- Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe
- Literature Notes
- Book Summary
- About Things Fall Apart
- Character List
- Summary and Analysis
- Part 1: Chapter 1
- Part 1: Chapter 2
- Part 1: Chapter 3
- Part 1: Chapter 4
- Part 1: Chapter 5
- Part 1: Chapter 6
- Part 1: Chapter 7
- Part 1: Chapter 8
- Part 1: Chapter 9
- Part 1: Chapter 10
- Part 1: Chapter 11
- Part 1: Chapter 12
- Part 1: Chapter 13
- Part 2: Chapter 14
- Part 2: Chapter 15
- Part 2: Chapter 16
- Part 2: Chapter 17
- Part 2: Chapter 18
- Part 2: Chapter 19
- Part 3: Chapter 20
- Part 3: Chapter 21
- Part 3: Chapter 22
- Part 3: Chapter 23
- Part 3: Chapter 24
- Part 3: Chapter 25
- Character Analysis
- Reverend James Smith
- Character Map
- Chinua Achebe Biography
- Critical Essays
- Major Themes in Things Fall Apart
- Use of Language in Things Fall Apart
- Full Glossary for Things Fall Apart
- Essay Questions
- Cite this Literature Note
Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 17
Chapter 17 continues the story of how Nwoye becomes a Christian. The missionaries sleep in the Mbanta marketplace for several nights and preach the Christian gospel each morning. After several days, they ask the leaders of the clan for land on which to build a church. The elders agree to give them a part of the Evil Forest, where people who died of evil diseases are buried, as well as the magical objects of great medicine men. The elders think that the missionaries are fools for taking the cursed land; according to tradition, the missionaries will be dead in a few days.
To the villagers' surprise and disappointment, the missionaries build their church without difficulty. The people of Mbanta begin to realize that the white man possesses incredible magic and power, especially because the missionaries and the church survived twenty-eight days — the longest period the gods allow a person to defy them. The missionaries soon acquire more converts, including their first woman — pregnant and previously the mother to four sets of twins, all of whom were abandoned in the forest. The white missionary moves on to Umuofia, while his interpreter, Mr. Kiaga, assumes responsibility for the Mbanta congregation.
As the number of converts grows, Nwoye secretly becomes more attracted to the religion and wants to attend Sunday church service, but he fears the wrath of his father if he enters the church.
One day, Okonkwo's cousin sees Nwoye inside the Christian church. He rushes to tell Okonkwo, who says nothing until his son returns home. In a rage, he asks Nwoye where he has been, but he gives no answer. When he starts to beat Nwoye with a heavy stick, his uncle Uchendu demands that Okonkwo leave his son alone. Nwoye leaves the hut and never returns. Instead, Nwoye moves to Umuofia, where the white missionary started a school for young people. He plans to return someday to convert his mother, brothers, and sisters.
At first, Okonkwo is furious with his son's action, but he concludes that Nwoye is not worth his anger. Okonkwo fears that, after his death, his younger sons will abandon the family ancestors because they have become attracted to the new religion. Okonkwo wonders how he gave life to such a foolish and womanly son, one who resembles his grandfather, Unoka, in so many ways.
As the Christians begin to gain power, the villagers see their traditional beliefs as increasingly outdated and powerless. For example, Mbanta's Evil Forest proves to be less sinister than they have believed; their gods allow the missionaries to escape punishment. Here, Achebe implies that clinging to old traditions and an unwillingness to change may contribute to their downfall. Achebe does not pass judgment on their point of view, but he illustrates the kinds of circumstances that could make things fall apart.
The missionaries are beginning to influence not only the community's religious views and practices but also its deeper social customs and traditions; for example, they welcome the first female convert, a woman who is scorned by the community because of her four sets of twins. To her, as well as to other early converts shunned by the clan for one reason or another, the missionaries provide support and acceptance. The missionaries will not throw away newborn twins, and the community will eventually see that they are as normal as other children.
The missionaries apparently expect the new Christians in the community to accept a new weekly calendar: "Come [to church] every seventh day." Suddenly, the narrative refers to "Sunday" instead of the Igbo days of the week. Did the missionaries know about the Igbo four-day week? Did they preach the seven-day creation story? Consider the impact on a community when outsiders impose a new arrangement of days and weeks.
Okonkwo's violent reaction to Nwoye's conversion is typical; he immediately wants to kill the Christians. He recalls that he is popularly called the "Roaring Flame." Then he blames the "effeminacy" of his son on his wife and his father and then on his own chi. The last line in the chapter suggests that Okonkwo has an insight: "Living fire begets cold, impotent ash" — perhaps a realization that his own "Roaring Flame" behavior leaves behind coldness and powerlessness in others — as it has in his son.
fetish any object believed by some person or group to have magical power.
impudent shamelessly bold or disrespectful; saucy; insolent.
Previous Chapter 16
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Things Fall Apart
Chinua achebe, everything you need for every book you read., nwoye quotes in things fall apart.
Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…
But there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye, Okonkwo's first son. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him…It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul – the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed.
Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.
Nwoye Character Analysis in Things Fall Apart
Table of Contents
Different from His Father
Nwoye was the eldest son of Okonkwo. He was 12 years at the beginning of the story, and he was a very sensitive man. He did grow under the shadows of his successful, demanding and powerful father. However, his interest and purpose for life were quite different from his father, and they take after those of Unoka his grandfather.
When his father wanted him to change, he received a lot of beatings before the actual arrival of Ikemefua who taught him a gentler form of masculinity. As a result, the Okonkwo did back-off, and Nwoye did start to win his grudging approval.
Feminine Characteristics
He remained conflicted and expressed feminine things to please his father (Chinua Achebe, 1959). However, by doing this, he missed the stories from his mother’s end. In the book, Nwoye is portrayed as a boy who lacks confidence, and it is the sole reason why he was receiving harsh treatment from his father, Okonkwo.
Okonkwo’s Guidance
However, Okonkwo did choose to give him guidance through violence as opposed to counsel. For instance, in the occasion where Nwoye had not cut yams from their planting farm properly, the father cautions him not to cut it in that size or else he will break his jaws.
The treatment thus leaves him more frightened and did not want to make any mistake again. The gentleness and peaceful nature of Nwoye did go against the culture of the society which required a man to be masculine and violent.
He Loved Feminine Stories
For instance, he did like to listen to the stories and tales whom the women told as opposed to the violent battles that Okonkwo took an opportunity to tell him.
Therefore, on the realization of the society’s attitude, he did display a high level of pretence by showing a high degree of likeness to the violent stories to evade the wrath of his father (Whittaker & M.-H, 2007).
His father was later pleased with him, and the move saved him from the beatings. However, his life changed when the missionaries came to Mbata.
His faith and hope reawakened and did join forces with them. However, due to that move, he was disowned by his father, Okonkwo but in contrary, he got free from his father’s tyranny.
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Things Fall Apart — Cultural Collision in Nwoye
Cultural Collision in Nwoye
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Published: Mar 6, 2024
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Nwoye, Okonkwo 's oldest son, struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful, and demanding father. His interests are different from Okonkwo's and resemble more closely those of Unoka, his grandfather. He undergoes many beatings, at a loss for how to please his father, until the arrival of Ikemefuna, who becomes like an older brother ...
Nwoye is the son of Okonkwo's first wife. Within the family hierarchy, this positions Nwoye as the highest ranking and eldest son. Nwoye, like Unoka, serves as a foil to Okonkwo's character ...
The narrative follows Okonkwo, a village leader, and the hardships he faces that cause things in his life to fall apart. Nwoye is Okonkwo's son. Okonkwo feels like Nwoye is too lazy and too sensitive.
Summary. Chapter 17 continues the story of how Nwoye becomes a Christian. The missionaries sleep in the Mbanta marketplace for several nights and preach the Christian gospel each morning. After several days, they ask the leaders of the clan for land on which to build a church. The elders agree to give them a part of the Evil Forest, where ...
Nwoye Character Analysis. Next. Ikemefuna. Nwoye is Okonkwo's eldest son. Nwoye resembles his grandfather Unoka, in that he's drawn to gentleness and music, even though he recognizes that his father disapproves. This tension between Okonkwo and Nwoye leads to an eventual split when Nwoye becomes one of the clan members who leave the clan to ...
Outline. I. Thesis Statement: Things Fall Apart recreates the conflict between European and Igbo cultures at the turn of the twentieth century by focusing on the cataclysmic changes introduced by ...
Nwoye was the eldest son of Okonkwo. He was 12 years at the beginning of the story, and he was a very sensitive man. He did grow under the shadows of his successful, demanding and powerful father. However, his interest and purpose for life were quite different from his father, and they take after those of Unoka his grandfather. When his father ...
In Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart, Achebe focuses special attention on the strained, often toxic relationship between Okonkwo and his oldest son Nwoye. Okonkwo is heavy-handed and ...
This quote signifies Nwoye's transformation from a young boy seeking meaning to a man willing to challenge the status quo for the sake of his own spiritual fulfillment. This is only a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. In conclusion, Nwoye's quotes in "Things Fall Apart" provide valuable insights into his character and the ...
Decent Essays. 722 Words. 3 Pages. Open Document. In the beginning of "Things Fall Apart" Nwoye is presented to us as an "unmanly" young boy. In the Ibo culture masculine men were violent and didn't focus on foolish and silly things that women did and Nwoye was the exact opposite. "Okonkwo's first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was ...
Things Fall Apart spotlights two significant generational divides. The first divide separates Okonkwo from his father, Unoka. Unlike his son, Unoka is not a warrior, nor has he distinguished himself as a man in any other way. Instead, Unoka prefers to drink and play music with friends. For a hypermasculine man like Okonkwo, Unoka's lack of ...
Introduction. The novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe is a profound and captivating portrayal of the impact of colonization on a Nigerian community. One of the central characters in this novel is Nwoye, the son of the protagonist Okonkwo. Throughout the narrative, Nwoye undergoes significant personal and ideological transformations ...
In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, the characters of Okonkwo and Nwoye play pivotal roles in the development of the story. Their relationship serves as a central theme that explores the complexities of family dynamics, generational conflict, and the impact of cultural beliefs on individual identity.Through a close analysis of Okonkwo and Nwoye's characters, it becomes evident that ...
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe features the character Nwoye, the son of one of the strongest and most powerful men in the village, Okonkwo. Okonkwo is scared of failure because that is what his father became, so he is incredibly harsh on Nwoye. When the western men invade, Nwoye is torn between two worlds: converting to Christianity where ...
In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, Nwoye is the son of the protagonist Okonkwo.Nwoye initially idolizes his father, who is perceived as the height of Igbo masculinity. This idolatry is ...
Published: Mar 6, 2024. In Chinua Achebe's novel "Things Fall Apart," the character of Nwoye represents the clash of cultures between traditional Igbo society and the invading Christian missionaries. This cultural collision serves as a central theme in the novel, highlighting the tension and conflict that arises when two vastly different ...
This is true for Nwoye in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Nwoye was always afraid of his father's disapproval and abuse, but with the arrival of new ideas from the western missionaries, Nwoye is challenged to stand true to his obtained beliefs and to face the wrath of his father. Never fitting in and living in fear of your own father is ...
Things Fall Apart (novel) 1958 . No Longer at Ease (novel) 1960 . The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (short stories) 1962 . Arrow of God (novel) 1964 . Chike and the River (juvenilia) 1966 . A ...
Things Fall Apart Full Book Summary. Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan, a lower Nigerian tribe that is part of a consortium of nine connected villages. He is haunted by the actions of Unoka, his cowardly and spendthrift father, who died in disrepute, leaving many village debts unsettled.
Suggested Essay Topics. 1. Think about the role of weather in the novel. How does it work, symbolically or otherwise, in relation to important elements of the novel such as religion? Are rain and draught significant? Explore the ways in which weather affects the emotional and spiritual realms of the novel as well as the physical world. 2. Women ...