Things Fall Apart

Question 1

Themes - things fall apart

Answer 1

• Traditon vs change
• Masculinity
• Pride
• Culture

Question 2

Symbols

Answer 2

Yams: symbolize masculinity, wealth, and status
Locusts: represent colonial invasion and destruction

Question 3

Main events - things fall apart

Answer 3

1. Okonkwo earns fame by wrestling and gains status in Umuofia
2. Harsh with his family
3. Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna
4. After killing a clansman, he is exiled for 7 years
5. colonial threat
6. O tries to rally resistance
7. Okonkwo kills himself

Question 4

The evil forest

Answer 4

The Igbo people throw things considered cursed
- Missionaries don’t die -> weakens traditional belief

Question 5

Qi

Answer 5

A personal god or spiritual guide

Question 6

Egwugwu

Answer 6

Masked ancestral spirits who serve as village judges

Question 7

Agbala

Answer 7

A divine figure whom people visit from afar for advice from Gods

Question 8

Ilo

Answer 8

The village “downtown” and public meeting space

Question 9

Obi

Answer 9

The head man’s personal hut or home

Question 10

Ogbanje

Answer 10

A child believed to die and return repeatedly to torment the mother

Question 11

Iyi-uwa

Answer 11

A magical object that ties an ogbanje to the world

Question 12

Okonkwo’s downfall

Answer 12

• Fear of weakness
• Toxic masculinity
• Need for status
• Traditionalism

Question 13

Chinua Achebe

Answer 13

Wrote it to correct colonial narratives
- wanted to show the depth of Igbo life