Achebe, Things Fall Apart

1. How do you think Ibo customs reflect Okonkwo's personality? What differences does Okonkwo have with his culture?

2. Many Ibo customs are very different from Western culture; still, what similarities can you find?

3. Why is Okonkwo ashamed of his father? What decisions does he make based on this feeling?

4. Is Okonwo as unemotional as he seems? Explain.

5. What does the Evil Forest represent? What do the Ibo use it for?

6. Describe the relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye; between Okonkwo and Ekwefi.

7. How do folk stories help "educate" children? Consider especially the Tortoise story.

8. How does Ikemefuna's fate affect Nwoye? Okonkwo? Obierika?

9. In Part II, Uchendu praises the bonds of kinship; is he right? what is good about these bonds, and what is problematic?

10. Note the hospitality rules of this society; how do these rules contribute to social order?

11. What other rituals, ceremonies are important and why?

12. Describe the role of women in village life. How does Ezinma's story fit and break the mold?

13. Describe Nwoye's character; is he, as Okonkwo thinks, destined to be like his grandfather? How do Nwoye's later decisions fit this characterization?

14. How do the Ibo initially respond to the whites? Which institution gives them the most to think about, the government or the religion?

15. Describe the difference between the two missionaries, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith.

16. Explain why the village leaders' treatment in jail angers the village.

17. Why does Okonkwo act as he does in the last 10 pages? Does Obierika sympathize with him, or does he just understand his motives?

18. Discuss this novel as a commentary on European society.

19. Achebe himself comes from a coverted Christian family; how does his background seem to play into his characterizations?

20. Discuss the significance of the title and how it relates to the Yeats poem it is taken from.