What is the role of ikemefuna in things fall apart?
Ikemefuna quickly becomes a well-loved member of the family. He serves as a role model for Okonkwo’s eldest son, Nwoye, and over time he also earns Okonkwo’s respect. But more important than the role he plays in Okonkwo’s family is the effect his death has on the unfolding events of the novel.
What is Okonkwo’s relationship with ikemefuna like?
Okonkwo too becomes very fond of Ikemefuna, who calls him “father” and is a perfect clansman, but Okonkwo does not demonstrate his affection because he fears that doing so would make him look weak.
What kind of person was ikemefuna?
Ikemefuna was talented, hardworking, and a great hunter. Okonkwo grew to admire him. He began to realize that Ikemefuna was a good role model for Nwoye, because he was teaching him to be more of a man.
How does Okonkwo view ikemefuna?
Even Okonkwo has inwardly become fond of Ikemefuna, but he does not show affection — a womanly sign of weakness. He treats Ikemefuna with a heavy hand, as he does other members of his family, although he allows Ikemefuna to accompany him like a son to meetings and feasts, carrying his stool and his bag.
How did Okonkwo feel after killing ikemefuna?
For two days after Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo cannot eat or sleep; his thoughts return again and again to the boy who was like a son to him. On the third day, when his favorite daughter Ezinma brings him the food he finally requested, he wishes to himself that she was a boy.
How did ikemefuna influence the community?
The character of Ikemefuna had a very significant role in the character development of Owkonko and Nwoye, and showed the importance of Ibo culture. Ikemefuna brought out Okonkwo’s humane side. Nwoye became a more masculine individual. The strictness of the Ibo culture was shown through Ikemefuna’s actions.
How old is ikemefuna when he is killed?
fifteen-year-old
Ikemefuna was a fifteen-year-old boy from a neighboring clan, Mbaino, who is given up to Umuofia as a sacrifice for killing one of the women of Umuofia. He lived with Okonkwo’s family for three years before the elders ordered him to be killed.
Why does Okonkwo refuse to show affection to ikemefuna even though he feels it?
Okonkwo himself grows quite fond of Ikemefuna, but he does not show any affection because he considers doing so a sign of weakness, which he refuses to tolerate in himself or others.
Who is responsible for Okonkwo’s death?
Okonkwo’s tragic fate is not his fault, it is the church’s fault because they bombarded and caused a multitude of bad things to happen in Okonkwo’s life that he believed the only way to be free was to kill himself.
On what character does ikemefuna have a positive effect?
Ikemefuna had a positive effect on Nwoye, Okonkwo’s eldest son. Because of Ikemefuna, Nwoye became a tougher, more masculine, young man.
Who decides ikemefuna’s fate?
Ikemefuna has been with the family for three years. “He lives with Okonkwo’s family for three years before the elders order him to be killed.” Okonkwo decides Ikemefuna’s fate. Ezeudu tells Okonkwo not to take part in the ritual killing, but Okonkwo proceeds anyway.
How does Okonkwo Act Two days after ikemefuna’s death?
What is the irony of Okonkwo’s death?
Okonkwo’s death is especially ironic when we consider one major event at the beginning of the novel: the terrible harvest. Okonkwo’s first harvest is one of the worst harvest years in clan history. Very few crops survive at all because of unusual weather patterns.
Why did Okonkwo beat his wife?
During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo notices that his youngest wife, Ojiugo, has left her hut to have her hair braided without having cooked dinner. He beats her for her negligence, shamefully breaking the peace of the sacred week in a transgression known as nso-ani.
What did Okonkwo tell himself about ikemefuna’s death?
What did Okonkwo tell himself about his part in Ikemefuna’s death? He said he was becoming a woman. A man who had killed five men in battle should not fall to pieces over the death of a boy.
How does Obierika feel about the killing of ikemefuna?
Okonkwo calls Obierika out for not coming with them to kill Ikemefuna. Obierika says he had better things to do and that Okonkwo should have stayed home himself because killing a boy who is like your son doesn’t please the Earth goddess.
Who is to blame for Okonkwo’s death?
Obierika displays an uncharacteristic flash of temper and lashes out at the commissioner, blaming him for Okonkwo’s death and praising his friend’s greatness.
Who is Okonkwo’s favorite wife?
Ekwefi
Lesson Summary
Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel Things Fall Apart follows an Igbo leader, Okonkwo, through his tumultuous life in colonial Nigeria. His second wife Ekwefi is perhaps his favorite of all of his wives, and her daughter is by far his favorite child.
How did Okonkwo react to ikemefuna’s death?
How does Okonkwo react to Ikemefuna’s death? Okonkwo seems tortured about Ikemefuna’s death. He could not sleep, or taste food, and he drank palm wine from morning until nightfall.
What happens after Okonkwo kills ikemefuna?
Who Cures Ezinma?
Chielo takes Ezinma on her back and forbids anyone to follow. Ekwefi overcomes her fear of divine punishment and follows anyway. Chielo, carrying Ezinma, makes her rounds of the nine villages.
What illness does Ezinma have?
fever
Ezinma falls sick from a fever. She’s given a steam treatment with boiled herbs that her father has prepared. The narrator tells about how Ezinma has always been a sickly child. The town considers her to be an ogbanje child – one who goes through many cycles of being born, dying, and reentering her mother’s womb.
How does ikemefuna become son of Okonkwo?
After men in another village kill a woman from Umuofia, a boy named Ikemefuna is given to Umuofia as compensation and lives in Okonkwo’s compound until the Gods decide his fate. Ikemefuna quickly becomes part of Okonkwo’s family; he is like a brother to Okonkwo’s son Nwoye and is secretly loved by Okonkwo as well.
What does Ekwefi eat Ezinma?
Ekwefi and Ezinma are extremely close, because all of Ekwefi’s other children have died. Ekwefi gives Ezinma eggs to eat even though it’s not socially acceptable for children to eat eggs, and their egg-eating in secret is one of the things that closely bonds them.
Is Okonkwo an Egwugwu?
Okonkwo has obviously risen to a lofty position of village leadership if he has indeed been selected as the egwugwu representative for his village. The egwugwu has similarities to a jury led by a foreman or judge.