Things Fall Apart Chapters 1-7 REVIEW

Things Fall Apart Chapters 1-7 REVIEW

By CHARLENE RODRIGUEZ

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, including Okonkwo's village, Iguedo. In his youth, he brought honor to his village by beating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Until his match with Okonkwo, the Cat had been undefeated for seven years. Okonkwo is completely unlike his now deceased father, Unoka, who feared the sight of blood and was always borrowing and losing money, which meant that his wife and children often went hungry. Unoka was, however, a skilled flute player and had a gift for, and love of, language.

Chapter 1

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior from the clan of ________________.

• Iguedo

• Umuofia

• Igbo

• Nigeria

Multiple Choice

In his youth, he brought honor to his village by beating Amalinze the Cat in a ___________________ contest.

• harvesting

• warrior

• speaking

• wrestling

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo is completely unlike his now deceased father, _______________.

• Unoka

• Amalinze

• Igbo

• Ekwefi

In addition to being a skilled warrior, Okonkwo is quite wealthy. He supports three wives and eight children, and each wife has her own hut. Okonkwo also has a barn full of yams, a shrine for his ancestors, and his own hut, called an obi.

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Okonkwo fears weakness, a trait that he associates with his father and with women. When Okonkwo was a child, another boy called Unoka agbala, which is used to refer to women as well as to men who have not taken a title. Because he dreads weakness, Okonkwo is extremely demanding of his family. He finds his twelve-year-old son, Nwoye, to be lazy, so he beats and nags the boy constantly.

Chapter 2

​Someone from the village of Mbaino murdered the wife of an Umuofia tribesman while she was in their market. Okonkwo travels to Mbaino to deliver the message that they must hand over to Umuofia a virgin and a young man. Mbaino agrees to Umuofia's terms. The elders give the virgin to Ogbuefi Udo as his wife but are not sure what to do with the fifteen-year-old boy, Ikemefuna. The elders decide to turn him over to Okonkwo for safekeeping and instruction. Okonkwo, in turn, instructs his first wife to care for Ikemefuna.

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Multiple Choice

After the murder of Ogbuefi Udo's wife, Okonkwo travels to Mbaino to deliver the message that they must hand over to Umuofia ____________ and _______________.

• a young man and an offering to their gods

• the body of the deceased woman and a young virgin

• a replacement wife and part of their yam harvest

• a virgin girl and a young man

Multiple Choice

The elders of Umuofia give ______________ to Okonkwo and his family for safekeeping and instruction until they decide what to do with him.

• Ogbuefi

• Ezinma

• Ikemefuna

• Unoka

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo fears ________________, a trait that he associates with his father and with women.

• weakness

• laziness

• kindness

• friendliness

​​Chapter 3

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Okonkwo has to work hard to make up for his father's negative strikes against him. Okonkwo succeeds in exceeding all the other clansmen as a warrior, a farmer, and a family provider. Some farmers who were lazier than Okonkwo put off planting their yams and thus avoided the grave losses suffered by Okonkwo and the other industrious farmers during a horrible drought and relentless downpours. That year's devastating harvest left a profound mark on Okonkwo, and for the rest of his life he considers his survival during that difficult period proof of his fortitude and inner mettle.

Okonkwo built his fortune alone as a sharecropper despite his father's failures due to laziness. Unoka never held any of the community's four prestigious titles (because they must be paid for), and he left numerous debts unpaid. Unoka died from a shameful illness and was left unburied so as not to offend the earth.

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo built his fortune alone as a sharecropper despite his father's failures due to _______________.

• affairs with women

• laziness

• drunkenness

• bad farming skills

Multiple Choice

Unoka, Okonkwo's father, died from a shameful illness and was left _____________ so as not to offend the earth.

• unhealed

• in his home

• in a cave

• unburied

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo succeeds in exceeding all the other clansmen as a warrior, a farmer, and a __________ ___________.

• family provider

• chief worshipper

• caring father

• loving husband

Chapter 4

​Ikemefuna, the young boy from Mbaino, stays with Okonkwo and his family and he is immediately popular with Okonkwo's children. To Okonkwo's delight, he also becomes like an older brother to Nwoye. Okonkwo likes Ikemefuna, but he does not show it because he thinks it is a sign of weakness. Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo "father." ​

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo beats his wife, Ojiugo, for her negligence, shamefully breaking the peace of the sacred week in a transgression known as nso-ani. After the Week of Peace, the villagers begin to clear the land in preparation for planting their farms. Nwoye and Ikemefuna help Okonkwo prepare the seed yams, but he finds fault with their work and he openly criticizes them in hopes that this will make drive his son to be a great farmer and a great man.

Multiple Choice

To Okonkwo's delight, ________________

also becomes like an older brother to Nwoye.

• Ikemefuna

• Ezinma

• Ogbuefi

• Unoka

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo cannot show Ikemefuna that he likes him, because he believes that would be a sign of ____________________.

• humility

• weakness

• favoritism

• kindness

Multiple Choice

During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo ___________ his wife and breaks the peace of the sacred week disturbing his family and the village.

• curses at

• complains to

• accuses

• beats

Just before the harvest, the village holds the Feast of the New Yam to give thanks to the earth goddess, Ani. The women thoroughly clean and decorate their huts, and make other preparations. With nothing to do, Okonkwo becomes angry, and he beats his second wife, Ekwefi. And in a fit of fury, he shoots a gun at her but misses. The chapter then reveals more about Okonkwo's wives and children. His first wife has a daughter named Obiageli. His second wife, Ekwefi, has a daughter named Ezinma, who he is very fond of, but cannot show it. His third wife, Ojiugo, has a daughter named Nkechi.

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Chapter 5

Multiple Choice

The village holds the Feast of the _____ ______ to give thanks to the earth goddess, Ani.

• New Yam

• Harvest Days

• Old Crops

• New Moon

Multiple Choice

With nothing to do during the feast, Okonkwo becomes angry, and he _________ his second wife, Ekwefi.

• beats

• harasses

• curses at

• aggrivates

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo has three wives and ___________ daughters.

• one

• five

• three

• two

The wrestling match takes place on the village ilo, or common area. Drummers line the field, and the crowd is so excited that they must be held back. The wrestling begins with matches between boys ages fifteen and sixteen. As the wrestling continues, Ekwefi speaks with Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. The two women are good friends, and Chielo inquires about Ezinma, whom she calls "my daughter." They conclude that Ezinma seems to have "come to stay" because she has reached the age of ten.

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​Chapter 6

Multiple Choice

Before the wrestling matches begin, _____________ line the field, and the crowd is so excited that they must be held back.

• competitors

• drummers

• women and children

• the tribal council

Multiple Choice

Ekwefi and Chielo discuss that her daughter Ezinma seems to have

"______ __ _______ " because she has reached the age of ten. .

• come to stay

• grown up fast

• become a woman

• decided to live

Chapter 7

Ikemefuna stays with Okonkwo's family for three years. From his influence, Nwoye, much to Okonkwo's pleasure, becomes more masculine in his attitude. He frequently invites the two into his obi to listen to violent, masculine stories. To the village's surprise, locusts descend upon Umuofia. The village excitedly collects them because they are good to eat when cooked. Ogbuefi Ezeudu informs Okonkwo in private that the Oracle has decreed that Ikemefuna must be killed. He tells Okonkwo not to take part in the boy's death, as Ikemefuna calls him "father." Okonkwo lies to Ikemefuna, telling him that he will be returning to his home village. Nwoye bursts into tears.

During the long walk "home" with the men of Umuofia, when one of the tribesmen attacks him with a machete. Ikemefuna cries to Okonkwo for help. Okonkwo doesn't wish to look weak, so he cuts the boy down. When Okonkwo returns home, Nwoye realizes that his friend is dead and he is broken inside.

Multiple Choice

Ikemefuna stays with Okonkwo's family for _______ years.

• five

• ten

• one

• three

Multiple Choice

Okonkwo is pleased that, due to Ikemefuna's influence, Nwoye becomes more _____________ in his attitude.

• masculine

• patient

• violent

• forgiving

Multiple Choice

The villagers get excited about the locusts coming because they are __________________.

• good to eat

• helpful with the harvest

• food for their animals

• good for the soil

Multiple Choice

When it is time for Ikemefuna to die, he cries out for Okonkwo to help him, and Okonkwo ________________________.

• cuts him down

• helps him live

• saves him

• runs away

Multiple Choice

When Okonkwo returns home without Ikemefuna, Nwoye realizes that his friend is dead and he is _____________________.

• thankful he wasn't there

• angry at Okonkwo

• broken inside

• emotionless