Ch 23

By John Butler

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Basic Events• Mr. Smith meets with the District Commissioner

• The District Commissioner is told that the the six Umuofian leaders molested others, Burned houses, and their church

• The District Commissioner pretends to meet with the Umuofian leaders and has them handcuffed and imprisoned

• The Men are then told to pay a fine of 250 bags of Cowries immediately or they will be hanged

• After three days of silence Okonkwo tells the others they should have killed the white man and the messenger overhears Okonkwo and they all get beaten by the messenger with a few blows to there head and back

• The People of Umuofia are told by the court messengers that they have to pay a fine of 250 bags of Cowries for their leaders to be released

• The Village Crier calls all the men of Umuofia to a meeting in the marketplace

• The men of Umuofia agree to collect the 250 bags of Cowries and pay the white men

Cowries

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/LGweb/images/1894_27_214.jpg

Conflicts

Village vs. White men

Smith vs. Umuofian leaders

Cultural Norms

• The Village Crier beating the ogene for the men of Umuofia to meet in the marketplace

• Village Meetings

Terms and Definitions

• egwugwu: Men who disguise themselves as the ancestral spirits of the village

• ilo: Village green

• ogene: a musical instrument; a kind of gong

http://www.total-facts-about-nigeria.com/image-files/ogene-music.jpg

Connections to Today

• Consequences of not paying a fine

• Torture

CharactersOkonkwo: He meets with the District commissioner and is imprisoned until the village pays

the fine of 250 bags of Cowries

District Commissioner: Returns from tour and talks to Mr. Smith. He then pretends to meet with the six Umuofian leaders and has them imprisoned because of molesting others, Burning houses and their church

Ogbuefi Ekwueme: One of the six leaders to be imprisoned. Began telling story of how Enoch murdered an egwugwu but was then interrupted by the twelve men who handcuffed the six Umuofian leaders.

Mr. Smith: Meets with District Commissioner and accuses the six Umuofian leaders of molesting, destroying houses and the church.

Head Messenger: He is the Prisoners Barber. Took a razor and shaved the hair off of all six of the Umuofian leaders

Ezinma: She had past the final day for visiting her future husband’s family.

Questions

1.Do you think holding the six Umuofian leaders hostage will lead to war?

2. In your opinion, what contributes most to things falling apart in Umuofia?

Things Fall Apart

Chapter 24

by Sam Estabrook

Basic Events

• The six men return home to the village after being released

• Ezinma prepares food for Okonkwo in his obi

• The village crier announced another meeting would held in the morning

• Okonkwo swore vengeance on the white man

• Okika is the first to speak at the meeting in the marketplace, he is one of the six prisoners and an orator

• During the speech five court messengers approach the meeting to order it to end

• Okonkwo then kills one of the messengers with his machete

• The other messengers leave and the meeting is concluded with the crowd in turmoil

• Okonkwo wipes his machete and leaves

Conflicts

The Village vs. White Men

Okonkwo vs. Egonwanne

Cultural Norms

• Village meetings

• The Crier going around town to let everyone know of the meetin

• Welcoming the prisoners with food

Terms and Definitions

nno- to welcome

Connections to Today

Characters

Questions