Summary:
A review of the novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe.
"His life had been ruled by a great passion-to become one of the lords of the clan. That had been his life-spring. And he had all but achieved it. Then everything had broken."(pg. 131) This quote describes how Okonkwo dreamed and was driven to become one of the "lords" of the clan and that when he was coming close to achieving his goal, his life went up in flames right before his own eyes. Okonkwo was one of the greatest warriors in the history of the ibo tribe and was also a famed wrestler in surrounding villages.
Ever since Okonkwo had turned the age of eighteen, he had been well known throughout many different villages for his amazing feat of defeating the once considered unbeatable wrestler named Amalinze. That was the first of numerous occasions when Okonkwo had brought great pride to his tribe. Many years later Okonkwo still was looked at as one of the fiercest men in the village. As stated on page 4, "And he did pounce on people quite often. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists." This quote depicts how Okonkwo was feared and people nearly worshiped him. Okonkwo was a proud man and would never accept failure from himself or anyone else. Growing up, his father, Unoka was a failure as the quote on page 5 describes, "Unoka the grown-up, was a failure. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat. People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more, and piling his debts." The way his father was in life, helped make Okonkwo the person he had become. He hated his father and didn't want to end up like him, so Okonkwo decided to instead become hard working and never give up no matter what the obstacle.
Over time and many years, the village of Umuofia and the Ibo tribe had become known as one of the most powerful tribes around. Page 11 in the book states "Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic, and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country." Another quote also on page 11 states, "An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war on the one hand, and on the other the offer of a young man and a virgin as compensation." Both of these quotes show the strength of Umuofia. The first tells of the villages power in wars and how it was more advanced in medicines. Both of these traits would make Umuofia a feared village to go to war against. The second quote shows its power because another village of Mbaino decides that they would rather give up two members in the village instead of going to war with Umuofia. Thus showing the fear that other villages had of going to war with the powerful Ibo tribe.
As you can see from the first two paragraphs, Okonkwo was very similar towards his Ibo tribe. Both of them being very powerful and feared by many people. However, even with both the tribe and Okonkwo having great power, they both also suffer terrible downfalls. Rumors had been going around in Umuofia that white men had begun changing around the ways people live in different villages. No one in Umuofia had ever seen a white man before and people were beginning to worry about them one day arriving in their village. Okonkwo would be a big help in fighting off the white men if they did arrive, however, one night the break down begins to occur for the tribe and Okonkwo. As shown on page 124, "Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart." This accidental killing that Okonkwo had done forced him to be banned from Umuofia for seven years. This ruining any chance that Okonkwo was going to have of ever becoming a lord of the clan. This was depressing for Okonkwo, however, he still tried to work hard in his new home away from Umuofia and he hoped that seven years later he could become of high rank again with the tribe. However, Okonkwo would not ever get to return to the powerful village of Umuofia that he had left behind. By the time his seven years of exile had been completed it was to late. Okonkwo returned to a village run by white men. The religion had totally changed and was now run by a church with a new government system. The heads of the Ibo tribe had broken apart and it seemed that everyone (including Okonkwo's son) had gone under the power of the white man. After Okonkwo tried to revolt this new way of life and was thrown in prison and beaten, he realized that the Ibo tribe he once loved was going to be gone forever. Okonkwo feels that the only thing left for him to do was hang himself in order to get away from this new way of life. Thus showing the change in power that had taken place in Okonkwo's seven years of exile.
In conclusion, this book shows how in just a matter of seconds the life of someone can be changed forever. The very powerful Okonkwo and his powerful village, Umuofia, both have a great downfall. Okonkwo's being caused by an accidental killing and the villages being caused by the white men taking over. As said in the quote in the first paragraph, everything had been broken.
This is the complete article, containing 962 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
