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Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
Contributed by Jack Shields
Content
Overview
Context
Characters
Motifs
Themes
Symbols
Plot Summary
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
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Chapter Summaries
Timeline
Chapter 1
Okonkwo shoots to fame and gains significant repute in his community for managing to throw Amalinze the Cat in a competitive cultural match.
Chapter 1
Chapter 4
Okonkwo adopts Ikemefuna, a sacrifice from a neighboring clan, and allows Ikemefuna to live with his family.
Chapter 4
Chapter 7
Okonkwo feels obligated to kill Ikemefuna despite his love for Ikemefuna and warnings from many members in his community to not involve himself.
Chapter 7
Chapter 13
Okonkwo accidentally kills the young son of Ezeudu when his gun misfires. He is exiled for seven years as punishment.
Chapter 13
Chapter 15
White explorers and missionaries arrive in Lower Niger.
Chapter 15
Chapter 20
Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, distances himself from his family when he decides to join the Christians.
Chapter 20
Chapter 22
Enoch, an over-enthusiastic convert, unmasks an egwugwu or an elder dressed as one of the deities of the Umuofia. Such an act is regarded as a huge taboo and it incites a frenzied violence from the group against the Church.
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Okonkwo and five others answer the call of the District Commissioner, who has the men beaten, arrested, and humiliated. The Umuofia decide to take a palliative rather than an aggressive approach in response.
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Okonkwo misinterprets the priorities of his people, and only in his act of killing the court messenger does he realize that he has lost the support of the majority in his desire to start a war.
Chapter 24
Chapter Summaries Table
Chapter Summary
Chapter 1
Set when the new century was rolling over, Things Fall Apart concentrates on the hero of the book, Okonkwo, and on his late father, Unoka. Okonkwo is ...
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Chapter 2
One night, as Okonkwo is settling on his bed, he hears the beat of a drum and the voice of the town crier. The crier summons each man in Umuofia to ga...
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Chapter 3
As indicated by the story from Okonkwo's past, his father, Unoka, sought the Oracle of the Hills and Caves, inquiring as to why he had reaped terrible...
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Chapter 4
Regardless of Okonkwo's humble beginnings that were characterized by several setbacks, he has ascended up the social and economic ladder and has becom...
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Chapter 5
The village of Umuofia gets ready for the Feast of the New Yam, which happens just before the harvest. All yams left unused from the previous year mus...
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Chapter 6
On the second day of the celebration, everybody is at the village playing field to watch the wrestling challenge between men of the village and men of...
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Chapter 7
Nwoye and Ikemefuna spend most of their time together like siblings. In the nights, they sit with Okonkwo in his hut and provide an audience to his ma...
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Chapter 8
For two days after Ikemefuna's demise, Okonkwo can't eat or rest; his mind returns over and over to the boy who was like a child to him. On the third ...
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Chapter 9
Okonkwo at last experiences a good night's rest since the killing of Ikemefuna, when all of a sudden, he is startled by a knock on his door. His wife ...
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Chapter 10
This chapter is dedicated to the description of the public trial in the Igbo society. At a social event in one of the village gatherings, the elders s...
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Chapter 11
As Okonkwo unwinds in his hut after the night meal, he listens to the voices of his wives and children telling folklore stories. Ekwefi identifies wit...
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Chapter 12
After Chielo took Ezinma away, Okonkwo was not ready to rest. He made a few trips to the cave before he at long last found and joined Ekwefi holding u...
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Chapter 13
 In the dead of night, the sound of a drum and a gun communicate the death of Ezeudu, a respectable man in the village. Okonkwo shudders when he reca...
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Chapter 14
Okonkwo arrives in Mbanta, ready to start his culturally imposed seven-year exile. His maternal uncle, Uchendu, now a village elder, invites him. Uche...
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Chapter 15
In Okonkwo's second year in exile,  Obierika, his wonderful friend, and two other young men visit him in Mbanta. After the first experience with Uche...
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Chapter 16
It is two more years that have passed before Obierika visits Mbanta a second time, again with unfortunate news. White missionaries have arrived in Umu...
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Chapter 17
Chapter 17 proceeds with the tale of how Nwoye converts into a Christian. The missionaries have their camp in the Mbanta commercial center for a few e...
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Chapter 18
At first, the congregation and the clan stay at loggerheads in Mbanta. The clan members, however, feel that the Christians will soon get tired and fiz...
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Chapter 19
In spite of the fact that Okonkwo has a high status in his homeland, he feels that his seven years abroad have been squandered. He could have ascended...
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Chapter 20
As early as Okonkwo's first year in exile, he had already had in mind the grand entry that he would want to have in Umuofia. Okonkwo has resolved to m...
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Chapter 21
Not all individuals from the Igbo community in Umuofia hate the changes occurring. The Europeans are bringing riches to the villages as they send out ...
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Chapter 22
The new leader of the Christian church, the Reverend James Smith, has nothing of Mr. Brown's sympathy, generosity, or accommodation. He detests the wa...
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Chapter 23
Okonkwo is revived and feels the tribe has recovered its old ways. He has persuaded the men in Umuofia to arm themselves so they will be readied—not...
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Chapter 24
Okonkwo and the others are set free. Watchful clansmen don't welcome them but move out of their way. Okonkwo's male relations and companions assemble ...
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Chapter 25
The District Commissioner storms Okonkwo’s compound with a troop of soldiers and the court messengers. He orders to see Okonkwo, however, Obierika d...
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Plot Summary
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