Things Fall Apart Chapter 1 - 5
Okonkwo won fame throughout the nine villages by defeating the most fearsome wrestler, Amalinze, when he was barely eighteen years old. He mirrored this success in the other spheres of his life as well, he becomes a rich farmer with a large store of yams, three wives, and several children. Despite his success, Okonkwo has trouble dealing with his anger, and he often resorts to violence even when the situation doesn’t call for it. He is especially prone to anger at signs of weakness, laziness, and idleness among men. This was evidently because of his father, Unoka, who was a skilled musician but he failed to provide for his family. Unoka was unconcerned about things like rank and respect, as he borrowed incessantly from people without ever making the effort to pay them back. He died a poor man and left his son with nothing but his old unpaid debts.
The people of Umuofia, Okonkwo’s village, woke to the sound of an Ogene one night as the villagers called a meeting of all men at the marketplace the following morning. Okonkwo recalled all the previous times he had gone to war and fondly remembers the skulls he had returned with from war. Umuofia had a fearsome reputation in the region as they were a powerful clan that only went to war with the permission of the oracle. Okonkwo learns that a woman from their village had been killed while she had been visiting the neighboring village of Mbaino. It was decided that the villagers of Mbaino would compensate for the loss of this woman by giving Umuofia a virgin and a young boy as an offering. This was how the unfortunate Ikemefuna came to live with Okonkwo and his family since it was he who was sent as the emissary of war to the people of Mbaino. He hands over the young boy to his first wife and charges her with his care. Okonkwo rules his household with a heavy hand, and he is especially intolerant of laziness. This is Okonkwo is so harsh with his eldest son, Nwoye, whose lazy demeanor reminds him of his father.
Unoka failed to leave any sort of inheritance for his son, although he tried to be a successful farmer, he saw little success. The villagers say that Unoka once visited the oracle to understand why his crops failed for he felt that either the gods or his personal god, Chi, were somehow displeased with him. It is said that the Oracle told him that the gods were not angry with him and that his crops failed because he was lazy. Okonkwo made his fortune through hard work, and he recalls the year that he had first borrowed his seed yams from a wealthy farmer in the village. The farmer had given him more than he had asked because even then people recognized Okonkwo as a dutiful man. However, the weather turned against the farmers and Okonkwo lost a major portion of his crop, yet he feels that the experience prepared him for life as nothing else could be as terrible as that year.
Okonkwo’s experience with his father left him with a deep dislike for weak men, and he blatantly insults one such man during a village meeting. The elders try to remind him to be humble, but their proverbs don’t truly apply to him since he had risen in society through his hard work. Okonkwo’s fearsome reputation as a wrestler and a warrior makes him the perfect emissary of war for Umuofia. He is treated with great dignity in Mbaino as he is presented with a virgin, who is given to the widower as a wife, and a young boy called Ikemefuna, who is entrusted to Okonkwo while the elders decide how to deal with him.
Ikemefuna is terrified to be in this new place, and he has trouble understanding why he has been sent away from his family. This alienation soon fades, and Ikemefuna becomes a crucial part of the household. He begins to call Okonkwo father and leads Nwoye by example as if he were the elder sibling. Okonkwo approves of Ikemefuna’s character and appreciates his influence on Nwoye though he never displays his affection. He teaches them how to plant Yams, which are also called the King of Crops and are thus only ever grown by men. The harvesting of the Yam is a huge festival and is celebrated in the Igbo culture with a Feast of the New Yam, which is held in reverence to Ani, the earth God. The second day of the festival is marked by wrestling matches which remind Ekwefi, Okonkwo’s second wife, of how she had fallen for Okonkwo. Ekwefi’s daughter, Ezinma is Okonkwo’s favorite child and he often wishes that she had been a boy, although he never truly shows her his affection.
Analysis
The book opens with a description of Okonkwo’s impressive wrestling victory over the undefeated Amalinze, and this sets the tone of Okonkwo’s character. The protagonist has very rigid ideas of what it means to be a man, which is a mindset that seems rather common for the people of Umuofia as demonstrated by the use of the term Agbala. Okonkwo learns that the term doesn’t just refer to a woman but it can also be used to refer to men who take no titles in the village hierarchy. This emphasis on masculinity becomes an obsession for Okonkwo, who decides to never be associated with anything that could be considered feminine such as music, a fear of blood, or even experiencing normal emotions, as he later demonstrates by cutting down his foster son.
The author includes a detailed explanation of the Igbo culture through the vehicle of his book and demonstrates how even the mystical aspects of the religion are tempered with practicality. A prominent example of this can be seen in the account of Unoka’s visit to the Oracle, who tells him to stop being lazy if he wants to have a successful harvest. The book plays close emphasis on language as it introduces the important words from the native language of the Igbo people, in an attempt to return some of the power that had been reduced during Nigeria’s time as a colony.
