All About "Things Fall Apart" by Joslynn Couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq en-us 2018-10-03 18:53:46 UTC 2026-03-20 17:51:02 UTC hello@padlet.com Themes: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288840628 Masculinity 
Change and tradition
Tribal belief/Religion ]]> 2018-10-03 18:57:46 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288840628 Okonkwo: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288842934 Okonkwo is a well-respected member of the community. His fear that he will become like his father - lazy, inadequate, and cowardly - presents itself in often violent ways. Okonkwo is a very hard worker but can be very violent. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:02:03 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288842934 Character List: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288847035 Okonkwo
Unoka
Ikemefuna
Nwoye
Ogbuefi Ezeudu
Nwoye's mother
Ojiugo
Ekwefi
Ezinma
Obierika
Okagbue, the Medicine Man
Uchendu
District Commisioner

]]> 2018-10-03 19:09:55 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288847035 Unoka: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288853650 This is Okonkwo's father and the inspiration behind what drives a lot of Okonkwo's actions. He was in the tribes (and Okonkwo's) eyes a failure. The shame Okonkwo felt because of him is what made Okonkwo work so hard. When he died he was in a great amount of debt. This gives Okonkwo a giant fear of failure. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:22:45 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288853650 Ikemefuna: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288856551 Ikemefuna was given to Umuofia by a nearby village as a young boy. He would late be used as a sacrifice. They believed this would prevent a war. He spent a total of three years in Umuofia living with Okonkwo. Okonkwo viewed him as a son and Nwoye views him as a best friend and brother. Okonkwo - out of fear of being viewed as weak - participates in his death. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:29:04 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288856551 Nwoye: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288860423 Nwoye is Okonkwo's son. He is very unlike Okonkwo. He can be very sensitive and thoughtful. Okonkwo views him as very lazy and unmotivated. This causes Okonkwo to be very harsh with Nwoye. He fears that Nwoye will be like his father. After his close friend Ikemefuna dies Nwoye leaves Umofia and converts to Christianity. This was probably done to escape from his fathers harshness. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:37:24 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288860423 Ogbuefi Ezeudu: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288865093 This character is one of the oldest men in the tribe. He is very wise with his years. He tells Okonkwo that he should not be apart of Ikemefuna's death. Okonkwo of course does not follow his advice and later at Ezeudu's funeral Okonkwo's gun misfires and kills a boy. This is what leads to the exile of Okonkwo. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:46:26 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288865093 Ojiugo: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288866820 She is Okonkwo's third and youngest wife.  During the week of peace Okonkwo beats her. This is where we see some of Okonkwo's eruptive temper that leads to violence. This means Okonkwo has to pay a very large fine to the earth goddess.]]> 2018-10-03 19:50:00 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288866820 Ekwefi: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288867776 She is Okonkwo's second wife. When she was young she was considered one of the greatest beauties of Umuofia. She has had a total of ten children but sadly only one has survived. She devotes much of her time to her daughter, Ezinma, who tends to have health scares. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:51:58 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288867776 Ezinma joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288869661 She is a very sickly child and provides a great amount of fear for her mother. She tends to be Okonkwo's favorite daughter. She understands Okonkwo's moods and she often gets his kinder, softer side. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:56:14 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288869661 Obierika: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288870985 This is one of Okonkwo's best friends. He is very successful and powerful. He is much more thoughtful and treats women much better than Okonkwo. He does not like unnecessary violence and is a fair man. ]]> 2018-10-03 19:59:36 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288870985 Okagbue, the Medicine Man: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288872883 This is the man that helps Ekwefi keep Ezinma alive. This was a huge fear that she would die like the rest of her children but this man finds the supernatural cause of her sickness and fixes it. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:04:09 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288872883 Uchendu: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288875039 This is Okonkwo's uncle. He is very old and a wise man. He commands a strong sense of authority and even Okonkwo follows his lead. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:09:16 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288875039 District Commissioner: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288876727 He's from the British government. He is completely ignorant to the local culture. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:13:42 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288876727 The Village - Umuofia: joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288879045 The neighboring clans feared the power of Umuofia. Other clans would not go to war with this clan without trying to come to a peaceful settlement first. Umuofia would never go to war without getting it accepted by the oracle first. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:19:47 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288879045 “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” ― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288881882 This shows the progression of colonization of this clan and the takeover of Christianity in this culture that once cared so deeply for their traditions. With this change in their culture things began falling apart. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:26:33 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288881882 “Then listen to me,' he said and cleared his throat. 'It's true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. Is it right that you, Okonkwo, should bring your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you, they will all die in exile.” ― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288882251 2018-10-03 20:27:35 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288882251 “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.It was deeper and more intimate that the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself.” ― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288883210 This shows the overwhelming amount of internalized fear Okonkwo feels and how it presents itself in violence. Perhaps that Okonkwo would not be a cruel man if he didn't live with this overwhelming amount of fear. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:30:27 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288883210 "Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper" joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288884412 Okonkwo was not afraid of using violence to get his way. The book several times portrays Okonkwo's anger and violence. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:34:47 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288884412 "Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic, and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country. Its most potent war medicine was as old as the clan itself. Nobody knew how old. But on one point there was general agreement – the active principle in that medicine had been an old woman with one leg. In fact, the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi, or old woman. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia, in a clearing spot. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about." joslynn_couture https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288884690 Umuofia was once a very powerful and united clan. The people were united by their traditions and tales. ]]> 2018-10-03 20:35:45 UTC https://padlet.com/joslynn_couture/oepdfuarowkq/wish/288884690