THINGS FALL APART - BOOK REVIEW

This is my entry for the review contest organised by @monajam. You can find the post here

Title: Things fall Apart

Reviewer: Erinkitola Aduragbemi

ISBN: 978-014-118-688-7

BOOK SUMMARY
Okonkwo was a man well known throughout the nine villages and even more. At age eighteen, he had succeeded in throwing Amalinze the cat who was known to be a wrestler with unbeaten record for seven years from Umuofia village to Mbano. Both parties had exercised so much strength, tactics and wisdom but in the end, Okonkwo broke Amalinze’s seven years record. Okonkwo is said to have no patience with unsuccessful men. Hence, he had no patience with his father.

Unoka, “Okonkwo’s father had died ten years back. Unoka was a lazy and chronic debtor who never had plans for his tomorrow or neither his family’s. Every penny that was in his care from borrowing and incurring more and more debt was spent on palm wine, he loved to merry and always lives every single moment to the fullest. Even though people had swore never to lend him more money because he never paid back, Unoka was such a man that always succeeded in borrowing more and pilling up his debt. In short, Unoka was known to be a failure till his death.

Okonkwo seems to be the exact opposite of his father; with his personal achievement, it was clear enough to say he was cut out for greatness. At a young age, he had attained fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villagers. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams. He had just married a third wife and had taken two chieftain titles. Due to his influence he was able to save Ikemefuna “the doomed lad from being sacrificed.

On a moonlight night; voices of children playing in open fields would be heard, even adults chat away in happiness remembering the good old days of their youths. However this night was different, “silent. The town crier was all over the villages beating his metal gong and telling all the villagers to be present at the marketplace the following morning. The marketplace was full the following day and Ogbuefi Ezeugo addressed the crowd. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator who was always privileged to address the people on such emergency occasions. He recounted the story of how a girl from their village “Umuofia” had gone to the market at Mbaino and had been killed. The crowd was very angry and blood thirsty but respected their long formed custom and tradition of dispatching men to Mbaino as emissaries to ask them to choose from two choices presented before them; to choose war or offer a young man and a virgin as compensation to Umuofia. The issue between the two villages was resolved as the villagers of Mbaino provided the emissaries with a young man and a virgin. The virgin was used as a replacement for the dead wife of the man whose wife was killed in Mbaino market while the fate of the young man was yet to be concluded and the elders agreed that okonkwo should take custody of Ikemefuna pending the day his fate would be decided.

Okonkwo met with Nwakibie “the wealthy man who had three huge barns, nine wives and thirty children. It was this man that okonkwo worked to earn his first seed of yams. Both man discussed for a very long time ranging from Obiaka “the palm wine tapper” to his dead father and so on. Nwakiebe expressed great delight seeing okonkwo who he believed was dedicated and hardworking. Okonkwo had come to request for more than four hundred yams from Nwakibie who gladly oblige him. Okonkwo was thankful and he went home very happy. Like all hardworking farmers, Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains but that year wasn’t that favourable as there were heavy rains almost non-stop and okonkwo met with many other challenges.

The feast of new yam was approaching and Umuofia was in festive mood. The feast of the new yam was held every year before the harvest began to honour the earth goddess and the ancenstral spirit of the clan. An incident happen in the household of the okonkwo when his second wife cut off some leaves from the banana tree to wrap some food. Okonkwo had burst in after walking aimlessly round the compound to request for the identity of the person that did the act. His second wife had answered just in time to receive thrashing from okonkwo that left both mother and daughter crying. After a while okonkwo decided to go hunting and he requested that ikemefuna bring his hunting gun but his second wife replied with a taunt and murmured something about guns that never shot. Unfortunately for her Okonkwo heard it and he went to get the loaded gun, came out again and aimed at her as she scrambled over the dwarf wall of the barn. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud bang accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. He dropped the gun and went after her and there she lay, very much shaken and frightened but quite unhurt. He heaved a deep sigh and went away with his gun.

Even at that, the new yam festival was celebrated with great joy in Okonkwo’s household. At noon, men, women and children of the village were all gather at the playground awaiting the wrestling ceremony. Maduka, son of Okonkwo’s friend “Obierika” emerged victorious in the wrestling match. After three years, the leaders of Umuofia decided it was the right time to kill Ikemefuna but Ogbuefi Ezeudu had visited Okonkwo earlier to warn Okonkwo not to be partaker in the young boy’s death. Ikemefuna had already grown accustomed to calling Okonkwo; “father. Ogbuedu Ezeudu was an old man and he was a great and fearless warrior in his time and was accorded great respect in all the clan. He never left Okonkwo’s compound without sounding a warning to him telling him not to have a hand in the boy’s death even though the whole village had pronounced it. Okonkwo refuse to heed Ezeudu’s warning and he eventually strike the boy with a deadly last blow that claimed his life because he doesn’t want to be seen by others as a weakling. He returned home and he refused food for two days but he never felt better.

There was wailing and lamentation in Ezeudu’s household as the old man already passed on to the world beyond. The news of his death was broadcasted across the nine villages because of his achievements. Ezeudu was a great and powerful man during his time so all the clans were at his funeral. Okonkwo could remember the last time the man visited him and advised him not to kill Ikemefuna. The words kept echoing; “bear no hand in his death, the boy calls you father.” The funeral of Ezeudu had been a great one as he was the eldest in his village as at the time of his death and had taken many titles. Gun firing was the last salute to the dead and unfortunately for Okonkwo his gun had exploded and a piece of iron pierced the heart of Ezeudu’s sixteen years old son who with his brothers and half brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father.

There was confusion over the land as nothing of such nature had happened before. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman and hence Okonkwo had to flee the village for seven years but he could return after the seven years were over. The incident that followed after Okonkwo’s banishment from Umuofia made Obierika think deeply. He couldn’t bring himself to understand why a man should be punished so grievous for an offense he committed inadvertently, why his wife twin children had been thrown away in the name of the so called custom and tradition, why so many people suffer because of the offense of just one man etc.

Okonkwo took his family and his possessions to the village of Mbanta, “his mother’s village. There, Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. It wasn’t easy for Okonkwo as the passion and the zeal seems to be missing, he had yielded to despair and would sometimes sit greatly troubled. He met with Uchendu who helps re-ignite his spirit, he tenders his sorrow before Okonkwo to tell him that his sorrow is nothing compared to what some are facing. It was as though the exit of Okonkwo from Umuofia heralded the entry of the white men. The elders of the village consulted the oracle and were told that the white men would break their clan and spread destruction amongst them.

Nearly two years after Obierika’s visit to Okonkwo, the whites are beginning to dominate. Even missionaries had come and built churches, won a handful of convert and were already sending out evangelists to surrounding towns and villages to win more soul to the new acclaimed faith and their God. Nwoye, “Okonkwo’s son had joined the missionary and after a while the rulers of Mbanta gave to the missionary, the evil forest which is believed to be alive with sinister forces and powers of darkness thinking they are doing them great harm. But to their amazement, the missionaries thanked them and burst into song. It was however the expectations of the people of Mbano to witness the death of the missionaries within four days but none died and hence, they were puzzled. It was widely rumored amongst the villagers that the white men had fetish unbelievable powers.

Learning about his son, Nwoye’s conversion into the new faith worried Okonkwo a lot and it made him question his personal chi or god. He wondered if he has also been cursed with such a son as he recounts his misfortunes leading to his exiles and his son’s despicable behaviour. Hence, he chose to believe that perhaps Nwoye wasn’t his biological son. It was much later that the villagers realized that the white men had not only brought a religion but also a government. They are rumored to have brought a new order, even setting up a place of judgement to protect the followers of their religion. The outcasts and some others, seeing that the there is no discrimination with the new religion joined them.

Though Okonkwo prospered in Mbanta, he however missed Umuofia “the village from where he was exiled. He believed he would have achieved more, so he regretted every day of his exile. Okonkwo named his first child born in exile “Nneka, meaning-“Mother is Supreme” out of due respect for his mother’s clan. After the seven years was over, Okonkwo returned to Umuofia with the hope of regaining the seven wasted years. When he arrived at Umuofia, he met with great changes. Even Ogbuefi Ugonna, a man with two titles had casted all away and joined the Christians, all that Okonkwo could see then was the things that was once held in high esteem, their culture and beliefs are fading and things they’ve worked so hard to build were falling apart, society disintegrates, even the people disintegrates.

After the arrest of Okonkwo and five other elders, it fueled his anger the more and was hell bent on revenge. He could remember the good old days when there were warriors in the land but now he views them in a new light. He made up his mind to do something even if others are not ready to. There was a meeting of the village elders but when the white men got a wind of it, sent the head messenger and four others to stop the meeting. As soon as Okonkwo saw them coming, he confronted them and he severed the head of the head messenger in the event that followed. With the reaction of the other villagers, Okonkwo knew they were not ready to go to war, some were even asking him “why he did it?”

Eventually, Okonkwo did not wait to face the consequence of his action but rather went ahead to commit suicide. Since his clan was unwilling to fight for his cause, he would rather not die shamefully in the hands of the whites. Therefore, he committed suicide. Even after his death, he was held in high esteem.

MY THOUGHTS
Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe opens our eyes to see what happened in the event of colonization at the advent of the white’s arrival in the traditional Igbo community. It portrays the importance of open dialogue with people perceived to be different from us. It also portrays how the natives were impacted by the European colonization and religion. The story is very rich in African cultures, values and beliefs but it pained me to read about the tragic end of one of the greatest hero at that time. Another thing I viewed as tragedy was the way the African tribes were dissolved. Hence the name, “things fall apart”. “Things fall apart, doesn’t belong to a specific genre; it touches several genres of literature.

Other such book that compares to “Things fall apart” is “Half of a yellow sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- the book is about the Biafran civil war and it portrays some actions and events during the decolonization by the British.

I loved the way the characters were portrayed; the descriptions were like a perfect imagery of people we have around us today. Characters such as;

OBIERIKA
Obierika had his way with words; with the way he exaggerated the story of the fall of the village of Abame at the advent of the white man. He had told Okonkwo that the white man had arrived at the market place of Abame and had killed all that were present except for the old and sick people who were at home and a handful of men and women who luckily escaped the market horror. He had continued the story further by adding that the clan was now completely empty after the incident and that even the sacred fish in the mysterious lake had fled and that the lake has turned the colour of blood.

OGBUEFI EZEUDU
He is regarded as a wise man and he used to be a fierce warrior in his youth days. He advised Okonkwo to refrain from killing Ikemefuna but Okonkwo never yielded. It was the event that happened after his death that sent Okonkwo on exile.
etc.

COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
If you are really thrilled reading “things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe, then wait till you read the rest in the series; Arrow of God, No longer at ease, A man of the people etc. I’m very sure you would love it all. The book “Things fall apart” is also reach in proverbs, cultures and traditions of African communities. It is more than just a book; it is indeed the greatest Nigerian story ever told.

Would I recommend this book to someone?
Sure I would.

RATINGS
I rate it 5 out of 5 star because it captures all the moments and events perfectly without leaving any information out. I believe “Things fall apart” will still remain one of the best books of all time.

Book reviewed and compiled by @aduragbemi