Things Fall Apart

This was my first time reading Things Fall Apart and I enjoyed the story. The novel centers around protagonist Okonkwo who is constantly living under the shadow of his father's mistakes. He believes his dad was weak because he didn't display manliness. He opposes everything his father stood for because his father was thought to be "soft" by enjoying music and engaging in conversations. Okonkwo condones violence and anger to display manliness. He ultimately becomes his own worst enemy because he tragically falls by continually trying to prove his manliness for his village.

Okonkwo resents his own son, Nwoye,  because he thinks his son is weak and displays many characteristics his father displayed. Ikemefuna is a boy that Okonkwo adopts and Nwoye looks up to him as an older brother. Ikemefuna is murdered and Okonkwo participates in killing Ikemefuna because he is afraid of seeming weak. Okonkwo is torn apart by this and things only get worse after Ikemefuna's death.

When Okonkwo is attending a villagers funeral, his gun goes off during a gun salute and kills a boy. Okonkwo is sent into exile for seven years for this crime. Okonkwo sees this as an opportunity to get in touch with his feminine side because he goes to live with maternal ancestors. Okonkwo resents his time in exile because he feels he is not showing manliness.

Okonkwo returns to his village, after being in exile, finding that things have changed because there are white men who now occupy the village. He rallies his tribe members to overthrow the leader and they do so successfully. When Okonkwo is wanted to be tried by the white men for his crime, he hangs himself. Okonkwo's reputation is ruined because suicide is strictly forbidden in the teaching of Igobo.

I would use Things Fall Apart in an Anthropology class or a Human Geography class for studying different cultures around the world to show students an example of how other cultures live. I think there are many things you can with this in an English Language Arts classroom. There are many different themes in this novel that a teacher could talk about in the classroom with students. The main character, Okonkwo, is a very complex character and that would make a great topic for discussion in the classroom.