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OVERVIEW
AUTHORS
BACKGROUND
PLOT
CHARACTERS AND
CHARACTERISTICS
SUMMARY
THEME
LITERARY
DEVICES

QUOTATION
HIGHLIGHT
MORAL VALUES

NAME : Chinua Achebe
BORN : November 15, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria
FAMILY: He was the fifth of six children.
EDUCATION:
1)government college in Umuahia, Nigeria
2) graduated from the University College at
Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1954.


1930-he was born
1959-he composed his first
novel, Things Fall Apart
1966- He was appointed as
Senior Research Fellow at
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
1972-1976 & 1987-1988
- became a professor of
English at University of
Massachusetts
2007- won the Man Booker
International Prize For
Fiction
At present, he lives
with his wife in Annandale,
New York
and they have four children.
Chinua Achebes Masterpieces
Things Fall Apart(1959)
No Longer At Ease (1960)
Arrow of God (1964)
A Man of the People (1966)
Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
Home and Exile (2000)


CHAPTER 1
Okonkwo is a very wealthy and respected
warrior of the Umuofia clan.
Gained his reputation when he won against
Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match.
Opposites to his father Unoka who was weak
and always borrowing or losing money.
His family always went hungry.
CHAPTER 2
Okonkwo was about to rest when he suddenly
heard the ogene of the town crier.
The massage was for all of the men to gather
at the market place the next morning.
Okonkwo suspected that something was
wrong.
Ogbuefi Ezuego announces that a woman
from their tribe was murdered at the market
of the Mbaino clan.
Okonkwo was sent to Mbaino to deliver a
message that the option for the Mbaino clan.
It was either give up a young man and a virgin
or they go to war.
The Umofia clan was feared for their fierce
reputation in war.
The Mbaino agreed to give a young man and a
virgin without any objections seeing that
Okonkwo is the fiercest warrior in Umofia.
Ugbuefi Udo was given the virgin to
compensate for his wife who was killed.
Okonkwo took the young man and give him to
his first wife to be raised.
Okonkwo is very demanding of his family
because he feared weakness.

CHAPTER 3

Unoka had gone to consultAgbala, the great Oracle
of the Hills and Caves, to find out why his crops
were always bad. The priestess told Unoka that
his crop failure was not the result of the gods and
his ancestors ignoring his sacrifices, but rather his
own laziness in tending to the yams. Because
Unoka was so lazy, Okonkwo knew early on that
in order to be a prosperous man in his village, he
would have to seek the help of someone besides
his father. So he went to Nwakibie, a rich
villager.
Nwakibie had refused to give such backing to
many of the young men in the village, he gave
Okonkwo eight hundred seed yams because he
knew that Okonkwo would work hard to make a
prosperous crop. Although share-cropping was a
difficult way to get a start, Okonkwo had no
choice, and to make matters worse, he had to
share the third of the crop that he kept for
himself with his parents and sisters because his
father did not provide for them. Unfortunately,
the year turns out to be a disaster as there was a
long period of drought. But he managed to
survive due to his inflexible will
EXPOSITORY
Okonkwo,son of Unoka who was a lazy and shameful
man.
RISING
ACTION
Due to his bad attitude, he have a lot of debts and
refuse to pay it.
CLIMAX
He died after suffering a disease and his body rots
under a tree in Evil Forest.
FALLING
ACTION
Okonkwo build his family life after the deaths of Unoka
as he did not left anything for them.
RESOLUTION
Although Okonkwo faced a tragic year but he managed
to survive. This was caused by his inflexible will.
OKONKWO
MAIN
CHARACTER
CHARACTERIZATIONS EVIDENCE
-son of Unoka
-huge physical

He was tall and huge, and his bushy
eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very
severe look.
(chapter one)
-has a slight stammer
-hot tempered
Whenever he was angry and could not
get his words out quickly enough, he
would use his fists.

(chapter one)
-impatient He had no patience with unsuccessful
men. He had had no patience with his
father.

(chapter one)
CHARACTERIZATIONS

EVIDENCE

-successful man He becomes very wealthy, holds a high-
ranked position in the community, has
three wives, and is known for his skill as a
wrestler and warrior.

-fear of himself But his whole life was dominated by fear,
the fear of failure and of weakness.
(chapter two)
-strict father At any rate, that was how it looked to his
father, and he sought to correct him by
constant nagging and beating. And so
Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced
youth.
(chapter two)
UNOKA
SUPPORTING
CHARACTER
CHARACTERIZATIONS EVIDENCE
-Okonkwos father
-had died ten years ago
-tall but very thin
He was tall but very thin and had a slight
stoop. He wore a haggard and mournful
look.
(chapter one)
-lazy and irresponsible In his day he was lazy and improvident
and was quite incapable of thinking about
tomorrow.
(chapter one)

-loves music And so he changed the subject and talked
about music, and his face beamed.
(chapter one)
CHARACTERIZATIONS

EVIDENCE

spirituality As he broke the kola, Unoka prayed to
their ancestors for life and health, and for
protection against their enemies.
(chapter one)
IKEMEFUNA
SUPPORTING
CHARACTER
CHARACTERIZATIONS


EVIDENCE

-a boy given to Okonkwo by a neighboring
village
.And so for three years Ikemefuna lived in
Okonkwo's household.
(chapter two)
-friendly he grows very close to Okonkwo's family,
especially Nwoye
(chapter two)
-pitiful boy He didnt get the chance to decide his life
and he was given to Okonkwo to take care
of
(chapter two)
NWOYE
SUPPORTING
CHARACTER
CHARACTERIZATIONS

EVIDENCE


-son of Okonkwo
-twelve years old
Okonkwo's first son, Nwoye, was then
twelve years old
(chapter two)
-a lazy boy but was already causing his father great
anxiety for his incipient laziness.
(chapter two)
-grew up with gloomy face At any rate, that was how it looked to his
father, and he sought to correct him by
constant nagging and beating. And so
Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced
youth.
(chapter two)
OKOYE
-lent his money to
Unoka
NWAKIBIE
-wealthy man
-Ukonkwo went to him
so he can change his life
AMALINZE THE CAT
-Amalinze was the great
wrestler who for seven
years was unbeaten
THEMES
TRADITIONS
AND
CUSTOMS
FEAR
RESPECT
AND
REPUTATION
Bravery in
battle
Skills in
wrestling
Size of
their yams
harvest
Numerous
wives

-Okonkwo overcompensates by working tirelessly
on his farm and taking every opportunity available
to prove his bravery and strength.
During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms
from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. chapter 2, p13

Determined to change his destiny and fate as he
knew, his late father, Unoka was a lazy and failure
man.
Defeated Amalinze the Cat who was unbeaten for
7 years.




by working tirelessly on his farm and taking every opportunity available to prove his bravery and strength.
His wives lived in
perpetual fear of
his fiery temper.
Okonkwo himself,
feared of his lazy
and shameful
father.
Had a terrible
internal worry
about himself and
his identity.
Ruled his family
with a heavy hand.
(chapter 2, p12)
His whole life was
dominated by the
fear of failure
weakness.
and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and
beating.
Chapter 2, p13, line 8.
It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and
capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of
the forces of nature, meaevolent, red in tooth and claw.
Chapter 2, p12, line 5
Heartless
man
Hate
everything
that his
father had
loved.
FEAR
Believe on Oracle of the
Hills and the Caves
Agbala (the people who can
discover future held for them)
Unoka went to consult the
Agbala and find out why he
always had a miserable
harvest.
Unoka died of a swelling
which was believed as an
abomination to the earth
goddess.
He was not allowed to die in the house
and was carried to the Evil Forest to die.
He was tied to the tree, died and rotted away
from above the earth and was not given the
first or the second burial.
It was believed by the society that a man like
Unoka could not be buried.

Unoka was a family leader and he was expected to be
a responsible man.
He never took a title to his name, always borrowed
money from his clansmen and rarely paid his debts.
He never became a warrior because he feared the
sight of blood.
He died in a shameful way.
At the beginning of the story:
Flashback about Okonkwos
successfulness of defeating Amalinze the
Cat. (20 years back)
Chapter 1.
Flashing back to 10 years ago when Unoka was
still alive.
Telling scene:
Okeye, Unoka's neighbour came to his house
and offered him a kola nut. After asking for 200
cowries of debt that Unoka borrowed in a polite
way, but he is forced to leave empty-handed.
The narrative flashes back to Unoka speaking with the oracle many
years ago when Okonkwo was still a boy. He asked why he had a bad
harvest.
She says that he has no one but himself to blame for his bad harvests.
She points out his laziness in contrast to his neighbors admirable
work ethic and sends him away with simple advice: go home and
work like a man. He died of a shameful illness.





Work hard to have a bright
future.
Pay your debts.
Choose a peaceful resolutions.