Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart

There was a man who dreamed as a child of being well known and respected throughout his village and neighboring villages. This man, Okonkwo, worked hard at his goal, and he achieved it. Okonkwo, a man with great strength and personality, had achieved his goal to become rich and famous, a privilege that was unseen before in his family. Although Okonkwo reached his goal at an early age, his life began to Fall Apart when tragic episodes took place.

One can see that Okonkwo’s life first began to fall apart when Ikemefuma, a captive who stayed at Okonkwo’s home, was killed. Okonkwo had thought of Ikemefuma as one of his own sons. He was deeply saddened when he was killed. One can see the effects on Okonkwo from that event. First Okonkwo was unable to sleep for the following three days. He also kept on getting drunk, and that was a sign that he was depressed. This incident also had a long-term effect on Okonkwo. From then on his family would look at him as if it were his fault that Ikemefuma is dead. This episode can be seen as an event where Okonkwo looses some faith from his family. This corresponds to Okonkwo losing

faith in his father.

Another important occurrence where one can see that Okonkwo’s life falls apart was when he was thrown out of the clan for a few years. From this episode one can see that Okonkwo’s hopes dreams have begun to fall apart. His hopes of being a rich and popular individual had drifted away with this upsetting incident. Okonkwo had no longer had his farm or animals. Also Okonkwo lost faith with most of his friends. This goes to show