TFA Quotes Flashcards
(29 cards)
Gives first impression of Okonkwo
‘Okonkwo’s fame had grown like a bushfire in the harmattan.’
Presents the traditional hierarchy system in Umuofia
‘Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.’
Reveals the action-driven and violent character of Okonkwo
‘He was a man of action, a man of war… In Umuofia’s latest war he was the first to bring home a human head.’
Reveals a belief of a link between language and the spiritual world
‘A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.’
Okonkwo’s fatal flaw
‘To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.’
Okonkwo behaves in a way completely opposite from his father, this is where his tragic flaw stems from
‘And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved.’
A proverb which an old man says in a meeting reminding Okonkwo that chi plays a huge role in someone’s achievements, one should be grateful for good luck
‘Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.’
Shows the connection between music and Igbo community
‘The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.’
Reveals the patriarchal nature of Igbo society
‘No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man.
Instills a sense of responsibility and emotional Okonkwo did not intend to have when forced to adopt Ikemefuna
‘That boy calls you father. Bear no hand in his death.’
Okonkwo is actually shattered after delivering the final blow in Ikemefuna
‘A drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito.’
Okonkwo criticises Nwoye’s weakness
‘A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match.’
Okonkwo wishes Ezinma was a boy, reinforcing the gender roles
‘She should have been a boy.’
Represents the resilience of Igbo community in maintaining tradition
‘The clan was like a lizard, if it lost its tail it soon grew another.’
Shows the social impact of Okonkwo’s accidental killing of Ezeudu’s son and emphasises Umuofia’s religious values
‘It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman and a man who committed it must flee from the land…Okonkwo had committed the female because it had been inadvertent.’
Jarring quote about the aftermath of Okonkwo’s accidental killing
‘All was silent. In the centre of the crowd, a boy lay in a pool of blood.’
Foreshadows Christianity arriving
‘The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.’
The emotional appeal of Christianity to Nwoye
‘It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow.’
Nwoye’s burden has been released, he can finally be himself
‘He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul.’
Okonkwo’s disapproval of Nwoye’s conversion
‘Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.’
Obierika believes Christianity has stabbed Umuofia
‘He has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.’
Shows a positive viewpoint towards colonisation.
‘The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he also built a trading store and for the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umuofia.’
Okonkwo’s violent instincts towards Mr Brown (who was respectful and tried to understand Igbo culture and not forceful, patient, kind and understanding compared to the reverend James Smith)
‘Okonkwo had driven [Mr. Brown] away with the threat that if he came into his compound again, he would be carried out of it.’
Condescending last sentence
‘He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.’
