Things Fall Apart cause okonkwo sucks

1. What would you consider the worst aspect of being banished from your homeland for seven years?
2. One of Okonkwo's nicknames is "Roaring Flame." What do you think this metaphorical name means? How do you interpret Okonkwo's thought, "Living fire begets cold, impotent ash"?
3. How do the names Okonkwo chooses for his children born in Mbanta reflect his feelings about his exile?
4. In the book, find an example of flashback that shows the relationship between white newcomers and African natives and an example in which this relationship is indicated through foreshadowing.
5. Mr. Kiaga decides that the church will accept the clan's outcasts. What philosophy does this reveal, and how does this explain the success of the Christian church in attracting African converts?
6. How does the fact that there is no punishment in Ibo law for intentionally killing a python reveal the theme of the relationship of an individual to the community?
7. Uchendu says, "An animals rubs its itching flank against a tree, a man asks his kinsman to scratch him." Explain what this maxim says about the theme of an individual in relation to the community.
	Writing Opportunity - Develop your response into a paragraph, using an example from
	the novel to explain the proverb.
8. In your opinion, what does Uchendu mean when he says, "There is no story that is not true"? What fictional story, in literature, drama, or film, have you found particularly "true"? Why?
9. Compared to earlier chapters, the story of Okonkwo's time in exile moves very quickly. Why do you think Achebe changes the novel's pace? Does the change of pace detract from or enhance the narrative?

Reading Check

a. What is the relationship between Okonkwo and Uchendu?
b. What point does Uchendu make in his speech to Okonkwo?
c. Why did the whites kill the villagers of Abame.
d. Something about his native culture troubles Nwoye deeply, and the Christian church gives him comfort. What is bothering him?
e. Where do the Mbantan elders give land for the Christian church?
f. What convinces Mbantan converts that the church is powerful?
g. Why are the Christians ostracized by the clan the week before Easter?
h. How does Okonkwo show his thanks to Mbanta at the end of his seven-year exile?