All TFA quotes

"He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father"

Okonkwo has an aversion to idleness. He never wants to appear weak or ineffectual as it determines his position in society and how the elders will treat him. Okonkwo equates his father to unsuccessful men and his strives from his actions to distance him as far as possible from Unoka.

“his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.”

Okonkwo strives to control his life and avoid any possible outcomes related to fate or chi. This is his motivation surrounding his violent tendencies as he acts from a place of fear. This fear is existential that he will not succeed in life.

“they killed the white man and tied his iron horse to their sacred tree”

The Igbo are able to stop the first arrival of the missionaries in the form of a single man and his bicycle. Due to the lack of size and force capable of this man, the Igbo people are able to delay the arrival of the missionaries. In comparison, the extensive mass of boats arriving in The 7 Stages of Grieving leaves the Aboriginal community vulnerable to unwelcomed intrusion.

“something seemed to give way inside him, like the snapping of a tightened bow. He did not cry. He just hung limp”

Nwoye’s grieving for Ikemfuma takes the form of numbness. He is unable to express his grief through crying which demonstrates how Okonkwo has suppressed his display of emotions due to their unmasculine nature.

“he felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito”

Okonkwo’s grieving is responsible for his decaying nature into a mosquito.

“how can a man who has killed five men in the battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number?”

Okonwko’s grief takes the form of denial in which he suppresses his emotions and pretends Ikemfuma’s death has no impact on him.

“did not taste any food for two days after the death”

Okonkwo inability to eat

“suffered a good deal in her life… for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise”

Ekwefi experiences grief through her journey of motherhood. The birth of his children should be her crowning glory, yet for Ekwefi it brings a great deal of suffering.

“Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just personal grief. He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart””

grief for the loss of a culture and clan - cultural identity loss.

“ancient drums of death beat, guns and cannon were fired”

“bodies were painted with chalk and charcoal”

the celebratory nature of funerals. Body painting holds deep-rooted significance in native cultures. Indigenous people use their body as a transmitter of history, cultural stories and lore as a method of communication.

“the land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors… a man’s life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors”

coming together of different clans to celebrate the connection between the land of the living and ancestors

“your words are good. Let us hear Odukwe. His words may also be good”

“we have heard both sides of this case”

the equity and fairness in acknowledging both sides of a story in a court scenario

“Evil forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored”

the evil forest is the governing force of the clan. it holds the power to influence and maintain the peace of society. the court scenario illustrates the power the evil forest holds to restore peace and order.

“they had built a court where the District commissioner judged cases in ignorance”

“court messages were greatly hated in Umuofia because they were foreigners and also arrogant and high-handed”

white men court institution holds great discrimination and predetermines the outcome of the case regardless of the arguments discussed during the hearing.

“shaved all the hair off the men’s heads”

“not given any water to drink… knock their shaven heads together”

despite the peaceful arrival of the missionaries and there outward appearance of being peace and knowledge to the native clan, an outbreak of violence influences the clan. the missionaries are violent and mistreat the Igbo people through forms of confinement, entrapment, imprisonment, forms of abuse.

“Umuofia was like a startled animal with ears erect, sniffing the silent, ominous air and not knowing which way to run”

simile for the entire clans disruption as a result of the missionaries violence

“respected even by the clan… firm in restraining his flock from provoking the wrath of the clan”.

“learnt more about their different beliefs”

Mr Brown is open-minded and willing to make an effort to respect and understand the Igbo beliefs. Peaceful relations is a key value when entering Umuofia. When discussing religious beliefs with Akunna, neither man gives up his belief, but they gain respect for one another. Mr Brown is attempting to prepare the clan from British instating their own form of government by building “a school and a little hospital”.

“if Umuofia failed to send her children to school, strangers would come from other places to rule them”.

mr brown urges the Igbo community to adapt to changing social times so they will not lose all their autonomy.

“He saw things as black and white. And black was evil. He saw the world as a battlefield in which the children of light were locked in mortal conflict with the sons of the darkness”.

Reverend James Smith acts strict and uncompromising. He is a stereotypical fire-and-brimstone preacher. He likens the Igbo religion to the pagan prophets of Baal of the Old Testament and considers their beliefs to be the work of the devil. He demands the complete rejection of Indigenous beliefs and is determined to follow a strict interpretation of the scriptures.

“he was afraid of being thought weak”

Deeply afraid, a fear that is rooted in the disdain for his father

Love for Ikemefuna like a son amplifies fear of weakness, thus he must be the one who kills him.

Instance when Okonkwo goes against the wisdom of the clan for personal benefit

"Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan”

Simile for the rapid spread and massive growth of his fame

Bush fire is dangerous and quickly develops into a destructive force

This fame results in/foreshadows Okonkwo being more aggressive than other Igbo men and continually criticized and rebuked by the village for his violence and temper. 

“To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.”

What an individual defines as worthing depends on values and upbringing. The only thing undermines any other values that are important aspects of one’s identity. Opinions such as these cause the internal tension and division in the clan.  

“As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders.”

Success and fame governs treatment in society.

Strong divide between wealth, power and political influence

"we have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but no one though the stories were true"

Concept of appearance and reality (truth)

The stories sound so exaggerated to a developing tribe that they don’t believe it to be true

Story telling is the method of communication behind clans and often told to teach morals and can be changed during transfer thus reliability may not be believed

“It said that other white men were on their way. They were locusts, it said, and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain.”

“appeared on the horizon a slowly-moving mass like a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia”

Symbol of locusts is likened to the white men

They are both sent to take over and dominate the terrain leading to a loss of crops and farming

The clan attempts to escape these problems

Human versus nature

“They must have used a powerful medicine to make themselves invisible until the market was full. And they began to shoot.”

Concept of appearance and reality

The white men do not have the power to become invisible but rather mask themselves in order to integrate into the clan before committing a malicious act

The British arrived quietly and non-confrontationally with their religion and the clans allow them to stay, misinterpreting their silence as peaceability. 

An Ibo proverb warns that there is danger in silence and nothing to fear from someone who reveals their motivations. Obierika recognizes how the white man’s strategy disguised their intentions and gave them the freedom to grow and fortify. He explains the political consequences for the clan, now divided by the new religion, they can no longer act as one. Without strength in unity, the Ibo are vulnerable to further encroachment of British control in their other institutions.

“Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swarm."

Foreshadowing the arrival of the missionaries

The locusts have the power to destroy the crop land (environmental destruction of environment)

The missionaries change the Igbo values (humans destruction of humans)

During the “Worst year in living memory” "It seemed as if the world had gone mad"

"The earth burned like hot coals" and "Nothing happened at its proper time" 

The first signs of changes to the clan are seen through changes to environment

Highlights the immense connection to land

"white men had not only brought a religion but also a government"

“abominable religion” “lunatic religion… overwhelming madness”

The indoctrination of values into multiple aspects of society

When Okonkwo and his family return from exile after seven years they find that the missionaries and colonial governors have established Umuofia as the center of their new colonial government. Clashes of culture and morality occur, and as the British make the Igbo more dependent on them through introducing trade and formal education, the Igbo way of life is continually undermined. 

“like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on its master. I fear for you; I fear for the clan"

Simile for the influence of the white men into traditional men and society. sudden and rapid change of power that is unexpected and cannot be stopped.

"the clan had overgone such profound change during his exile that it was barely recognisable"

Immense changes, result of colonisation

violence and fear were tools of oppression and dominance, forcing the Ibo to submit and keeping them unresisting 

Not only do the British impose foreign rule on the Ibo and judge them by standards they do not recognize, the District Commissioner’s personal brand of ‘justice’ is corrupt and hypocritical. 

“our brothers have deserted us and joined a stranger to soil their fatherland"

internal tensions arise in the clan and their is a lack of communal support as the clan divides. different values.

"how do you think we can fight when our own bothers have turned against us?"

Argues that the white men pose an existential threat that could contaminate Umuofia’s way of life

Contamination of space

Act of retaliation

"He had felt a relief on returning to the church, a sense of security." 

Sense of space and comfort with the new values

Opposing values of Okonkwo

Nwoye, disillusioned with his own culture and Gods after Ikemefuna’s death, is attracted to Christianity and is an early convert. 

"it is against out custom, it is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offence against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen"

Suicide in against custom and tradition

Values of traditional society still upheld despite indoctrination

When none of his clansmen rise with him against the British, Okonkwo realizes his culture and way of life is lost and commits suicide in despair.

"our clan can no longer act as one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart"

The title gives away the plot of the novel and anticipates the collapse of Okonkwo and his society. Things Fall Apart is about the connection between the tragic downfall of Okonkwo, who fate and temperamental weakness combine to destroy, and the destruction of his culture and society as the Igbo way of life is assailed by forces they do not understand and are unprepared to face. 

"one could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate"

The final paragraph, written from the perspective of the District Commissioner, reduces Okonkwo’s life to a single sentence about his death in his planned book The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of The Lower Niger. Achebe has filled an entire novel with evidence of the complexity and sophistication of Okonkwo’s individual and social life and the District Commissioner’s casual dismissal and belittling of him causes us to flinch with horror and dismay. This is a metaphor for the reduction of Igbo culture in the eyes of its colonizers. 

“living fire begets cold, impotent ash"

context?

"his wives lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper"

internal culture divide between gender in clan. creates tension

“there were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders“

“no women ever asked questions about the most powerful and most secret cult in the clan“

no voice, live in fear for masculinity and power, not allowed to be involved in political or economical aspects of society

not included in the formation/structure of society, yet used in background for food/household tasks

“Unoka was an ill-fated man. He had a bad chi or personal god, and evil fortune followed him to the grave, or rather to his death, for he had no grave."

“a man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi”

Chi is an individual’s personal god that is a determinant of one’s destiny, suggesting a belief in preordained fate. Individuals also have the power to influence their chi through the concept of free will. 

Traditional Igbo belief also focuses on the creator god, Chi. This is a belief in ancestors who protect their living descendants. Revelation of the will of the deities is sought by divination and oracles. Unfortunately, with time, there has been a shift in values with many practicing syncretic version of Christianity intermingled with indigenous beliefs. Thus, losing this connection to culture.

"his dialect was different and harsh... the way he used words strangely"

"does the white man understand our customs about land? How can he when he does not even speak out tongue?"

"one of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words"

“spirits of the ancestors, just emerged from the earth, greeted themselves in their esoteric language”

Miscommunication and lack of understanding between two cultures

Achebe displays the cultural divide between the two clans and how the miscommunication leads to the infiltration of values that were not intended.

White men’s opinion of native tongue

his willful blindness to its complexity shows how the colonizers justified their colonial rule and imposition through labelling their subjects ‘primitive’. 

"why is it that when a women dies she is taken home to be buried with her own kinsmen?"

"a man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you."

Importance of king’s men ship

Mother and fathers opposing relations and purpose in their children’s life

Support versus success (values)

"that year the harvest was sad, like a funeral”

Importance of land in survival

Need to harvest and farm

Achebe establishes a system of values closely related to the natural environment. Moral values are contained in stories, rituals and festivals.

“The clan was like a lizard; if it lost its tail it soon grew another”

Natural ability for clan to change without the influence of colonisation

“It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansmen, and a man who committed it must flee from the land"

"set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn"

Internal coherence of its organisation formed by the repression of the individual and the inflexibility of social norms. Violence, dehumanisation, discrimination against vulnerable groups due to the rigid adherence to tradition and superstition. (customary abandonment of newborn twins, sacrificed murder of Ikemefuna)

“The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging.. like the pulsation of its heart.”

Cultural importance and connection

Celebrations and rituals

The first half of the novel is dedicated to the anthropological depiction of Igbo village life and culture.

Overwhelming impression of community and shared culture.

agbala = name for woman and man with no title

“He had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit”.

“if he was unable to rule his women and his children, he was not really a man”

killing a man with not being able to control his women and being called a women is seen as the highest level of insult

“a man was judged according to his wealth”

wealth

“yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop”

“oocasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and the source of all fertility”

“began the season of plenty, the new year”

“painting themselves with cam wood and drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and their backs”

yam festival

“drums beat and the flutes sang”

“happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments.. Face beaming with blessedness and peace”

“he could hear in his mind’s ear the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene… colourful and plaintive tune”

drums, music, sound