Things Fall Apart Chapters 24-25

Chapter 24 Okonkwo and the other men are released as soon as their fine is paid. They leave the courtroom and do not speak to each other or anyone else. As they return to the village the women and children do not speak to them and move out of their way. Each man returns to their own compound. Ezinma prepares food for Okonkwo; she and Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, see the marks on his back from the whip.

Chapter 24 The town crier beats his drum to announce another meeting. In the quiet of the night Okonkwo swears vengeance against the men who imprisoned him. As the crier requested, the villagers gather in the market place at sunrise. Many people from the nine villages have gathered at the market place.

Chapter 24 The first man to speak in the market place is Okika. He encourages his clansmen to stand and fight against those who have caused their brothers to desert them. During the speech, unnoticed, five white court messengers come around the bend and stand a few paces from the edge of the crowd.

Chapter 24 Trembling with hate, Okonkwo stands in front of the messenger but is unable to speak. The messenger brings word that the white man orders their meetings to end. This is what Achebe meant when he titled his book, “Things Fall Apart!” As soon as the first messenger speaks, Okonkwo draws his machete and kills him. The meeting is stopped, and Okonkwo realizes that his clan will not go to war. Okonkwo wipes his machete on the sand and walks away.

Chapter 25 The District Commissioner comes to Okonkwo’s compound with an armed band of soldiers and asks for Okonkwo. Obierika tells him that Okonkwo is not home. Angry, the commissioner threatens to imprison them if they do not cooperate. Obierika tells the Commissioner that although Okonkwo is not home he will take them to Okonkwo.

Chapter 25 Obierika leads the men to a small bush behind Okonkwo’s compound and then to the wall. Next, they come to a tree from which they see Okonkwo’s body hanging. A clansmen who hangs himself is an abomination, so Obierika asks the Commissioner if his men will take Okonkwo down from the tree. According to custom, a man who takes his own life can not be buried by his clansmen.

Chapter 25 In a flash of temper, Obierika turns to the District Commissioner and says, “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog…” The commissioner orders his men to take down Okonkwo’s body and decides to honor the group’s request, but leaves his messengers to do the work. The District Commissioner is a true politician!

Chapter 25 As the commissioner leaves he thinks about the book he plans to write, and decides to include a chapter or maybe a paragraph about the man who killed a messenger, then hanged himself. He will title the book, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. Pacification is an attempt to create or maintain peace. That can mean appeasing a hostile country through diplomacy or even just by settling an argument. A pacifist is someone who is against fighting and wars. Primitive - of, belonging to, or seeming to come from an early time in the very ancient past