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Script Things Fall Apart

The chapter introduces concepts of Igbo culture like the separation of gender roles and the belief in a personal god or 'chi'. It also provides backstory on Okonkwo, the protagonist, and his father Unoka, who was considered lazy and died disgracefully.

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ebaadrizwan2009
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232 views2 pages

Script Things Fall Apart

The chapter introduces concepts of Igbo culture like the separation of gender roles and the belief in a personal god or 'chi'. It also provides backstory on Okonkwo, the protagonist, and his father Unoka, who was considered lazy and died disgracefully.

Uploaded by

ebaadrizwan2009
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ayaan Hassan: Good a ernoon, my name is Ayaan Hassan, (everyone tells

their names).
and we are Team 1 of 9H. Today our presenta on is about Chapter 3 of
Things Fall Apart, wri en by Chinua Achebe. I would now like to call Aariz
to summarize the chapter.

Aariz: Achebe's use of storytelling further illustrates how Okonkwo's


resentment of his father grew, as well as how his own determina on to
succeed was tested — the two sides of his characteriza on as tragic hero.
The separa on between the man's world and the woman's world in
Umuofian culture is again emphasized in this chapter — first, in the roles
of the women in the ritual wine-drinking and, later, in the classifica on of
crops. Coco-yams, beans, and cassava are considered women's crops; in
contrast, the yam is iden fied as the "king of crops" — a man's crop.
Chapter 3 also illustrates several tradi onal ideas and truths that shape
day-to-day Igbo life. These principles are o en expressed through indirect
language and symbols in proverbs, which demonstrate the great respect
and courtesy that the Igbo people show to one another because the
speaker uses veiled language when making comments about himself. This
symbolic language represents a high level of cultural sensi vity and
sophis ca on.An especially significant concept introduced in this chapter
is the belief in personal chi. At its simplest level, chi parallels the Western
concept of soul, although chi is a more complex idea. The Igbo believe
that an individual's fate and abili es for the coming life are assigned to
the chi, and each individual is given a chi by the Creator (Chukwu) at the
moment of concep on. Before each reincarna on, the individual bargains
for improved circumstances in the next life. The chi thus becomes one's
personal god that guides one to fulfill the expected des ny. On the one
hand, the individual is ruled by his chi, but on the other hand, only the
individual can make the most of the fate planned through the chi. Now i
would like to call Ayaan Romail to explain the character of Unoka.
Ayaan Romail: Unoka is described as an ill-fated man with a bad chi or
personal god. He died of swelling in his stomach and limbs, which is an
abomina on to the earth goddess and prevented him from having a
proper burial. He was instead carried to the Evil Forest and le to die.
When they carried him away, he brought his flute with him. Now i would
like to call Mustafa Nisar to explain the character of Okonkwo.

Mustafa Nisar: When Okonkwo was young, his father Unoka went to
Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. He asked why he always had
a miserable harvest, despite his prayers and offerings to the gods. The
Oracle told him that the fault lay not in the gods, but in his laziness.
Unoka died of swelling that the Igbo believe is an abomina on to the
earth goddess. Like others who died badly, he was le in the Evil Forest.
Okonkwo lives in fear of the kind of failure and sad end that met his
father. Okonkwo did not inherit a barn full of seed yams. He had to start
out as a sharecropper for a rich man named Nwakibie. Nwakibie was
generous, but the first year Okonkwo planted was the worst plan ng year
in Umuofia's living memory. Okonkwo, with superhuman determina on,
survived. His father was in his last days then. He gave Okonkwo
encouraging praise, but it only tried Okonkwo's pa ence. Now i could like
to call Ebaad Rizwan to analyze the chapter.

Ebaad: Okonkwo has overcome incredible diversity. His father's pathe c


end and death tainted him with shame, and le him without inheritance.
His rise to social power and wealth has been a triumph of stubbornness
and will. Sharecropping is a difficult way to begin; moreover, the first year
Okonkwo planted was a terrible harvest year. But Okonkwo was young
and strong, and he was able to survive. The experience has been essen al
to the forma on of his character. Central to Okonkwo's beliefs is not only
a work ethic but a faith in the ability of the will to overcome adversity. He
is confident that he can master his environment; he rules as a man, and
he is fiercely proud of his people. Despite Unoka's laziness, his sad end is
s ll a ributed to his personal god. When he dies, he carries his flute with
him—an object he loves, but also a symbol of his failings in life.

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