How did Okonkwo react to the missionaries?
Okonkwo’s violent reaction to Nwoye’s conversion is typical; he immediately wants to kill the Christians. He recalls that he is popularly called the “Roaring Flame.” Then he blames the “effeminacy” of his son on his wife and his father and then on his own chi.
What is the cultural collision in things fall apart?
Cultural collisions between different groups of people that are forced to live together are bound to happen, especially if those two groups have completely different ways of life.
What does Okonkwo do with his first human head?
Okonkwo is chosen to represent his clan because he is its fiercest warrior. Earlier in the chapter, as he remembers his past victories, we learn about the five human heads that he has taken in battle. On important occasions, he drinks palm-wine from the first head that he captured.
Who decided that ikemefuna should be killed?
As Okonkwo, Nwoye, and Ikemefuna are happily eating the rare food, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man of the village, calls on Okonkwo to speak to him privately. He tells Okonkwo that the Oracle has decreed that Ikemefuna must be killed as part of the retribution for the woman killed three years before in Mbaino.
How is nwoye different from his father?
Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son who Okonkwo considers irredeemably effeminate and very much like his father, Unoka. As a child, Nwoye is the frequent object of his father’s criticism and remains emotionally unfulfilled. Neither father nor son is unable to see and understand the other on his own terms.
Why is nwoye interested in Christianity?
Nwoye converts to Christianity largely to reject the excessive standard of masculinity his father wants him up to uphold. Nwoye is not at all like his father, and Okonkwo constantly punishes him for being different. Stifled by his father’s expectations, Nwoye runs away and joins the European church.
What emotion dominates Okonkwo’s life?
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.
Why did Okonkwo hate his father?
Okonkwo hates his father because he fails at being what Umuofia sees as a successful man. Unoka before he dies is “poor and his wife and children barely had enough to eat”. This means that Unoka is weak according to his culture. Okonkwo has “no patience with unsuccessful men”.
What does Unoka do with his money?
What does Unoka do with his money? Unoka buys gourds of palm wine and drinks with his neighbors.
Why does Okonkwo almost shoot his second wife Ekwefi?
Okonkwo shoots at his second wife, Ekwefi, because she defies him. This says that Okonkwo does not have a sense of peacefulness or gentleness and it suggests he may have very little patience and a hot temper. You just studied 15 terms!