1
Asia Nelson
Hist-105H
Nov. 2 2016
Prof. Bismark Myrick
Things Fall Apart Review
The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the book and the relationships
Okonkwo had in the book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The novel is focused mainly
on the main character Okonkwo. As a boy Okonkwo always feared growing up and becoming a
replica of his father. With this starting to become true, Okonkwo worked hard to prove that he
was nothing like him. When he turned eighteen, he brought honor to his village by defeating
Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling watch. Amalinze the Cat was an amazing wrestler and went
undefeated from Umuifia to Mbaino for at least seven years. After the defeat of Amanlinze the
Cat, Okonkwo’s fame continued to grow. Following his victory, he became one of the leaders in
his community, he was wealthy, and he had three wives. Okonkwo sounds like a great person
when you list all of his accomplishments, but he was ultimately strict, he rarely showed emotion,
and seen as brutal.
Okonkwo’s fathers name was Unoka. His whole village, especially Okonkwo, were
known as lazy, irresponsible, and a coward viewed Unoka. His reputation throughout the
community brought shame to his family, although that was never his intention. Since he feared
the sight of blood, he never became a warrior and could not bring his family honor in that
particular way. He also did not work and had a long list of debt that he didn’t pay back before he
passed away. Unoka died of an illness that caused his body to swell and his illness was also
considered a disappointment to his family. Causing more disappointment towards his family he
was taken to the evil forest where he was left to die. On the brighter side of things, Unoka was a
great musician. Partying, relaxing and playing his flute were all things that made him very
happy. Music is what his world revolved around.
The next character to discuss is Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna was given to Okonkwo from the
neighboring clan, Mbaino, along with a virgin as a sacrifice for killing a woman of Umuofia.
From the start of things, Ikemefuna was the ultimate victim. His fate was taken away from his
family extremely early in life for a crime that he played no parts in and really had no knowledge
of. Ikemefina stayed in Umuofia where he stayed with Okonkwo’s wife in her hut for three
years. Okonkwo’s family grew to love Ikemefuna especially Okonkwo although he failed to
show it. He even grew to favor Ikemefuna over his own natural born son Nwoye. Okonkwo
becomes extremely close with Ikemefuna. He even favored Ikemefuna over his son because he
