TFA QUOTES

Mr Kiaga highlights flaws in Igbo

'They also said I would die if I built my church on these grounds. Am I dead?'

Umuofia changes

"Umuofia had indeed changed during the seven years Okonkwo had been in exile

Mr Brown

'Mr Brown came to be respected by the clan'

Good colonialism

'Talking through an interpreter, neither of them had succeeded in converting each other, but they learnt a lot about each others beliefs'

Mr Smith

'He condemned openly Mr Browns policies of accommodation and comrpomise'

Corrupt DC

'Let us talk about it like friends and ensure it doesn't happen again'

Superstition

'Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark'

Okonkwo and Gods

'People said he had no respect for the Gods of his clan'

Okonkwo's exile

'It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers'

Okonkwo's return

'Okonkwo's return to his native land was not as memorable as he had wished'

Proverbs

'proverbs are the palm oil in which words are eaten'

Okonkwo cant talk

'Okonkwo was not a man of thought. But a man of action'

Foreshadowment

'and at lasts the locusts did descend'

Okonkwo's hard work

'If a man every deserved his success, that man was Okonkwo'

Man in charge

'No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children he was not really a man'

Okonkwo's struggle in exile

'like learning to become left handed in old age'

Nwoye conversion

'Living fire begets cold imponent ash'

Divide and Rule

'But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong the bond of kinship, you do not know what it is to speak with one voice'

Unoka's love of speech

'His love of talk had grown with age and sickness. It tried Okonkwo's patience beyond words'

Criticism of white men

'How can he when he does not even speak our tounge'

Criticism of Umofias religion

'all your gods you have named are not gods at all, they are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and destroy innocent children'

Respect for gods of the clan

'Take away your kola nut, I shall not eat with a man who has no respect for our gods'

Gods punishment

'the earth goddess you have insulted may refuse to give us an increase, and we shall all perish'

Storytelling

'Ikemefuna had an endless stock of folktales.... Flavour of a different clan'

Nwoye's love for stories

'Whenever Nwoyes mother sang this song he got carried away into a distant sky'

Nwoye tries to please Okonkwo

'he now knew they were for foolish women and children, and that his father wanted him to be a man'

White men arrive

'all their customs are upside down'

Songs in the clan

'broken now and again by singing as each women and her children told folk stories'

Admiration for speech - Turtle story

'his speech was so eloquent that all the birds were glad they had brought him'

Ekwefis love for Enzima

'she continually ran into the weeds and creepers'

Marriage honesty

'remember that if you do not answer trufully you will suffer'

Role of mother

'Your mother is there to protect you'

Silence with Colonisation

'They neither spoke to anyone or amongst themselves'

Women in weddings

'brides mother in her difficult yet happy task of cooking for the whole community'

Okonkwo loves Enzinma

'he had become gravely worried'

Role of women - children

'your daughter will bear us sons like you'

Admiration for balanced qualities

'all the clan was at his funeral'

Friendship

'This is Obrieka my great friend'

Nwoye Converts

'I am one of them'

Obrieka talks to Nwoye

'after many difficulties the missionaries had allowed him to speak to the boy'

Nwoye disowns Okonkwo

'I don't know, he is not my father'

Language

'he spoke through an interpreter who was an Ibo man, his dialect was harsh and different to the ears of Mbanta'

Appeal of Christianity

'The missionaries burst into song...it had the power of plucking dusty cords in the heart of an Igbo man'

Diversity of Christianity

'It was not the mad logic of the trinity that captivated him. It was the poetry of the new religion'

Evil forest

'It was such a forest that the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionaries'

Outcats and new religion

'These outcasts thought it was possible they would be received'