Things Fall Apart Questions

1. There are a couple topics that are in the additional notes that I didn’t have in my own notes. For example, in my notes I didn’t mention that Okonkwo associates masculinity with aggression and that he believes the only emotion men should show is anger, while only women show all their emotions. Also in the additional notes it talks about how Okonkwo was upset that when he was exiled he had to go to his motherland because it forced him to spend a lot of time in a “womanly” place, when he only wants to be associated with maculate things. Finally, the additional notes also talked about how Okonkwo used his daughters to try to gain back his status in Umuofia when he returned back from his exile, and in my notes I didn’t mention anything about that. However, there were a couple things that I mentioned in my notes that were not mentioned in the additional notes. For example in my notes I talked about how yams, the king of crops, were considered a man’s crop, while lesser crops like coco-yams, beams, and cassava were considered women’s crops. Also, in my notes I talked about how a man wasn’t truly a man unless he controlled his wives and children, but the additional notes never mentioned it. Finally, in my notes I mentioned how women were thought to be something that a man bought because men would pay a bride price for their bride, and barter with the bride’s family to determine how much the bride was worth.
2. The additional notes helped me understand why Okonkwo thinks so little of women. They showed me that since Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was seen as a weak “feminine” man, Okonkwo wanted to do anything he could so he wouldn’t be seen like his father was. So he beats and treats women poorly to look like he’s a big, tough man and he is nothing like the man his father was. The additional notes also showed me that even though Okonkwo never showed it, he did have an affectionate side to him. For example, when he followed Chielo into the mountains he didn’t just follow her so he looked like the strong, manly protector to Ekwefi, but he was actually very concerned about Ekwefi and Enzima so he wanted to make sure that they were safe. So the additional notes showed me why Okonkwo treats women so poorly and that he actually does have an affectionate side to him.
3. My notes and the additional notes were a lot alike because they were both about a lot of the different things through out the book that talked about the perception of gender in the Ibo villages. Both of the notes had specific details from the book that were about my theme, and they both talked a lot about Okonkwo and how he treated women. However, there were also differences between my notes and the additional because the additional notes went chapter by chapter explaining what happened in the chapter and then talked about things that were in the chapter that connected to perception of gender. On the other hand, my notes just talked about different things that related to my topic that happened through out the book, and they don’t have little summaries of what happened in each chapter.
4. To improve my notes that I took while reading Things Fall Apart I could have wrote more details about the things that I took notes on, and explained what they meant and how they might later affect events that might happen later in the book. Also, for each note that I took I could have wrote down what I thought of it, weather I liked what was going on or if I didn’t like it. Then I could have also written down things that reminded me of events that were going on the book, and how I could relate to each event that I took notes on.
5. I have written ten quote for the story of Things Fall Apart and my first quote is, “That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken no title,” page 12 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from the begging of the story and in this quote Okonkwo finds out that when a man called his father an agbala, he was actually calling him a woman. So, the quote is referring to Okonkwo and his father, Unoka, and it means that when a man is called an agbala he’s actually being called a woman and it’s a huge insult for a man to be called a women. This quote connects to my theme because it shows that men were considered better than women because if calling a man, a woman was such a big insult it meant that if you were a woman you were automatically seen as less of a person compared to a man. My second quote is, “His mother and sister worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans, and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop,” page 20 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from the begging of the story when Okonkwo is starting to plant his first yams, and in this quote coco-yams, beans, and cassava are being called women’s crops while yams are called a man’s crop. This quote is referring to Okonkwo’s mother and sister and it means that even though women worked hard at growing crops they could only grow women’s crops, while men grew the yams. So, this quote is connected to my theme because it shows that men and women were separated they couldn’t
even plant the same crops. Women were forced to grow lesser crops that didn’t make as much money, while men got to grow yams which made a lot more money, even though women put in just as much hard work to harvest their crops as the men did. My third quote is, “Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily,” page 26 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from when Ojiugo went to a friends house and was not home to give Okonkwo his dinner, and in this quote Okonkwo gets mad that Ojiugo is not home to give him dinner so when she finally arrives home he beats her to teach her a lesson. Then, this quote is referring to Ojiugo and Okonkwo, and it means that a man was allowed to beat his wife for silly things like not make him dinner. So, this quote connects to my theme because it shows that women were treated very poorly, and men were allowed to beat their wives for really no reason at all. Men were allowed to beat their wives and the village wouldn’t care that it happened. The people of Umuofia just thought it was a normal part of life so it shows how low women were seen in their society. Then my fourth quote is, “And so he called to Ikemefuna to fetch his gun, the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. Unfortunately for her, Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall, of the barn. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children,” page 34 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from during the New Yam Festival when Okonkwo saw that his second wife cut off a few leaves from his banana tree, and he thought that she had killed the tree. In this quote, Okonkwo gets very upset when he thinks that Ekwefi killed his banana tree and he beats her very heavily and decides that he wants to go hunting so he goes to get his gun, but then he hears Ekwefi talking about guns that never shot. When Okonkwo hears this he gets even more upset and he runs to get his gun and aims it right his wife and he pulls the trigger, but he ends up missing her. This quote is referring to Okonkwo and his second wife, Ekwefi, and it means that if a man got mad enough at his wife he was allowed to aim and shot a gun at her. So, this quote connects to my theme because it shows that women were thought so little of men could try to shot a gun at them and the village people would just allow it to happen. People in Umuofia didn’t even really care when they heard that Okonkwo almost killed his wife, they just accepted it like it happened everyday and it shows that men could do anything to their wife if they thought they deserved it, even if they really didn’t. My fifth quote is, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man,” page 45 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from when Okonkwo starts to think that Nwoye is becoming a man. In this quote Okonkwo is thinking to himself that no matter how successful a man was he wasn’t a real man unless he controlled everyone in his family. The quote is referring to what Okonkwo thinks a real man should be like, and it means that if a man couldn’t control his family he couldn’t call himself a man. So, this quote connects to my theme because it’s saying that men think they should control their women and if you didn’t they weren’t truly a man. Men could control their wives and their wives just agreed to what ever they said, so it shows that women’s opinions didn’t matter in their society. My sixth quote is, “She sat down and stretched her legs in front of her. Okonkwo ate the food absentmindedly. “She should have been a boy,” he thought as he looked at his ten-year-old daughter,” page 54 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from after Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, and he couldn’t eat or sleep. In this quote, Ezinma is giving food to Okonkwo and his mind he is thinking that she should have been a boy instead of a girl. This quote is referring to Okonkwo and his daughter, Ezinma, and it means that men would rather have sons than daughters because a son was more valuable to them than a daughter was. So, this quote connects to my theme because it shows that men were more important in the family than women. Men wanted sons who could take over their land and act as their successor to represent their family, but if they had a daughter they couldn’t give her their land and she couldn’t keep the family name. So if a man had a daughter who was strong and hardworking he could only wish that she was born a son, so then she could take over his land and bring their family name great respect. My seventh quote is, “In this way Akueke’s bride-price was finally settled at twenty bags of cowries,” page 62 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from when Akueke’s family and suitor are deciding on her bride-price. In this quote, Akueke’s family and her suitor decided that to buy her as a bride she cost twenty bags of cowries, so the quote is referring Akueke, her family, and her suitor. So this quote means that men paid money to get their wives and the woman didn’t get to say whether or not she wanted to marry him or not, her family just made up her mind for her. This quote connects to my theme because it shows that women were thought as something to be bought. The man didn’t give the woman a chance to say what they felt about the marriage, and in the Ibo society men just saw women as a sign of their success. My eight quote is, “The world is large,” said Okonkwo. “I have even heard that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and her family.” “That cannot be,” said Machi. “You might as well say that the woman lies on top of the man when they are making the children,” page 63 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from after Akueke’s bride price was settled and Okonkwo, Machi, and Obierika were talking about the customs of the different tribes. In this quote Okonkwo and Machi are talking about how it’s crazy that in some tribes a man’s children belong to his wife and not to him, and the quote is referring to Okonkwo, Machi, and different tribes in Ibo. This quote means that men in Umuofia believe that their children belong to them, and that they should never belong to their wife and her family. So, this quote connects to my theme because it shows that even though women put in just as much hard work into raising their children as their husband does, the man believes that the children are his, and their wife has not right to think that their children are hers too. It just shows that in a family pretty much everything is considered the man’s and their wives don’t really have anything to call their own. My ninth quote is, “It was clear from the way the crowd stood or sat that the ceremony was for men. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders. The titled men and elders sat on their stools waiting for the trials to begin,” page 74 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from when the large crowds of people gathered on the village ilo to hear trials in the village. In this quote, women were forced to sit on the outside of the ilo, while the men got to sit in the center where the trials were being held. This quote is referring to the men and women of Umuofia and where they sat during communal ceremonies, and it means that it wasn’t as important for women to hear what was going on in the village, as it was for men to know what was going on in the village. So, this quote connects my theme because it shows that it was more important that the men knew what was going on the village because if there was a problem the men could take care of. Meanwhile, if something bad was to happen in the village the men thought that women would never be able to take care of it because they are a lot weaker than and not as capable as the men are when it comes to solving a problem. Then my final quote is, “You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold head among my people. If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse you,” page 141 of Things Fall Apart. This quote is from after Okonkwo finds that Nwoye converted to Christianity and he is talking to all his other sons about what Nwoye did. In this quote, Okonkwo is telling his other sons that Nwoye has betrayed him by converting to Christianity making him a woman not a man, and he is asks if any of them would like to join Nwoye in his decision. So, this quote is referring to Okonkwo, Nwoye, and all of Okonkwo’s other sons. This quote means that if a son turned his back on his father and his tribe he was considered a woman not a man. So, this quote connects to my theme because it says that if you turn your back against your family and your tribe your being a woman, which is saying that women turn their backs against what they believe in, calling women untrustworthy.
5c. My theme connects to my life because even though today there isn’t a big perception of gender as there is Things Fall Apart, there is still perception of gender in our society today. Still to this day, men are seen as the strong one who provides for the family, while the woman stays home and takes care of the house and their children. This is just like how the men in Umuofia went out to work in the fields, while the woman stayed home and took care of the chores around the house and the children. Also today, men are seen as the ones who go out and play sports, while women would rather sit on the sidelines and watch. This is a lot like how the men Umuofia were the ones who would be in the wrestling matches where everyone came to the watch, and the women would always be the ones on the sidelines cheering on the wrestlers. I disagree with my theme because I think that it is unfair that women and men get treated differently. I think that if a man or woman puts their mind to do the same thing they can both achieve the same success, and it doesn’t matter what gender they are as long as they both hard work in to what they are doing. Both men and women should be equal because they are both humans and they are both capable of doing the same things, so why should a woman or a man automatically be seen as a better choice for doing a certain thing? It’s crazy to think, but still to this day women and men are not treated equally and I think they should be because they both capable of the same things and they can both do what they want to as long as they are willing to work for it.
6. A movie that I’ve seen that is similar to Things Fall Apart is Roots. Roots is similar in theme to Things Fall Apart because in both Roots and Things Fall Apart one kind of person is considered better than another. In Roots Englishmen were considered better than the Africans, so the English captured and took Africans as their slaves and they treated them very poorly and like second class citizen. The Africans were taken to America and were bought by American plantation owners, and then they were forced to work on the plantations with no say at all. This is a lot like how women were treated in Things Fall Apart. In Things Fall Apart women were
treated very poorly and like second class citizens too. Just like the Africans in Roots, the women in Things Fall Apart were bought to be a wife of a man in her village, and the woman didn’t have a say in whether or not she wanted to marry him just like the Africans didn’t have a say in being slaves. Also, both the Africans in Roots and the women in Things Fall Apart were looked down upon just by the way they looked. The Africans were only treated poorly because the color of their skin was black, and the women in Things Fall Apart were only treated poorly because they were women and not men. So, the themes in Roots and in Things Fall Apart were very similar to each other.
7. Summary: The quote means that Okonkwo is a common character and he is a person who represents a culture that is breaking up or declining. Okonkwo is someone who believes that if he is a great fighter he will become seen as a great person in his clan, but when the modern power and persuasion of the missionaries come into his village he can do anything to stop them. He will try to do anything in his power to keep his traditions alive even if nobody wants to fight with him.
Thinking: I think that Okonkwo is a character who is very true to his beliefs. Even though everyone else is turning their backs on their religion, Okonkwo is still willing to fight against the missionaries and I think that it makes Okonkwo a very honorable man. I wonder what makes Okonkwo so stuck on his beliefs because while everyone in his clan was converting to Christianity Okonkwo wanted nothing to do with it. He was willing to fight back against the missionaries so he could keep his religion alive in Umuofia, and I wonder what makes him so
Smiley 11loyal when everyone was willing to convert. This is similar to when the Spanish came to South America and converted all the South American tribes to Christianity. European missionaries came into South America to try to convert all the tribes to Christianity and in the end they were able covert them into Christians, just like how European missionaries were successful in converting Ibo tribes to Christianity. I think that I can relate to Okonkwo’s character because even though I don’t I don’t get very angry and beat up other people, I stand up for what I believe in and don’t just forget about what I believe because no one else is there to back me up. Just like Okonkwo, I wouldn’t want a group of people coming into my village to take away all my traditions and beliefs. I would want to stand up against them and try to fight them, just like Okonkwo tried to fight against the missionaries so his village could keep their old traditions and beliefs.