Clue (Things Fall Apart)

“Okonkwo was given a plot of ground on which to build his compound, and two or three pieces of land on which to farm during the coming planting season. With the help of his mothers kinsmen he built himself an obi and three huts for his wives. He then installed his personal god and the symbols of his departed fathers. Each of Uchendu’s five sons contributed three hundred seed-yams to enable their cousin to plant a farm, for as soon as the first rain came farming would begin.”

During this scene we are shown that Okonkwo will never let any obstacle stop him from succeeding. Although he was helped by his mothers kinsmen, he is using this given land to rebuild what he has lost and start his new life. Okonkwo was questioned for his arrival in his motherland after so many years of being away. He was an outsider, according to customs he did not belong to this “foreign” land. However this did not stop him from coming. In this scene we get a hint of what his mother maybe been like. Her kinsmen still respect her and care for her family. They care for her land and property, and now her son. We may see Okonkwo attempt to get closer with his past. Maybe reconnect with his mothers people, and decide to stay in this new land and not go back to his clan after the 7 years.

One thought on “Clue (Things Fall Apart)

  1. Minorka

    As we see okonkwo is a very hard working man and nothing can stop him. But once he reunited with his mother neighbors he was brought up to his own truths. Questions that he didn’t even know how to answer. And this is simply because okonkwo was not a man like his father. All this time he had been avoinding his father behavior, yet his youth behavior is worst. And in this passage is also where we get a clue about okonkwo planning to hang himself. Because even though okonkwo wanted to show to strong character he was very week. For instance when uchendo tells okonkwo that he had seen 22 of his children die but he hasn’t hang himself. In addition we know how terrible okonkwo suffered for ilemefuma’s death, so we can predict that if he see that his family dies, he will definitely kill himself.

Leave a Reply