Things Fall Apart Notes Ch 17 25 READING

Things Fall Apart Notes Ch. 17 - 25

READING REVIEW CH 17 Missionaries come to Mbanta and request land to build a church. Nwoye leaves home and goes to the Missionaries. He plans to come back and convert his mom and siblings. Ch. 18 Missionaries rescue twins and accept the Osu, or Outcasts. Mr. Kiaga’s strong and firm beliefs converts many Igbo. One of the converts boasted about killing the sacred python. The elders warn the angered Igbo to not do anything and to let the gods speak for themselves. They soon learn that the man who boasted of killing the snake has died of an illness. The Igbo have some confirmation about trust in their gods.

Foreshadowing is a literary device an author uses to give a hint of what is to come in the story. Read the two passages from chapter 7 and 15. What do the locusts foreshadow?

Foreshadowing 1. How do the locusts descend into the village? 2. How is the arrival of the locusts both a positive and negative thing? 3. What do the locusts foreshadow? 4. What is significant about the man that visited the village? 5. How are these two passages relate? What inferences can you make about the story? Underline a quote from the text for each question and answer the question in your own words. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. They first come in a small swarm then as a large slowly-moving mass. They are a good thing to eat, but it’s negative because the locusts eat all the greenery and leave the earth brown. They could foreshadow starvation, the white man and the missionaries arrival, death, sickness from eating the locusts. The white man was the first person, the harbinger, to see the land. The way they descend are similar, small and then large groups, and they both caused destruction. The white men are going to descend to Umuofia next.

Ch. 17 Themes The struggle between change and tradition. A church was built in the Evil Forest (p. 149) and they didn’t die. This shocked some people and convinced them to convert. The Igbo faced losing clan members to the Christian missionaries. What defines masculinity? Okonkwo feels cursed to have an effeminate (woman like) son. “Why, should he…of all people, be cursed with such a son? ” (p. 152)

Ch. 17 Conflicts Character vs. Society Mr. Kiaga converts the Igbo to Christianity. For example, Nneka (p. 151) who always had twins, and Nwoye. Character vs. Character Okonkwo beats his son for being with the missionaries and Nwoye leaves his family.

READING REVIEW Ch. 19: Okonkwo’s 7 year exile is almost done. Okonkwo has a feast for his mother’s family and friends in Mbanta to thank them before he leaves. He is grateful to them but secretly regrets the missed opportunity to have further increased his status and influence among his own clan. He also regrets having spent time with such un-masculine people.

Read and circle words related to Igbo values. Underline conflicts. Ch. 19 “We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so…I fear for the younger generation…because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father and his brothers. He can curse the gods of his fathers and ancestors…I fear for you; I fear for the clan. ” (p. 167)

Ch. 19 Statement What concern does the speaker have? He has concern for the future of the village. The younger generations will lose their values. What does this foreshadow? This foreshadows events that will affect other tribes.

Igbo Vocabulary Ch. 18 Osu- outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix wit the freeborn in any way. Ch. 19 Ummuna- a wide group of kinsmen Ch. 20 Ozo- name of one of the titles or ranks Kotma- court messenger

Part Three CH 20 -25 • The old ways of Umuofia are dissolving. The Europeans have brought several new cultural traditions, a new religion, a government, and have introduced trade with the outside world.

READING REVIEW Ch. 20: Okonkwo has been planning since he got exiled how to make a comeback. He wants to make a bigger compound, marry 2 more wives, and get titles for his sons. He asks his favorite daughter, Ezinma, to wait until they get back to marry. Ezinma asks Obiageli to wait too. Okonkwo hopes to attract attention with 2 beautiful, marriageable daughters. Umuofia has changed a lot in 7 years. The white men’s church and judicial system have become strong and has weakened the ties of kinship in the clan.

Underline Points of misunderstanding. Ch. 20 Does the white man understand our customs about land? How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. • (p. 176)

Excerpt Ch. 20 1. What actions by the missionaries and the speaker’s kinsmen prompt his statements? They turned their own brothers against them. The kinsmen or brothers abandoned their gods. 2. What misunderstandings are there between the Igbo and the missionaries, and what is the overall message of the statement? There was misunderstandings about gods, about language, and tradition. The overall message, things start to fall apart. Division in the tribe weakened them.

Ch. 21 Characters Mr. Brown- A missionary; “he trod softly on its faith” (p. 178) Theme- The struggle between change and tradition. “the clan had undergone such profound change…the new religion and government and the trading stores…. (182) What defines masculinity? Being accepting shows you are soft like a woman (183)

Ch. 21 -22 Good Thinking Questions: Why was Okonkwo’s return not as memorable as he wished? Why was Okonkwo deeply grieved? What did Enoch do to an egwugwu? What does this scene foreshadow?

Ch. 22 Summary Reverend James Smith, a strict and intolerant man, replaces Mr. Brown. Instead of being understanding and trying to learn about the culture, he condemns them. One convert, Enoch, unmasked an egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor the earth deity, an act equivalent to killing an ancestral spirit. The next day, the egwugwu burn Enoch’s compound to the ground. 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. Smith replies that he will stand his ground. He forbids them to touch the church, but his interpreter alters Smith’s statement for fear that the unvarnished truth will be too harsh and that he will suffer as the messenger of bad news. He tells the egwugwu that Smith demands that they leave the matter in his hands. They ignore Smith’s orders and burn the church.

Ch. 23 Summary The church burning pleased Okonkwo, but now the men need to be on guard. The District Commissioner requests to meet with the elders after he returned from his tour. The elders come with machetes, but the commissioner says they should discuss the church’s burning “as friends. ” When they put their machetes on the floor, a group of soldiers surprises them. They are handcuffed and thrown in jail for several days, where they suffer insults and physical abuse. A bail is set at two hundred bags of cowries. The kotma, or court messengers, tell the people of Umuofia that they must pay a fine of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries or their leaders will be hanged—by upping the price these messengers will make a profit. The town crier announces an emergency village meeting. Even Ezinma returns home from her twenty-eight-day visit to her future in-laws. The next morning they decide to collect the cowries necessary to pay the fine.

Missionaries Mr. Brown: • Kind “he trod softly on their faith. ” (p. 178) • Respected “He came to be respected, even by the clan. ” (p. 178) • Understanding “In this way Mr. Brown learned a good deal about the clan” (181) • Successful “In the end, Mr. Brown’s arguments began to have an effect (181) Mr. Smith: • Racist “He saw things black and white, and black was evil…” (184) • Mean “Mr. Smith danced a furious step, and so the drums were mad” (185) • Closed Minded “He saw things black and white, and black was evil…” (184)

Ch. 24 P. 198 1. Why are the women and children afraid to greet the prisoners upon their arrival home? 2. What mood was the village in? 3. Why do the men have a meeting? 4. What course of action does Okonkwo want the men to take? 5. Who interrupts the meeting? What happens?

CH. 24 Proverbs “Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life. ” (203)

Ch. 24 Themes • The struggle between change and tradition. Okonkwo could not stand to see his village become weak. He was angered they didn’t want to take action. “Worthy men are no more…those were days when men were men” (200). • What defines masculinity? Okonkwo’s “manly” anger caused him to do something careless. He killed the messenger. “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete…He knew Umuofia would not go to war…. ” (205).

Ch. 25 1. What is Okonkwo’s tragic end? Why do you think he did that? 2. How is Okonkwo’s death similar to his father’s?

Ch. 25 Rituals and Traditions Suicide is an abomination against the Earth. The clan can’t touch the body of a person who commits suicide and have to call an outsider to take the body. “It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth , and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. ” (p. 207)