[moff_09]

Anyone read it? It's by Chinua Achebe and is one of 4 books my A.P. English teacher is making us read over the summer. If you've read it, how was it? And can anyone give me just a short overview of what it's about? The back cover didn't give much information besides how good/popular it supposedly is.

[MR.JABM]

dude gets a chick and her son.

dude raises son like his own. This kid is hard working and makes the dude's real son a stronger person.

Oracle says, "dawg, you gotta kill that kid that's been living witchu fo' liek three years."
Dude is like, alright. Dude tells real son,"i aint' gonna kill him, calm down."
The dude really kills him.

Christians come and start converting people after the dude leaves to live with his mother for doing something bad(i don't remember what.)

Dude comes back, sees what his village has turned into(it's not good) and hangs himself liek a warrior.

[Crede777]

^^ Pretty much, although he neglected to mention the strange obsession with yams that the village people have. ^^

[ChaoticReign Pbt]

It wasn't bad. Read it for sociology last semester. It's a short read, just read it.

[MR.JABM]

yam wine, yam soup, yam chicken.

It's all they eat

[moff_09]

Sounds weird, thanks for the help though. I'm planning on starting it as soon as I finish my current book.

[jolly rodgers]

i couldnt finish it. i had to read spark notes on it so i could pass the test for it. the only thing i got from that book is that they loved yams, and beating their wives.

[Adema3412]

Originally Posted by Crede777

^^ Pretty much, although he neglected to mention the strange obsession with yams that the village people have. ^^

An obsession? More like yams are a durable crop that grows in many areas of Africa and is the only thing they have to eat.

[Prouddm5owner2 (Banned)]

Originally Posted by jolly rodgers

, and beating their wives.

i would always make jokes about that and my teacher would get really pissed

[rigby (Banned)]

The most important literary aspect of it is that the white christians come into africa and try to convert people into christianty and their societys ways. The main character is a perfect example of a strong individual in the traditional society, and really excelled according to their standards (won wrestling competitions, hard working, successful farmer, ****ed hoes). Ukemku rejected their new society and watched the weaker members of his tribe convert over with the white people because they were the people who would benefit the most (weak men and women).

[imyourfrend]

It's all ironic. The entire novel is irony. Basically it talks about how strong and how tough minded the main character is (Okonkwo), as you see, he takes no **** from anyone. Okonkwo doesn't want to be anything like his father (his father is weak, and only talks about ****, but never does anything). well, in the end of the novel, Okonkwo kills himself (I don't care if I am ruining the book, you asked for it), and the village takes him as some sort of traitor. He ends of being worse than his father for what he did.

Also, when he gets sent into exile he lives with his mom (this is what the other guy was talking about). He got into exile because he shot some boy in the head, accidentally during a celebration the gun went off and he was charged with the crime and sent into exile for 7 years. Any more questions just PM me.

[time2kil]

Basically its about Okonkwo's fear of failure and weakness ultimately leading to his deterioration and demise. His inability to cope with changes in the tribe emotionally, socially, etc. makes "things fall apart."