Comilla University

Department of English

Worksheet on Things Fall Apart

Course Title: Post-colonial Literature -1

Course Code: Eng- 414

Submitted to:

Dr. Banani Biswas

Associate Professor

Department of English, Comilla University

Submitted by:

Nadia Sultana

ID: 11701012

Session: 2016-17

Department of English, Comilla University

Date of submission: 30/08/2021

1. Make a profile of Chinua Achebe

Ans:

Chinua Achebe is one of the famous and well-known African writers in the
world of literature. He was born in Nigeria in 1930 and passed his
childhood in Ogidi. In 1958, he published his first novel named Things Fall
Apart. It involves an urgent put in African literature and remains the
foremost broadly examined, instructed and perused African novel.
Achebe sought to escape the colonial perspective that predominated
African literature, and drew from the traditions of the Igbo people,
Christian influences, and the clash of Western and African values to create
a uniquely African voice. His work focuses on the themes of colonialism,
post-colonialism, and the tumultuous political atmosphere in post-colonial
Nigeria. His style relies heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines
straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and
oratory because Achebe was very heavily influenced by his native Igbo
culture in Eastern Nigeria as well as his father’s desire for all his children
to earn their education.
Nigeria was writhed in a civil war between 1967 and 1970 as the Igbo
individuals endeavored to create their own republic, Biafra. Achebe was
dynamic in publicizing this battle internationally. After the rebellion was
crushed, Achebe left Nigeria and became a Professor of English in the
United States, first at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and later
at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Eventually he returned to Nigeria
and taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The last novel published in 1987 by Achebe was Anthills of the Savannah.
Three years later he was paralyzed in a car accident occurred in Lagos,
Nigeria and eventually, on March 22, 2013 he passed away in Boston.

2. The publication year of The Things Fall Apart is – Ans: 1958.

3. How many languages is the novel translated in? Ans: 50.
4. Who illustrated the new Heinemann edition of the book? Ans.: Dennis Carabine.
5. What is the difference between ‘English’ and ‘english’?
Ans:
English and english are two sorts of form which have contrasts in their field of
language. English beginning with capital letter alludes to the international form of
the language. It is additionally a sign of control that demonstrates how the colonial
animosity colonized the major parts of the world and spread their language.
 However, ‘english’ starting with the small letter is the native version of English
loaded with words driven from the local language. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua
Achebe uses many english words which are actually his native Igbo words.
6. What is Achebe’s stance on using ‘english’ as a language of writing?
Ans:
Achebe’s stated goal was to create a ‘new’ and more African English. He says that
if he was to write for the people of Nigeria, he had to write in the one language
they all understood, English. In Things Fall Apart, the first method Achebe used to
create, “a new English” is the introduction of Igbo words and phrases directly into
the text without translation.
7. Where is the title taken from?
Ans.: The title of the book was taken from a poem called “The Second Coming” by
William Butler Yeats.
8. Write down the significance of the title:
Ans: The title of the novel foreshadows a tragedy taking place at the end of the
novel. The title depicts not only the tragedy of an individual but also the tragedy of
a society. Although Okonkwo was rich in the beginning, he met a tragic fate at the
end of the novel. The writer Achebe portrays in his novel that how a well-known,
ambitious and respected character Okonkwo’s life fallen apart. Consequently, his
whole tribe suffered. Thus, the novel shows the failing apart of Okonkwo’s life and
his entire society.
9. How many parts the novel is divided into?
Ans.: The novel is divided into 3parts.
10. What is the Part-I about?
Ans: The Part-I of the novel Things Fall Apart emphasizes Okonkwo’s coming of
age and his attempts to distance himself from the disreputable legacy of his father,
Unoka.
11. What is the Part-II about?
Ans: The writer discussed the arrival of Okonkwo in Mbanta to begin his seven-
year exile in the Part-II of the novel. Then his maternal uncle, Uchendu, now a
village elder, welcomes him. Uchendu anticipates what has happened, listening to
Okonkwo’s story.
12. What is the Part-III about?
Ans: The Part-III of Things Fall Apart is about the return to Umuofia which
Okonkwo planned in the first year of exile. He was determined to compensate for
the seven years he considered as wasted.
13. What is the setting (spatial and periodical) of the novel?
 Ans:
Umofia- Okonkwo’s home village
Mbanta- village of Okonkwo’s mother
Abame- a nearby village
Mbaino- a nearby village
Evil Forest- cursed area, given to missionaries for new church
The Oracle- place where the priestess interprets the warnings or suggestion of the
gods.
Things Fall Apart takes place sometime in the final decade of the nineteenth
century in Igboland, is now known as Nigeria. In Igboland, clusters of villages
band together to protect each other and guarantee their own safety. The action of
Things Fall Apart centers on the fictional village of Umuofia, made up by the so
called ‘nine villages’. The novel is set in the 1890s, at the beginning of the British
colonial incursion into Igboland.
14. Introduce the Igbo (history, social and political structures, religion).
Ans:
History: The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. Before the
twentieth century, it would have been incorrect to speak of the Igbo as a single
people; they were made up of over two hundred separate groups. However, during
the colonial period (1900-1960) many Igbo people ventured far from home and
congregated in urban centers. An Igbo creation myth relates that in the beginning
the surface on the earth was covered by water and no humans lived on it. Then one
day Chukwu (God) created the first human family, composed of Eze Nri, his wife,
his sons and his daughters. The story establishes the Igbo people’s belief in a
supreme God (Chukwu) who created all things and demanded obedience.
Archeological evidence shows today’s Igbo people and their ancestors have been
settled in roughly the same geographical region for two thousand years or more.
Over time, the Igbo improved their technological skills and began to produce
sophisticated metal tools such spearheads, arrowheads, swords, hoes, knives,
earrings, finger rings, bracelets, and so on.
Social and political structures: The lack of centralized political structures was the
striking feature of Igbo society. Relationships of Igbo were based on blood ties.
 Each traced his or her descent to three groups, i.e. uno, umunna and obodo. Obodo
was the highest territorially defined authority of the Igbo. The members of a
lineage were blood relatives. A headman (onyisi) who usually acquires the position
by virtue of his age, headed each house, lineage and town in Igbo society. The
significant lineage and house meetings were held in the obi, meeting shed of the
most senior elders.
Religion: Igbo religion has a direct conflict with a monotheistic religion like
Christianity which has the belief of one God. According to the belief of Igbo
religion, there are multiple gods and goddesses representing every facet of life and
the ancestors who had walked the earth in previous lifetimes.

15. What is the Igbo view of ‘ancestors? What idea of this life and life after
death you can figure out from their view?
Ans:
Ancestors in Igbo ontology often called Ndiichie or Ndibunze are those men and
women who led good and exemplary lives when they were in the physical world,
and are believed to continue their existence in the spiritual world. The Igbo’s
ancestors believed that good harvests and a good afterlife would come only if they
please their gods and ancestral spirits, but they could achieve this aim only with the
help of masks and masquerades.

16. Write down the concept of Chi:

Ans:
Chi, the ambivalent role of the personal guardian spirit’s concept is discussed at
various points throughout the novel. The chi is an individual’s personal God,
whose merit is determined by the individual’s good fortune or lack thereof. One
can explain Okonkwo’s tragic fate as the result of problematic chi – a thought that
occurs to Okonkwo at several points in the novel. However, there is another
understanding of chi that conflicts with the definition of Chapter 04. According to
an Igbo proverb, that “when a man says yes his chi says yes also.” Thus, depending
upon our interpretation of chi, Okonkwo seems either more or less responsible for
his own tragic death.
17. Write down the concept of Nneka:
Ans: Nneka, meaning “Mother is Supreme” – a man belongs to his fatherland and
stays there when life is good. On the contrary, he seeks refuge in his motherland
when life is challenging. Nneka is a woman having four pregnancies that resulted
in twins. Twins are considered as evil by the Igbo, they must be taken to the Evil
Forest and left to die from exposure to the elements. Nneka is heartbroken by the
deaths of her children. Moreover, Nneka was the first woman who joined the
Christians in the villages.

18. What is autobiographical in the novel?

Ans: Born in 1930, Chinua Achebe was brought up in a pioneer Christian family in
Ogidi, in Nigeria. Achebe is the author of many novels, short stories, essays, and
children’s books. Things Fall Apart, his first novel, was published in 1958. He
describes his childhood as being “at the crossroads of cultures”. In the course of a
distinguished academic and literary career, much of it in exile. Achebe has been
the recipient of many awards, beginning with the Margaret Wrong Memorial Prize
in 1959 for Things Fall Apart.
19. Introduce Okonkwo:
Ans: Okonkwo, the son of the effeminate and lazy Unka, is renowned as a wrestler,
a fierce warrior and a successful farmer of yams. He has three wives and many
children who live in huts on his compound. Throughout his life, he wages a never-
ending battle for status. He rejects everything for which he believes his father
stood. Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals and becomes productive,
wealthy, thrifty, brave and violent. As a result of embracing these ideals he
achieves great social and financial success. Moreover, Okonkwo’s life is
dominated by the fear of weakness and failure. He find himself unable to adapt to
changing times as the white man comes to live among the Umuofians.
20. Note down 5 significant Igbo proverbs:
Ans: The five significant Igbo proverbs are mentioned below:
01. Ura ga-eju onye nwuru anwu afo – A dead person shall have all the sleep
necessary.
02. Gidi gidi bu ugwu eze – Unity is strength.
03. Choo ewu ojii ka chi di – Make hay while the sun shines.
04. Oge adighi eche mmadu – Time and tide wait for nobody.
05. Ihe di woro ogori azuala na ahia – What was secret is revealed in the market
place.
21. Name 5 Igbo customs:
Ans: The five Igbo customs are given below:
 01. Polytheistic religion
02. Father-son inheritance
03. Farming traditions
04. Belief in evil spirits
05. Alusi Worship
22. Name 5 Igbo superstitions:
Ans:
01. The belief in the silk-cotton tree as home to the good spirits of children waiting
to be born.
02. The belief in Ogbanje, which were wicked children who usually died at an early
age, and who then re-entered their mother’s womb to be born again.
03. There was the Oracle of the Hills and the caves in which the oracle was called
Agbala, the woman who then got possessed by the spirit when the clan sought
knowledge from the God through her. The people would usually listen to
everything that the oracle said because they thought it wise.
04. They were scared of night time (except on moonlit nights) as they thought it
was when the evil spirits come out.
05. The Week of Peace which took place the week before the Igbo started to plant
their yam crops. It was called this way because they believed that no violence
should be spread around.
23. Name 5 Igbo ceremonies/festivals:
Ans: The names of 5 Igbo festivals are given below:
01. The Feast of the New Yams
02. Funerals Celebration
03. Egwugwu Ceremony
04. Bride Price Ritual
05. Isa-Ifa Ceremony
24. Introduce Igbo calendar or counting system.
Ans: The Igbo Calendar is the traditional calendar system of the Igbo people from
present-day Nigeria. Unlike the Gregorian calendar it has 13 months in a year
(afo), 7 weeks in a month (onwa), and 4 days of in a week. These days are-
✓ afor
✓ nkwo
✓ eke
✓ orio
✓ izu (an extra day at the end of the year in the last month)
The Igbo man works in the farm for only three days and rests completely from
farming on the fourth day. The name of these months were reported by
Onwuejeogwu (1981).
25. Is Igbo a peaceful or war-loving community? Substantiate you view.
Ans:
From my point of view, Igbo is a war-loving community. Since, the Igbo now play
politics with everything including security and welfare of their communities. In the
past, the Igbo did things through the communal way. But things are no longer the
same. They have been driven apart. Craze for wealth, land dispute, selfishness and
individualism are now the order of the day. In the earlier days, the community used
to enforce laws and punish the offenders; but today it is mostly determined by
which party you belong to in the community. Now most of the people are even
afraid to visit their communities due to insecurity. In the past, Igbo land was
known to be a place of peace, unity, security and progress. Today, the situation is
no more the same, Igbo land has changed and the situation is no longer what it
used to be. In these circumstances, I think that, Igbo is a war-loving community.
26. Why is speaking an art for the Igbo?
Ans: Speaking is an art for the Igbo people because the lack of overall
centralization among the Igbo-speaking peoples has been conducive to the
development of a great variety of art styles and cultural practices.
27. Make 5 comments on the status of Igbo women:
Ans: In the novel Things Fall Apart, 5 comments on the status of Igbo women are
discussed below:
01. They are known to be so kind and caring.
02. Participate in village meeting
03. Bearing children – They do not just take care of their own biological children;
they also take care of other children around them especially those that are kept
within their care.
04. They love, support and take care of their husbands and relations.
05. They play a subservient role in the society.
28. How are the disputes settled in Igbo community?
Ans: Conflicts and disputes of Igbo community were resolved mainly by
mediation. The mechanisms for conflict resolution in pre-colonial Igbo society
were embedded in the traditional and culture of the people.
29. What is the tragic-flaw of Okonkwo?
Ans: Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo is a
tragic hero in the classical sense; although he is a superior character, his tragic
flaw- the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence- brings about
his own destruction. Throughout his life, he wages a never ending battle for status,
his life is dominated by the fear of weakness and failure.
30. Could Okonkwo avoid the killing of Ikemefuna? How?
 Ans: No, because he was afraid of being thought weak.
However, Okonkwo doesn’t want to appear weak in front of his fellow clansmen.
Oracle has decreed that Ikemefuna must be killed but Okonkwo should not be the
only person to kill him, since Ikemefuna regards Okonkwo as a father. After killing
Ikemefuna, Okonkwo feels extremely depressed and ashamed. He refuses to eat for
two consecutive days and drinks palm wine from morning till night.
31. Okonkwo’s gun explodes in the funeral ceremony of the oldest person who once
warned Okonkwo not to take part in the killing of the boy who called Okonkwo
‘father’. Can you connect the dots?
Ans: Okonkwo’s gun goes off unexpectedly during Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s funeral,
accidentally killing the dead man’s son. Killing a clansman, even unintentionally,
constitutes a crime against the earth goddess. To compensate for the crime and
protect the rest of the villagers from the wrath, Ezeudu’s descendants burn
Okonkwo’s compound, slaughter his livestock, and banish him from the village for
a period of seven years.
32. Why does Nwoye convert to Christianity? If it is due to some inhuman practices of
Igbo, what is Achebe’s message regarding it? Can you connect it to the tragic-flaw
of Okonkwo?
Ans: Nwoye converts to Christianity largely to reject the excessive standard of
masculinity his father wants him up to uphold. Nwoye is not like his father at all
and Okonkwo constantly punishes him for being different. Moreover, Okonkwo’s
tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. Stifled by his father’s expectations,
Nwoye runs away and joins the European church. Nwoye’s conversion also
provides him an opportunity to learn reading as well as writing which feeds his
love of storytelling.
33. How would you explain the tying of iyi-uwa of an ogbanje and the death of the
killer of the Royal Python? Is there anything uncanny then in traditional Igbo
belief? Pointing to some brutal customs, can you figure out the ambivalent stance
of Achebe?
Ans: iyi-uwa – a special stone linking an ogbanje child and the spirit world. The
ogbanje is protected as long as the stone is not discovered and destroyed. In
chapter 6, Ekwefi was hopeful that Ezinma had ‘come to stay’. This observation
foreshadowed that Ezinma was no longer an ogbanje because the medicine man
dug up her iyi-uwa.
34. Why does Umofia start falling after the exile of Okonkwo? Is the fate of Umofia
parallel to that of Okonkwo?
 Ans: Okonkwo’s seven-year exile from his village reinforces his notion that men
are stronger than women. He faults the villagers of Umuofia for their preference of
negotiation, compliance, and avoidance over anger and bloodshed. Okonkwo’s gun
goes off unexpectedly and killing a clansman constitutes a crime against the earth
goddess. To compensate for the crime and protect the rest of the villagers from the
earth goddess’s wrath, Ezeudu’s descendants burn Okonkwo’s compound,
slaughter his livestock, and banish him from the village for a period of seven years.
35. Who are the early converts? Why do they leave Igbo?
Ans: There are three converts- villages who have converted to Christianity- boast
that the Mbanta gods are dead and that they will burn their shrines. Nneka is one of
them. Nneka was the first female convert by the Christian church in Mbaino.
Nneka converts because was is pregnant and does not want to throw her twins
away as is the religion custom of the villagers.
36. What else come along with the white men? How do those institutions contribute to
the disintegration of the Igbo?
Ans:
The major change introduced by the white men was the Christian church. The
white man’s government assumes a central role. These changes are reported by
Achebe in an ironic tone, as if the establishment of a government by the white
colonialists was the Igbo’s first experience with government.
One of the Achebe’s goals in writing this novel was to demonstrate that the Igbo
had developed a sophisticated society, religion, and justice system. Achebe takes
great pains to illustrate not only the varieties of justice meted out by the Oracle but
also illustrates the processes followed and the types of justice meted out by the
formal court.
37. How do the Igbo people ‘see’ and ‘call’ the white men? Can you perceive
truth/knowledge is a matter of perspective? What stance of counter-canon do you
find in this regard?
Ans:
The white men are foreign, mysterious, strange and powerful. Their ways are
different from the ways of the Africans. The white men have established a
government court of law in Umuofia, where they try people who break the white
men’s laws.

38. Why discussion fails between the white churchmen and the Igbo leaders?
 Ans: The mutual misunderstandings that are evident between the missionaries and
the people of the village are that they live different lives. By granting the
missionaries a plot in the Evil Forest, they get what they desire, but it soon
backfires.
39. What is egwugwu? How many members are there in egwugwu? Why does Achebe
mention that a member of egwugwu has a similar walk of Okonkwo? And, at the
end of the novel when a jealous convert unmasks one egwugwu, why do other
members try not to expose him? How does ‘double consciousness’ functions here
as a technique?
Ans:
According to tradition, any village ancestor who has been buried in the earth
returns during an annual ceremony is known as an egwugwu. In reality, an
egwugwu is a clansman wearing a mask representing an ancestor who has come
back from the dead. There are nine members in egwugwu. The nine egwugwu
represent the nine villages of Umofia and each village has one egwugwu as its
spokesperson.
Enoch’s unmasking of an egwugwu is portrayed as a result of unbridled fanaticism.
The Igbo believe that during this time, the human underneath the mask is not
present; the mask is transformed into the spirit. Thus, unmasking the egwugwu
kills the ancestral spirit. Enoch’s unmasking of the egwugwu and the subsequent
destruction of the church by the Igbo represent the climax of confrontation between
traditional Igbo religious beliefs and British colonial Christianity.
40. What happens after the destruction of the church by the Igbo people? How does
‘things/Igbo falls apart’?
Ans:
The church Mr. Brown built is burned to the ground, and the clan is momentarily
pacified. Reverend Smith refuses to move, but he cannot save his church. 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. They then gather
in front of the church to confront Reverend Smith and his fellow Christians. They
tell the Christians that they only wish to destroy the church in order to cleanse their
village of Enoch’s horrible sin.
41. At the point of no return, how does Okonkwo try to keep hold of his worth and
self-respect? Does that suicidal mission work? Was there any means left to save
the Igbo? How does Achebe configure Okonkwo as a cultural/tragic hero?
Ans:
 Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. He is
diminishing his self- worth by satisfying his believes of what is believed to be
right. Though his stubbornness of truth to value Ibo culture backfires on him
repeatedly. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of
eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the cat.
Okonkwo’s suicide is an unspeakable act that strips him all honor and denies him
the right to an honorable burial. Okonkwo dies an outcast, banished from the very
society he fought to protect.
Achebe configure Okonkwo as a tragic hero because he meets all of Aristotle’s
criteria. He is a tragic hero in the classical sense, although he is superior character,
his tragic flaw- the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence-
brings about his own destruction.

42. Could you make a postcolonial reading of District Commissioner’s contemplation

of writing a book titled, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower
Niger? How does Achebe question the entire European mission of Eurocentric
knowledge production? How does Achebe question white men’s study of black
men?

Ans:

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the District Commissioner is the reigning
symbol of Western imperialism, an ignorant, condescending administrator who is
brought to the area to mete out justice and impose the more enlightened culture of
the West upon these uncivilized tribes.

In here, district Commissioner uses the title The Pacification of the Primitive
Tribes of the Lower Niger to personified his contemplation of colonialism. The
District Commissioner’s role in Nigeria is to force the natives into submission
under the white rule. The word primitive is incredibly subjective. Achebe skillfully
proves that the Igbo people are far from uncivilized.

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a work where he describes how the colonization
process manifests itself through different forms. He very meticulously refers to the
roles played by the missionaries in Umuofia. He also shows how they entire
quietly with religion and win many of his own Igbo brothers and for them how his
“clan can no longer act like one”. Because of their interference, chaos and conflicts
erupt that eventually lead to the killing one of the missionaries. Achebe also plays
the part of a non-conformist to the western propaganda and he protects the much-
narrated western portrayal of the Americans as cannibals and presents a parallel yet
completely different image of African people. He thus does not fully blame the
colonizer for their permanent settlement in Igbo society, rather than he questions
about the discrimination and differences between black and white. Achebe didn’t
judge the nature, behavior or others of black community. He just asks the question
about domination, behavior and the study of white men over black community
people, and that is the ultimate goal of Achebe to write down Things Fall Apart.