sequence, indicating that the middle-aged protagonist is engaging in yet another escapist fantasy. Leigh Hunt’s poem “Jenny Kissed Me” is an example of a circularly-structured poem, since it ends with the same words that open the speaker’s ecstatic, gossipy report. Langdon Smith’s poem “Evolution” is circular in its concluding repetition of the opening phrase, “When you were a tadpole, and I was a fish,” but it is also thematically circular, in that it implies the cycle of reincarnated love will continue again and again in spite of death. In many ways, the smaller tales within a larger frame narrative act as part of a circular structure, because each small tale begins by breaking the reader away from the larger, encompassing narrative and concludes by returning the reader to that larger frame-narrative.

</p>

<p>[Literary</a> Terms and Definitions C](<a href=“http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_C.html]Literary”>http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_C.html)</p>

<p>Here’s the poem Evolution mentioned above:[The</a> Wondering Minstrels: Evolution – Langdon Smith](<a href=“http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.com/2000/09/evolution-langdon-smith.html]The”>The Wondering Minstrels: Evolution -- Langdon Smith)</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

4. The threads of the story are related in a circular fashion, as opposed to a conventional linear time pattern. What effect does this impose on the tale of Ikemefuma? What effect does it have on the story of Ezinma?

</p>

<p>I meant to add above that we know before we meet Ikemefuma that he is a “doomed lad” and “ill-fated” and later that he lives in Okonkwo’s household three years. Eventually Achebe circles back with Ikemefuma’s story. Our foreknowledge affects how we view Ikemefuma before we even meet him. By the way, Achebe’s circular storytelling made it harder for me to keep track of characters. Unoka “dies” (When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt) - or so I thought - in Chapter One and then Achebe “circles” back to his story in Chapter Three.</p>

[12rmh18]

<p>Thank you for the explanation, ignatius. I have learned something new today about structure and circular storytelling. </p>

<p>Unfortunately I am traveling and my copy of the book is on the other side of the country so I can’t easily reference it. But I did want to note that the local bookstore had a table displaying books recommended for new HS graduates (today) and “Things Fall Apart” was one of the books included in the display.</p>