Key Events in Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart written in 1958 by Chinua Achebe consists of many main events. One of the events I thought was very important to the story was in the beginning when Okonkwo wins the wrestling match against the 'Cat'. This was a significant event to the plot as this is where Okonkwo's journey to success really started. Before he overthrew the 'Cat', he was seen as a version of his father. His father, Unoka, was a very lazy, effeminate and weak. He was very unsuccessful and irresponsible. Okonkwo despised this about his father and swore to himself that he would never be the man that his father was. When he overthrew the 'Cat', people started to see him differently and gave him respect.
Another even that I would consider quite important is when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. This is important because for the past three years Ikemefuna had lived with Okonkwo and his family. He became a major part of their daily lives and was the reason that Okonkwo's son Nyowe became more involved in the work around the farm/land. Okonkwo favoured Ikemefuna over his actual son Nyowe as he worked much harder. When the Oracle decided that Ikemefuna must die, they made it clear that they did not want Okonkwo to come with since Ikemefuna saw him as a father. When they came to collect the boy, Okonkwo went with anyways as he did not want to be seen as weak. This was a major event in terms of Okonkwo's character development. Although he loved the boy dearly, he refused to show any emotion as this is something his father did throughout his life.
The last major key event that happened in the story is when Okonkwo hangs himself. I see this as a major key event because it shows how attached Okonkwo was to his culture and his country. He was so distraught over the fact that the people of Umuofia were not fighting for their cultures and land. When he came back and say that his son had become a Christian, his people were being taken over by the British and his traditions were disappearing he could not handle it anymore. When he hung himself no one wanted to touch him since it was against their customs. They had to pay a stranger to come and cut him down from the tree. I think that after the people saw he hung himself, they lost hope. He was the strongest man they knew and he could not handle the colonization that was taking place. I don't think that people expected it either as when they saw him because it was a weak thing to do, and he was not expected to be weak. It was seen as being weak because as a reader, I would think that he would try to restore the culture and fight back against the British but instead, he just gave up.
Another even that I would consider quite important is when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. This is important because for the past three years Ikemefuna had lived with Okonkwo and his family. He became a major part of their daily lives and was the reason that Okonkwo's son Nyowe became more involved in the work around the farm/land. Okonkwo favoured Ikemefuna over his actual son Nyowe as he worked much harder. When the Oracle decided that Ikemefuna must die, they made it clear that they did not want Okonkwo to come with since Ikemefuna saw him as a father. When they came to collect the boy, Okonkwo went with anyways as he did not want to be seen as weak. This was a major event in terms of Okonkwo's character development. Although he loved the boy dearly, he refused to show any emotion as this is something his father did throughout his life.
The last major key event that happened in the story is when Okonkwo hangs himself. I see this as a major key event because it shows how attached Okonkwo was to his culture and his country. He was so distraught over the fact that the people of Umuofia were not fighting for their cultures and land. When he came back and say that his son had become a Christian, his people were being taken over by the British and his traditions were disappearing he could not handle it anymore. When he hung himself no one wanted to touch him since it was against their customs. They had to pay a stranger to come and cut him down from the tree. I think that after the people saw he hung himself, they lost hope. He was the strongest man they knew and he could not handle the colonization that was taking place. I don't think that people expected it either as when they saw him because it was a weak thing to do, and he was not expected to be weak. It was seen as being weak because as a reader, I would think that he would try to restore the culture and fight back against the British but instead, he just gave up.
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