Dr. Norman Prinsky
Associate Professor, Emeritus
Augusta State University
Humanities 2002
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Africa and Africans in Western Literature Prior to Achebe
Achebe was aware that Africa had been superficially portrayed, or even distorted, in western literature -- singling
out Joyce Cary’s novel Mr. Johnson and Joseph Conrad’s novelette Heart of Darkness. A long line of fiction works,
nonfiction works, and poems had portrayed Africa and black Africans prior to the publication of Achebe’s novel in
1958 (arranged chronologically by date of publication) -- the abbreviation NAWL = the Norton Anthology of
World Literature:
novelette Oronooko (1688) by Aphra Behn (1640 - 1689) [in NAWL]
chapters 11 (“The Old Woman’s Story”), 12 (“The Old Woman’s Story Continued”), and 19 (“What Happened to
Them at Surinam, and How Candide Got to Know Martin”) in the novel Candide (1759) by Francois-Marie
Arouet De Voltaire (1694-1778) [in NAWL]
poem “The Little Black Boy” from Songs of Innocence (1789, 1794) by William Blake (1757 - 1827) [in NAWL]
novel The Story of An African Farm (1883) by Olive Schreiner (1855 - 1920)
novels King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and She (1887) by H. Rider Haggard (1856 - 1925)
novelette The Light That Failed (1891); generally from the 1890's -- poem “Fuzzy-Wuzzy”; short stories “The Way
That He Took,” “The Outsider,” “A Sahibs’ War,” “The Comprehension of Private Copper,” “The Captive”;
poems “Stellenbosch,” ‘’Wilful-Missing,” “Half-Ballade of Waterval,” and “Chant-Pagan” by Rudyard
Kipling (1865 - 1936)
novelette Heart of Darkness (1902) by Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)
novel The Lost World (1912) by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930)
novel Tarzan of the Apes (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950)
novels Alissa Saved (1932); An American Visitor (1933); The African Witch (1936); and Mr. Johnson (1939) by
Joyce Cary (1888 - 1957)
nonfiction Green Hills of Africa (1935), fiction “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (1938), fiction “The
Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1938) by Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)
novel The African Queen (1935) by C.S. Forester (1899 - 1966)
nonfiction memoir Out of Africa (1937) by Isaak Dinesen (1885 - 1962)
nonfiction travelogue Journey Without Maps (1936), novel Heart of the Matter (1948) by Graham Greene (1904 1991)
novel The Grass Is Singing (1950); short stories This Was the Old Chief’s Country (1951) -- includes the short story
“The Old Chief Mshlanga” that is found in some versions of the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces
or Norton Anthology of World Literature; short fiction African Stories (1966; some stories from the
1950's) by Doris Lessing (1919 - )
short story “The Guest” (1957) by Albert Camus (1913 - 1960) [in NAWL]
The Whole of William Butler Yeats’ Poem Alluded to in the Title of Achebe’s Novel (see p. 852 of NAWLS2; for
important footnotes to the poem, see a section later in this document)
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 2
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Glossary of I(g)bo Terms - after the first edition of the book, subsequent editions were provided with the
following glossary of terms (in the Fawcett-Crest [1969 and following], Anchor [1994 and following], and
Everyman’s Library editions [1992], the glossary is at the end; in the Heinemann African Writers Series edition
[1996 and following], the glossary is in the introductory material); items in square brackets have been added as a
supplement to the original glossary
[Afo: one of the four market days]
agadi-nwayi: old woman
agbala: woman; also used of a man who has taken no title
chi: personal god
efulefu: worthless man
egwugwu: a masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village
[Eke: one of the four market days]
ekwe: a musical instrument; a type of drum made from wood
eneke-nti-oba: a kind of bird
eze-agadi-nwayi: the teeth of an old woman
[foo-foo: fufu; pounded yam eaten as part of most meals]
iba: fever
[Idemili: one of the three most prestigious titles in Igboland]
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 3
[ikenga: a wooden carving that becomes imbued with a man’s personal spirit]
ilo: the village green, where assemblies for sports, discussions, etc., take place
inyanga: showing off, bragging
isa-ifi: a ceremony. If a wife had been separated from her husband for some time and were then to be re-united
with him, this ceremony would be held to ascertain that she had not been unfaithful to him during the time of
their separation
iyi-uwa: a special kind of stone which forms the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world. Only if the iyi-uwa
were discovered and destroyed would the child not die.
jigida: a string of waist beads
kotma: court messenger. The word is not of Ibo origin but is a corruption of “court messenger.”
kwenu: a shout of approval and greeting
ndichie: elders [who meet in council and make decisions binding the clan]
nna ayi: our father
[nne: mother]
nno: [an expression of] welcome
nso-ani: a religious offence of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally earth’s taboo
nza: a very small bird
obi: the large living quarters of the head of the family
obodo dike: the land of the brave
ochu: murder or manslaughter
ogbanje: a changeling; a child who repeatedly dies and returns to its mother to be reborn. It is almost impossible
to bring up an ogbanje child without it dying, unless its iyi-uwa is first found and destroyed
[Ogbuefi: an honorific used before the name of a man who has taken the ozo title]
ogene: a musical instrument; a kind of gong
[ogwu: supernatural medicine]
oji odu achu-ijiji-o: (cow i.e., the one that uses that uses its tail to drive flies away.)
osu: outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix with the freeborn in
any way.
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 4
Oye: the name of one of the four market days
ozo: the name of one of the titles or ranks
tufia: a curse or oath
udu: a musical instrument; a type of drum made from pottery
uli: a dye used by women for drawing patterns on the skin
umuada: a family gathering of daughters, for which the female kinsfolk return to their village of origin
umunna: a wide group of kinsman (the masculine form of the word umanda)
[Umuofia: Okonkwo’s clan, comprised of nine villages]
uri: part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid
List of Characters
The Heinemann African Writers Series edition of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1996) provides a list of characters, as
do several study guides for the novel, and Professor Christine Renaud of Carthage College
Persons
*=divine or supernatural
+=deceased
-A*Agbala, oracle of the hills and caves
Ajofie, leading egwugwu of Umofia
Akueke, Maduka's sister, the bride
Akunna, great man, befriends missionaries
Amadi, the leper
*Amadiora, god of the sky
Amalinze, wrestler beaten by Okonkwo
Amikwu, Okonkwo's cousin, eldest of Uchendo's five sons, sees Nwoye at church
Anasi, Nwakibie's first wife
Aneto, hanged by the white men
*Ani, the earth goddess
-BBrown, Mr. - first white missionary to travel to Umuofia, mostly understanding and sympathetic, in contrast to
Reverend James Smith
-CChielo, priestess of Agbala
*Chukwu, chief god
-DDistrict Commissioner, The - authority figure in the white colonial government in Nigeria
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
-EEgonwanne, a coward hated by Okonkwo
Ekwefi Okonkowo's second wife, Ezinma’s mother
Ekwensu, great man of Uli
*Ekwnesu, evil spirit
Enoch, convert, may have killed python
Ezeani, priestess of the goddess Ani
Ezinma, Ekwefi’s favorite daughter
Ezuedo, elder who dies in village, his son is killed by Okonkwo's gun
-IIbe, Akueke's suitor
*Idemili, a god
Ifejoku: the god of yams, the men’s crop and principal food of the Igbo
Igwelo, Nwakibie's son
Ikemefuna, the captive boy
+Iweka, Obierika's father
-KKiaga, Mr. - native-turned-Christian missionary who arrives in Mbanta and converts Nwoye and others
-MMaduka, Obierka’s son and successful wrestler
*Mgbafo, woman figure in ceremony
Mr. Brown, white missionary
Mr. Kiaga, interpreter for the missionaries
Mr. Smith, Rev. James Brown's successor
-NNjide, Amikwu's eldest daughter
Nkechi, daughter of Ojiugo
Nneka ("mother is supreme") first child born to Okonkwo in exile
Nwakibie, rich man who lent seen yams
Nweka, Obierika's son
Nwofa ("born in the wilderness") first son born to Okonkwo in exile
Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son by Ojiugo (renamed Isaac)
-OObiageli, Ojiugo's daughter
Obiako, palm wine tapper
Obierka, Okonkwo’s friend, Maduka’s father
Oduche, killed by Aneto in fight over land
Odukwe, Mgbafo's brother
Ogbuefi Udo, his wife was murdered
Ogbuefi Ugonna, "worthy man", a convert
Ogbuefi Ejkwueme, defends the burning of the church
Ogbuefi Ezuago, powerful orator
Ogbuefi 'Ndulue, old man who died in Ire
*Ogwugwu, god
Ojiugo, Okonkwo's third wife
Prinsky 5
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
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Okadigbo, father of Nweke's wife
Okagbue, the man who dug up the iyi-uwa
Okeke, snuff seller
Okeke, counsels moderation when the python is killed
Okeke, Mr. Smith's interpreter
Okika, one of the imprisoned
Okoli, Christian convert accused of killing python
+Okolo, founded Okonkwo's mother's family, 200 years ago
Okonkwo, central character
Okowye, lent Unoka money
+Okudo, chanter of war songs
*Okwugwu, a god
Onyeka, speaker at the final debate
Otakagu, great man of Imo
Ozoenena, Ogbuefi 'Ndulue's wife
-SSmith, Reverend James - the uncompromising and strict missionary who replaces Mr. Brown
-UUchendu, eldest member of Okonkwo's mother's family who shelters him
Ukegbu, Ibe's sister
*Umeru, Evil Forest
Unoka, Okonkwo's father
*Uzowulo, Mgbafo's husband
Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart Versus T.S. Eliot’s Poem “The Wasteland” and Similar Modernist Works
At this point in Humanities 2002, many sections will have had some experienced of T.S. Eliot’s celebrated
modernist poem “The Wasteland.” An interesting comparison and contrast of Eliot’s poem and Achebe’s novel is
the directionality of Modern versus “Primitive” or ancient. The Eliot poem has a backward movement, from the
Modern to the “primitive” or ancient or archetypal. In contrast, Achebe’s novel moves in the opposite direction,
as the “primitive” or ancient or archetypal comes in increasing and conflicting contact with the modern.
Annotation on William Butler Yeats’ Poem “The Second Coming”
The phrase "second coming" has been traditionally used to refer to expectations of the return of Jesus for the
salvation of believers, as described in the New Testament. The prophecies foretold that Christ's return would be
preceded by famine, epidemics, wars between nations, and general civil disturbance. Yeats believed that human history
could be measured in cycles of approximately 2,000 years (see line 19, "twenty centuries"). According to this system,
the birth of Jesus ended the Greco-Roman cycle and in 1919, when Yeats wrote "The Second Coming," it appeared to
him that the Christian period was ending and a new era was about to take its place. The New Testament expectation
was that Jesus would reappear. Yeats, by contrast, holds that the disruptions of the twentieth century were preceding a
takeover by the forces of evil. 1 gyre: a radiating spiral, cone, or vortex. Yeats used the intersecting of two of
these shapes as a visual symbol of his cyclic theory. As one gyre spiraled and widened out, to become dissipated, one
period of history would end; at the same time a new gyre, closer to the center, would begin and spiral in a reverse
direction to the starting point of the old gyre. A drawing of this plan looks like this:
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 7
The falcon of line 2 is at the broadest, centrifugal point of one gyre, symbolically illustrating the end of a cycle.
The "indignant desert birds" of line 17 "reel" in a tighter circle, symbolizing the beginning of the new age in the
new gyre. 5 blood-dimmed tide: quotation from Shakespeare's Macbeth, II.2.60-63. 12 Spiritus Mundi: literally,
the spirit of the world, a collective human consciousness that furnished writers and thinkers with a common fund of
images and symbols. Yeats referred to this collective repository as "a great memory passing on from generation to
generation," 14 lion body and the head of a man: that is, the Sphinx, which in ancient Egypt symbolized the pharaoh
as a spirit of the sun. Because of this pre-Christian origin, the reincarnation of a sphinx could therefore represent
qualities associated in New Testament books like Revelation (11, 13, 17), Mark (13:14-20), and 2 Thessalonians (2:1-12)
with a monstrous, superhuman, satanic figure.
Paragraph Numbering by Chapters
The following notes and questions may include references to paragraph numbers and chapters, a much more
reliable and consistent reference system, since Achebe’s novel has been included in various anthologies and
different editions of anthologies, with consequent different and varying page numbers. Besides various editions
of the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces or Norton Anthology of World Literature, the novel has also been
included in The Bedford Anthology of World Literature, Book 6 -- The Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present
(2003) and The Longman Anthology of World Literature, Vol. F -- The Twentieth Century (2004). Further, the
novel has appeared in many different editions: 1958 (London: Heinemann; 185 pp.); 1959 (New York: AstorHonor; 215 pp.); 1959, 1969, 1983, 1989 (Greenwich, CT: Fawcett; 192 pp.); 1959 (New York: McDowell,
Obolensky, 215 pp.); 1965 (London: Heinemann Educational books; 200 pp.); 1967 (London: Heinemann
Educational; 190 pp.); 1971 (London: Heinemann - New Windmill Series; 191 pp.); 1976, 1983, 1986 (London:
Heinemann, 150 pp.); 1986 (Heinemann - African Writers Series; 152 pp.); 1988, in The African Trilogy (Pan Books
& Heinemann; 558 pp.); 1992 (London: D. Campbell; 181 pp.); 1992 & ff. (New York: Knopf, Random House,
Everyman’s Library; 181 pp.); 1993 (Heinemann International, African Writers Series; new ed.); 1994 and ff. (New
York: Anchor Books, 209 pp.); 1996 (Heinemann Educational - African Writers series; expanded ed. with notes;
148 pp.); 1997 (Evanston, Il: McDougal Littell; 222 pp.; with related readings); 2001, 2006 (London: Penguin &
Heinemann; 165 pp.); 2002 (With Related Readings; St. Paul, Minn.: EMC / Paradigm Pub; 232 pp.); 2009 (New
York: W.W. Norton; 597 pp., with additional readings and apparatus). The printings in the Norton Anthology and
the Norton Critical Edition remain the best annotated, though each is lacking the glossary appended to the 1959
and later editions of the novel. The “expanded edition” in the Heinemann Educational African Writers series is
disappointing, since the “notes” are not footnotes but brief extra chapters about various subjects.
Abbreviations -- 1.5 would mean Ch. 1, par. 5; 3.10 would mean Ch. 3, par. 10, and so on.
1.5 “He was tall but very thin”; 1.10 “‘No, it is for you, I think’” ; 1.15 “‘Look at that wall,’” ; 1.16 “When Unoka
died he had taken”
2.5 “In the morning the market” ; 2.10 “But the war that now threatened” ; 2.15 “So when the daughter of
Umuofia was” ; 2.20 “As for the boy himself, he”
3.5 “Many years ago when Okonkwo was” ; 3.10 “There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo’s” ; 3.15 “‘Is Anasi not
in?’ he asked” ; 3.20 “‘Some people say the Oracle warned’” ; 3.25 “‘I have come to you for help’” ; 3.30 “Some
farmers had not planted” ; 3.35 “‘Since I survived that year’”
4.5 “At first Ikemefuna was very much” ; 4.10 “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable” ; 4.15 “‘They are here,’
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 8
answered his first” ; 4.20 “Before it was dusk Ezeani, who was” ; 4.25 “No work was done during the Week of” ;
4.30 “After the Week of Peace every man” ; 4.35 “Some days later, when the land had” ; 4.40 “Gradually the
rains became lighter”
5.5 “The festival was now only three” ; 5.10 “As a matter of fact the tree was” ; 5.15 “It was not yet noon on the
second” ; 5.20 “‘Ekwefi,’ said Ezinma, who had” ; 5.25 “‘How can I know?’ Ekwefi wanted” ; 5.30 “‘Will you give
Ezinma some fire to’” ; 5.35 “Ezinma went outside and brought” ; 5.40 “‘They will not begin until the sun’” ; 5.45
“Ezinma ran in the direction of the” ; 5.50 “The weeping was now quite close” ; 5.55 “Okonkwo was sitting on a
goatskin” ; 5.60 “‘No, that is a boy’s job’” ; 5.65 “He uncovered his second wife’s”
6.5 “At last the two teams”; 6.10 “‘It is true indeed’” ; 6.15 “‘I think she will stay’” ; 6.20 “There were twelve men
on each side”; 6.24 “The wrestlers were now almost”
7.4 “That was the kind of story” ; 7.10 “‘Locusts are descending,’”; 7.15 “‘That boy calls you father’”; 7.20 “At the
beginning of their journey”; 7.25“‘We still have a long way to go’” ; 7.26 “He sang it in his mind”; 7.29 “As soon as
his father”
8.5 “‘Go and bring me some’”; 8.10 “He sprang to his feet”; 8.15 “Just then Obierika’s son”; 8.20 “‘Too much of
his grandfather’”; 8.25 “‘But someone had to do it’”; 8.30 “‘The things that happen’” ; 8.35 “‘That is not strange’”;
8.40 “‘That is so,’ said Odoefu”; 8.45 “‘He was indeed’”; 8.50 “‘I must go home to tap’”; 8.55 “‘I don’t know
how’”; 8.60 “‘I shall return very soon’”; 8.65 “As he was speaking”; 8.70 “The men in the obi”; 8.75 “As the men
drank”; 8.80 “‘We had not thought to go’”; 8.85 “‘All their customs are upside-down’”; 8.90 “‘And have you never
seen them?’”
9.5 “Okonkwo sprang from his”; 9.10 “Ezinma did not call her mother”; 9.15 “Onwumbiko was not given”; 9.20
“‘Where do you sleep’”; 9.25 “At last Ezinma was born”; 9.30 “Ezinma looked at her”; 9.35 “The crowd set out”;
9.40 “‘I have told you to’” ; 9.45 “‘Come and show me’”; 9.50 “When Ekwefi brought the hoe”; 9.55 “‘Very true’”;
9.60 “Okagbue had again taken”; 9.65 “Okagbue went back into”; 9.70 “‘Get me a pot,’ he said”; 9.75 “‘You must
watch the pot carefully’”
10.5 “Aru oyim de de de dei!”; 10.10 “Umuofia kwenu!”; 10.15 “Okonkwo’s wives and perhaps”; 10.20 “‘How can
I know you, father?’”; 10.25 “‘Your words are good’”; 10.30 “‘It is a lie!’”; 10.35 “‘Yaa! replied the thunderous”;
10.40 “‘Uzowulu’s body, do you’”; 10.45 “‘Odukwe’s body, I greet’”; 10.50 “‘Umuofia kwenu!’” he roared
11.5 “Low voices, broken now”; 11.10 “‘We know you too well’”; 11.15 “‘None of the birds had heard’”; 11.20
“‘He began to eat and the birds’”; 11.25 “‘No,’ replied Ekwefi”; 11.30 “‘Agbala do-o-o-o!’” 11.35 “‘Ekwefi,’ she
called”; 11.40 “‘Tufia-a!’ the priestess cursed”; 11.45 “‘Don’t cry, my daughter’”; 11.50 “‘She will bring her back’”;
11.55 “‘Agbala do-o-o-o!’” ; 11.60 “‘Agbala do-o-o-o-! Umuachi’”; 11.65 “The moon was now up”; 11.70 “Having
sworn that oath”; 11.75 “‘I shall wait too’”
12.5 “Ezinma was still sleeping”; 12.10 “‘Not before you have had’”; 12.15 “Obierika’s compound was”; 12.20
“‘Yes,’ said Obierika”; 12.25 “‘We cannot all rush out’”; 12.30 “‘The only other person’”; 12.35 “When the heat of
the”; 12.40 “Very soon after, the”; 12.45 “The oldest man in the camp”; 12.50 “‘Ee-e-e!’”; 12.55 “The night was
already”
13.5 “But the most dreaded of all”; 13.10 “But before this quiet”; 13.15 “That night he collected”
14.5 “When the rain finally”; 14.10 “The youngest of Uchendu’s”; 14.15 “‘None,’ she replied”; 14.20 “‘I swear,’
said the bride”; 14.25 “‘Why is Okonkwo with us today?’”; 14.30 “‘He does not know that’”
15.5 “Uchendu had been told”; 15.10 “‘Go into that room’” ; 15.15 “‘Abame has been wiped out’”; 15.20 “‘What
dfid the white man’”; 15.25 “‘Their clan is now completely’”; 15.30 “‘There is no story that is not true’”; 15.35
“Ezinma brought them a bowl”; 15.40 “‘That is very good’”; 15.45 “‘That will not be enough’”
16.5 “‘How is your father?’” ; 16.10 “‘Your buttocks understand our language’”; 16.15 “‘If we leave our gods’”;
16.20 “‘You told us with your own mouth’”
17.5 “‘They do not understand’”; 17.10 “On the following Sunday”; 17.15 “It was late afternoon before Nwoye”;
17.20 “‘Leave that boy’”; 17.25 “As Okonkwo sat in his hut”
18.5 “Although such stories were”; 18.10 “‘Let them laugh’”; 18.15 “‘Unless you shave off’”; 18.20 “But there
were many others”; 18.25 “That night a bell-man went”; 18.30 “‘The village has outlawed’”; 18.35 “‘They say that
Okoli killed’”
19.5 “It came slowly”; 19.10 “‘It will not take us long’”; 19.15 “‘They are not all that young’”; 19.20 “As the
Notes and Questions on Chinua Achebe’s Novel Things Fall Apart
Prinsky 9
broken kola nuts”; “‘If I say that we did not expect’”
20.5 “Then the tragedy of his first”; 20.10 “Many young men”; 20.15 “Umuofia had indeed changed”; 20.16 “But
apart from the church”; 20.20 “‘Have you not heard how’”; “‘Does the white man understand’”
21.5 “Whenever Mr Brown went to”; 21.10 “‘I know,’ said Akunna”; 20.15 “‘You should not think’”; 20.20 “In the
end Mr Brown’s arguments”; 21.25 “Okonkwo was deeply grieved”
22.5 “There was a saying”; 22.9 “The annual worship of the earth goddess”; 22.15 “‘One thing is clear’”; 22.20
“Mr Smith was in his church”; 22.25 “‘The body of the white man’”; 22.30 “Okeke interpreted wisely”
23.5 “Three days later the”; 23.10 “‘Wait a minute,’ said”; 23.15 “‘Who is the chief among you’?”; 23.20 “‘Who
wants to kill the white man?’”; 23.25 “It was the time of the full moon”
24.5 “The village crier was abroad”; 24.10 “‘The greatest obstacle in Umuofia’”; 24.15 “‘Who?’”; 24.20 “‘I shall
wait till he has spoken’”; 24.25 “Umuofia kwenu!’ he bellowed”; 24.30 “‘You all know why we are here’”; 24.35
“He sprang to his feet”; 24.40 “In a flash Okonkwo drew”
25.5 “‘He is not here!’”; 25.10 “There was a small bush behind”; 25.15 “‘It is against our custom’”; 25.20 “‘Take
down the body’”
General Questions
G1. (G1a) How are the three components of Humanities 2001 - 2002 -- visual art, music, and literature -repeatedly manifested in the novel? (G1b) How are visual art, music, and literature shown to be thoroughly
integrated in the culture, as shown in the novel -- e.g., in Chapter 1?
G2. How are the following motifs repeatedly manifested in the novel, and what ideas or themes do they help
convey (arranged alphabetically): (G2a) Chi ; (G2b) the Circle and its symbolism (including the half-moon
arrangement of obi and wives’ huts); (G2c) the cowrie currency; (G2d) the Evil Forest; (G2e) fate -- including
“doomed,” “ill-fated”; and parallels with Classical as well as Judeo-Christian literature; (G2f) fertile or productive,
versus infertile or destructive; (G2g) goatskin bag; (G2h) hand or hands -- especially in the figure of speech
synecdoche; (G2i) hoe and machete; (G2j) Judeo-Christian parallels (e.g., Jacob’s wrestling with the angel, in Ch.
1; the story of the sacrifice of Isaac); (G2k) kola nut and hospitality rites; (G2l) onomastics -- symbolism of names,
including personal names; (G2m) palm wine; (G2n) parables; (G2o) parent - child relationship; (G2p) proverbs;
(G2q) red earth used to scrub floors and walls of huts; (G2r) twins; (G2s) yams.
G3. (G3a) How does Achebe use the appositive construction (grammar, style), as well as other stylistic or
narrative devices or techniques, to explain many native terms and cultural features? (G3b) How does Achebe’s
use of similes drawn from the native culture and native world contribute to genuineness, authenticity, and the
purpose of teaching non-native readers about native culture? (G3c) The novel’s “parts”: how is each of the three
“parts,” as delineated by Achebe, a thematic or thought-content unit of the novel -- Chs. 1-13 (part 1); Chs. 14-19
(part 2); Chs. 20-25 (part 3)? What suggestions or thematic relevance might the number three have, including
generically (modern dramas often have three acts) or religious?
G4. (G4a) How is Okonkwo a tragic hero -- that is, what heroic and positive aspects does he have, and what
significant flaws does he have? (G4b) How and where is Obierka a choric voice or voice of reason in the novel?
(G4c) How are women’s perspectives portrayed in the novel? (G4c) How and where does Achebe suggest or
imply criticisms of European culture and colonialism in the novel? (G4d) How and where does Achebe portray
both positive and negative aspects of Ibo, black African culture? (G4e) Where, how, and why does Achebe
introduce but not always or fully explain Ibo customs, rituals, and ceremonies in a novel aimed at an
international non-African audience as well as a native black African audience? (G4f) In what sense might “things
be falling apart” for Okonkwo or his society prior to, or other than, its encounter with European colonialism?
What internal conflicts about values as well as changes over time can be seen in the native black culture or
society?