Chapter 3 Things Fall Apart

Agbala, the Oracle The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves gives authoritative decisions

Chika, the priestess Chika was the priestess who spoke to Unoka on behalf of the God Agbala

Nwakibie Okonkwo goes to Nwakibie to try to get yam seeds so that he can start his own farm.

1 st flashback Unoka, consulted the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves, asking why he had produced bad harvests each year in spite of his sacrifices and planting procedures.

Chika (the priestess of the Oracle) interrupted him angrily and told him that he had not offended the gods, but in his laziness, he took the easy way out by planting on exhausted land. She told him to go home and work like a man.

Bad fortune followed Unoka, even to his death. He died of a swelling in his stomach and limbs – an affliction to Ani, the Earth Goddess. He therefore could not be buried properly, so he was taken to the Evil Forest to rot. Making Okonkwo even more ashamed of his father.

2 nd flashback The young Okonkwo was preparing to plant his first farm in yams – a man’s crop- because he had received nothing from his father be began share cropping. He went to see Nwakibie, a great man of the village, he had three barns, nine wives, and thirty children.

After proper greetings and rituals, Okonkwo asked for seed-yams and pledges his hard work in growing and harvesting them. The share cropping contract –Okonkwo would return two-thirds leaving him only a third of the total crop for himself, his parents, and his sisters. Nwakibie gave him twice the number that he asked for.

The growing season was disastrous. –Unending rain and floods He knew he would survive because of his determination to succeed.

Simile Pg 22 It was like pouring grains of corn into a bag full of holes.

Personification It seemed as if the world had gone mad.

Significant Concept in Ibgo culture The belief in the personal Chi Parallels the western concept of soul, although it is a more complex idea. They believe that an individual’s fate and abilities for the coming life are assigned to the chi, and each person is given a chi by the creator at the moment of conception.

Before each reincarnation, the individual bargains for improved circumstances in their next life. The chi thus becomes one’s personal god that guides to fulfill the expected destiny. One one hand the individual is ruled by his chi, but on the other hand, only the individual can make the most of the fate planned through the chi.

Chapter 4 Things Fall Apart

Osugo The name means “a low ranked person”

Ojiugo Okonkwo’s 3 rd and youngest wife

Amadiora The god of thunder and lighting

PG 26 “Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” –This proverb means that a man whose success is a result of luck must not forget that he has faults. –Okonkwo thinks that he has cracked his own palm-kernels. He means that he overcame poverty not through luck, but through hard work.

PG 31 Week of Peace is a sacred week in Umuofiam, during which no violence is allowed. Okonkwo broke this and his punishment is that he must go to the shrine of Ani, the earth goddess who owns the land, and take her a female goat, a hen, cloth, and one hundred cowries. Otherwise the village believes that they will have a very poor harvest which would be disastrous to the village.