Things Fall Apart - Character Notes

Nwoye

• Okonkwo's eldest son.
• Struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful, and demanding father.
• His interests more closely resemble those of Unoka, his grandfather.

Unoka

• Okonkwo's father.
• Has an aversion to violence and a preference for the arts.
• Okonkwo regards him as an effeminate idler, precisely the opposite of what he strives to become.

Okonkwo

• Tragic hero.
• Although he is a superior character, his tragic flaw—the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence—brings about his own destruction.

Ikemefuna

• Role model for Nwoye.
• Ikemefuna comes to Umuofia as settlement for a dispute with a nearby village.
• Quickly becomes a well-loved member of the family.

Ezinma

• Okonkwo's favorite daughter.
• Okonkwo wishes she had been born a boy since he considers her to have such a masculine spirit.

Mr. Brown

• First white Christian missionary.
• Succeeds in winning a large number of converts because he listens to the villagers' stories, beliefs, and opinions.
• He also accepts converts unconditionally.

Symbolism in Things Fall Apart

• Locusts: The arrival of the white settlers, who will feast on and exploit the resources of the Igbo.
• Fire: The intense, dangerous, and destructive anger of Okonkwo.
• Yams: Status, success, and masculinity.

Things Fall Apart Title

• Turning and turning in the widening gyre
• The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
• Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
• Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
• WB Yeats - The Second Coming