Okonkwo's Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart is the story of a group of Nigerian villages in the late 1800s that is discovered by white missionaries. The story starts by profiling Okonkwo, who is a prominent figure in the village. After his firearm misfires during a funeral and kills an innocent boy Okonkwo and his family are exiled from Umuofia for seven years, during this time Okonkwo plots his return plans to become a village lord. During this exile missionaries start appearing in the neighboring villages and ultimately come to Umuofia and quickly grow to have a decent following. Shortly after the missionaries get established the British government follows and this truly marks the downturn for the village. The District Commissioner and the new court system begins judging cases but have no knowledge or respect for the traditional village customs and beliefs. When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia he disapproves of the extent of the power the white men have over the villagers and rebels by killing a court messenger. Knowing that his village won’t go to war with the white man as he has suggested he kills himself before the District Commissioner comes to persecute him. …show more content…
He will likely start with the story of Abame which is told in Chapter 15 of Things Fall apart. This is a village that was approached by a white missionary. The oracle in this town perceived the white man as a threat and if they let him go he would bring more white men that would ruin the clan so the villagers killed him and tied up his bicycle. Later an African man was bringing more white men through the area and they saw the bicycle. They returned on a busy market day and killed everyone at the market leaving only the sick and other who had stayed home alive. Massacres like this spread fear among the native population and ultimately leads to the clans being more hesitant to reject these outsiders out of fear of what will happen to