Part One Chps. 1-13

A1. Okonkwo is a strong willed African man who has a great fear of failure and weakness. He is not a very nice person and is constantly beating his children and wives and does stuff that others might not do because of this fear. But deep down inside he is actually a nice guy but it is suppressed by his way of thinking and thinking it is weak to show concern, happiness, gentleness, and other emotions. As defined by his art and culture, Okonkwo achieves his greatness by earning titles, being a hard worker, paying back borrowed seed and money, being involved in his community, not giving up, paying respects to the ancestors and gods most of the time, and other things as well. Okonkwo differs from normal western heroes because most western heroes are all good with not many flaws in their personality and don’t have a constant desire to be strong all the time and have to prove that point all the time. Some strengths are having patients, being able to predict what will happen in time to come, being smart, being physically strong, having a desire to help people, being caring and compassionate, being involved in activities and communities, integrity, and many more things. Some weaknesses are self pity, selfishness, greed, jealousy, narrow mindedness, and others.

A2. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was a laid back, lazy, gentle, title less, ill fated, poor, and unprepared, in debt, afraid of war and blood, musician who only had one wife and some children who were hungry a lot of the time. Okonkwo is ashamed of his father and hates how lazy and unsuccessful he was and that he could never hold a title, keep money, or pay off debts. Okonkwo saw all his father’s flaws and decided when he was young that he didn’t want to be anything at all like his father. He wanted to have pleasant things, to hold titles, and everything his father couldn’t, and wouldn’t, and didn’t do. Unoka gave Okonkwo a very bad start in life as a man but Okonkwo was strong and was able to become successful even though he did struggle in the beginning. Because of Unoka’s many short comings it shaped Okonkwo into the strong, brave, well known, respected, feared, wealthy man he was. Okonkwo’s success and Unoka’s failure tells us that in Igbo society a man is judged by his accomplishments and his worth in the society rather than by his father’s worth and accomplishments. One would succeed in this culture by being strong, smart, and knowledgeable of land, war, and society, respected, well known, and wealthy. By the system of taking titles we learn that only the greatest and well accomplished men can and do take titles. It is an honor to carry a title. Women, children, beggars, thieves, poor men, lazy men, musicians, men of middle social status, and men like Unoka, all seem to be excluded from opportunities to gain such success.

A3. The narrator of Things Fall Apart seems to know exactly what he is talking about, like he’s seen it and maybe experienced some of it in his life time. But he also seems quite mellow about everything, like it’s all pretty natural. The point of view he’s coming from seems like he understands everything and agrees with it for the most part. He seems to have some of the same values as Obierika, Okonkwo’s best friend, but he sees things in a broader, general way and understands more. It seems like he actually could be a bystander and witness in the story to all the things of Okonkwo’s life.

A4. The setting of this novel is around the 1800’s and 1900’s in eastern Nigeria in an Igbo society. Social life in Umuofia is organized base on individual worth. If you were a male, hard worker, weren’t afraid of bloodshed and war, were active in the community and were wealthy, then you would probably be one of the men that carried a title. Men with titles were well respected, had more than one wife, and had other advantages. Men without wealth typically only had one wife and typically wouldn’t carry any titles. Men of lower status might own their own land or might be a sharecropper. In Umuofia, there are only four titles to be held but only a few men in any generation had ever achieved all four. But no matter if you held a title or two or no titles at all; everyone was to perform rituals and hold ceremonies once and a while as thanks and to ask for protection and fertility from the gods. When a ceremony like a wrestling to place, the men of higher status with titles like the elders and the grandees, would have young boys and slaves bring chairs for them and they were the only ones who would sit. All the rest would stand. Celebrations were important because it shows the gods that their people are thankful for what they have given them. The role of war shows who the brave and honorable among the men are and who would risk their lives for their clan or village or whatever. The role of religion keeps everyone united and makes for fewer problems in the villages. The roles of the arts are for entertainment and to show off. The role of the individual in the community of Umuofia is to plant what you need to survive, pay your respects to the gods and ancestors, and stay in line and be obedient to those of higher authority. My life ways are very different compared to the Igbo ways. I live a life of mixed culture especially considering my parents are from to different nationalities, but I’m all American. I have very strong beliefs and values just like the Igbo do but mine are very different. The world has grown and expanded so much in knowledge and so many new perspectives have aroused that now you can see things from so many different point of views but mine are still very different from the Igbo ways.

A5. The people of Umuofia, even the bravest of them, are afraid of the night when no moon is showing. They fear the evil spirits, snakes, and other wild beasts. Instead of calling snakes by their name they actually call them strings.

A6. Okonkwo accidentally killed a young boy when he shot his gun and it exploded sending a piece of iron through the air and lodging itself in the boy’s heart. Because it was a “female” crime, an accident, Okonkwo and his family were banished to his mother’s land of Mbanta for seven years.

A7. The important crops in the Igbo community were yams, kola nuts, and palm trees. The seasons that they have are the rainy season, the planting season, the harvest season, the season of plenty, and the carefree season which is between the harvest and planting seasons. Sharecropping is basically when a person with land lets someone use part of their land for planting and they repay them for the use of their land by giving a certain amount of their harvest to the landowner. For men growing yams was the designated crop because yams were the king of all the crops, they were the most important, most used, and it took skill in order to prepare them for planting. Coco yams, beans, and cassava were the designated crop for women and children to grow. They required less attention and weren’t as commonly used as the yams. The relationship of women to agriculture is the women help their husbands in the fields and worked hard besides them so they could be prosperous and then cook what they grow for their families.

A8. Okonkwo’s relationship to his wives and children seem to be somewhat dull. He looks down on them and expects them to do a lot of stuff. If they don’t do something a certain way or the way he wants it, he’ll get mad and beat them. He’s especially hard on his eldest son, Nwoye, because he wants him to be a strong hardworking young man and wants him to be able to have everything that he has and become just as respected. The roles of men in Igbo society are mainly to hold titles, work hard in the fields, be involved in the society, wrestle, and provide for their families. The main roles of the women are to take care of the children, be of good use and service to their husbands weather it be in the fields, making them food, or something else, to be faithful to their husbands, decorate some, and to do as they are told. Okonkwo’s attitude toward women is he thinks they aren’t very strong but they are good for taking care of the children and comforting them and for making food and make good outlets when anger to much anger builds up.

A9. The crime that Okonkwo commits in chapter four that gets him reprimanded is breaking the peace by beating his third wife, Ojiugo, in the Week of Peace which was a sacred week. This tells you that the values of the culture are very, very important to the people and that they won’t tolerate any disrespect and disobedience to the sacredness of the gods. According to Ezeani, wife beating is okay to do any other time except during the Week of Peace.

A10. It is interesting to see the differences between my own background compared to the background and way of living that these Igbo people have. Some of the things they do are pretty harsh and are really narrowed minded. I don’t live my life anywhere close as to how they live and because I live in a country of freedom I can do a lot of things they can’t, I know different things and understand more than they do. Also I was raised differently than they where and in a different religion, different time, and different society. One of the things that seems most foreign to me is their way of thinking like when they killed Ikemefuna and just the different unusual things that they think are bad and must be killed or gotten rid of because their gods doesn’t like it. One thing that is most familiar to me would be the big families. I have two brothers and six sisters. I also have a large extended family.