Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
Contributed by Jack Shields
Chapter 7
Summary

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 masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye still makes the most of his mother's stories of legends, however, he tries to inspire Okonkwo by acting manly by professing to disdain the woman stories and by protesting about ladies. Okonkwo is deep down satisfied as Nwoye develops more extreme and masculine, and he attributes the change to Ikemefuna's great impact.

One day while Okonkwo and his sons are working around the walls of his compound, a tremendous dark cloud hangs over the town. The villagers are joyous in light of the fact that they expect the appearance of locusts, an awesome delicacy in Umuofia. Everybody embarks to find them for cooking, drying, and eating.

As Okonkwo, Nwoye, and Ikemefuna are joyously eat this rare dish, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the most  senior  man of the village in terms of age, approaches Okonkwo to address him secretly. He reveals to Okonkwo that the Oracle has declared that Ikemefuna must be executed as a compensation for the lady murdered three years ago in Mbaino. He advises Okonkwo to take no part in the child's death since the boy calls him "father."

Afterward, Okonkwo discloses to Ikemefuna that he is going home to Mbaino, however, the boy does not trust him. At the point when Nwoye hears that his companion is leaving, he begins sobbing uncontrollably and is beaten by his dad.

Many men from Umuofia go with Ikemefuna to the far-flung parts of the village and into the backwoods. With Okonkwo following closely behind them, Ikemefuna becomes fearless and remembers his family in Mbaino. Abruptly, Okonkwo drops from the back of the gathering and Ikemefuna is afraid once more. As the kid's back is turned, one of the men hits the first blow with his machete. Ikemefuna shouts out to Okonkwo, "My father, they have killed me!" and keeps running toward Okonkwo. Careful not to seem weak, Okonkwo slaughters Ikemefuna with his machete.

Analysis

In Chapter 2, the author remarks that the destiny of Ikemefuna is a "sad story" that is "still told in Umuofia unto this day." This perception indicates that the choice to kill Ikemefuna was not a customary one. Before dying, Ikemefuna considers Okonkwo his "real father" and of what he needs to tell his mother, particularly about Okonkwo. These components put together show that the murder of Ikemefuna is silly, regardless of whether the killing is as per the Oracle and Village choices.

The murder scene is a defining moment in the novel. Okonkwo takes an interest in the function for giving up the kid in the wake of being emphatically advised not to take part, and he strikes the final blow since he "afraid of being thought weak." Profoundly, Okonkwo kills a boy who "could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father"

It is the first time in which Okonkwo's child, Nwoye, rises as a significant character who, as opposed to his dad, addresses the long-standing traditions of the village. Achebe starts to demonstrate the boy's clashing feelings; he is torn between being a physically masculine individual to satisfy his dad and enabling himself to value esteems and emotions that Okonkwo thinks about to be womanly and demonstrating weaknesses.

info_outline
Have study documents to share about Things Fall Apart? Upload them to earn free Studypool credits!