Things Fall Apart Chapters Five, Six and Seven

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Chapters 5,6,7

Why is Ezinma so special to Okonkwo?

Things Fall Apart 

Chapters 5,6 and 7

Ezinma is the only child of Okonkwo’s second wife, Ekwefi, and she is also Okonkwo’s favorite daughter. Okonkwo feels drawn to Ezinma for her precocious intelligence and her strong will. More than any of Okonkwo’s other children, Ezinma possesses all of the personality traits required to grow into a distinguished member of society. In other words, she is the most masculine of Okonkwo’s children, and Okonkwo frequently laments that she was not born a boy

How does Okonkwo break the peace during the Week of Peace?

1. He beats Nwoye.
2. He fires a gun in the air.
3. He fights with the Oracle.
4. He beats one of his wives.

How does Okonkwo feel about his transgression?

1. He doesn’t care.
2. He feels sorry but pretends he doesn’t.
3. He openly apologizes and begs his wife’s forgiveness.
4. He is proud of it.

Why does Ekwefi like to watch wrestling?

1. Because she fell in love with Okwonko when he beat the Cat at wrestling
2. Because she wants to have an affair with someone stronger than Okonkwo
3. Because Okonkwo never beats her in public
4. Because she gets to gossip with Chielo, the Oracle

With whom does Ikemefuna become particularly close?

1. Chielo
2. Nwoye
3. Ezinma
4. Mr. Brown

What does it mean that it seems Ezinma “has come to stay”?

1. Several young village men have taken an interest in marrying her.
2. She is unlikely to die in childhood.
3. She is destined to become the next Oracle.
4. She lives in another village and is visiting her mother

How do the villagers react to the locusts?

1. They think evil spirits are punishing them.
2. They are excited because locusts are tasty.
3. They wish the locusts hadn’t come.
4. They see it is a warning for the future.

What does Obeirika warn Okonkwo about Ikemefuna’s death?

1. That he should have no part in it
2. That Okonkwo alone must carry out the murder
3. That Okonkwo must bear witness to the killing
4. That Ikemefuna’s death will unleash endless tribal feuding

How does Ikemefuna die?

1. He falls while putting palm leaves on the red outer walls of the compound.
2. A swarm of locusts kills him.
3. One of the clansmen cuts him down with a machete before Okonkwo can stop him.
4. One of the clansmen attacks Ikemefuna and Okonkwo deals the final blow.

What is Nwoye’s reaction to Ikemefuna’s death?

1. He accepts it as the proper outcome.
2. He runs away.
3. He feels like something has broken inside him.
4. He is proud of Okonkwo for his participation in the killing.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing in Things Fall Apart begins with the novel’s title, which indicates that the story to come does not end well. 

Foreshadowing

And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass. . . .

The Arrival Of The British

In addition to the title  Achebe uses other strategies to foreshadow the arrival of the British. Take, for instance, the coming of the locusts. The narrator explains how the first swarm of locusts that came was small: “They were the harbingers sent to survey the land” before the rest descended. The locusts prefigure the missionaries, who in turn prefigure the eventual coming of colonial governance. The narrator makes this connection explicit later in the novel, when Obierika informs Okonkwo of the oracle’s prophecy following the first appearance of a white man in the nine villages: “It said that other white men were on their way. They were locusts, it said, and that first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain.” The narrator also uses proverbs to accomplish a similar effect. For instance, after the accident that results in Okonkwo’s exile, the narrator makes an ominous nod to proverbial wisdom: “As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.” This sentence appears at the very end of Part One and suggests the challenges that will arise throughout Parts Two and Three.

Homework

Read chapter 7 before the 18th of February (holiday)

Read chapter 8 before Friday the 27th of February