Things Fall Apart Summary Chapters 1-7

Things Fall Apart centers in Okonkwo, a successful man of an Igbo tribe that has overcome the misfortune of having a lazy father. Do to this Okonkwo has always worked very hard and hates any attitude that relates to his father. He started by asking to Nwakibie, a wealthy man, for some borrowed yam seeds so he could start making his own heritage. He worked with no mistakes and soon he became in a very successful man. Okonkwo has three wives and his first child is Nwoye.  

One member of the tribe was killed by another tribe so they were demanded to give away one young man and a virgin. The young man that arrived as a present was Ikemefuna. At first they didn’t know what to do with him so Okonkwo took care of him. Soon Ikemefuna became part of the family and was considered as a son by Okonkwo. Nwoye admired him, just like an older brother. During all those years they learned how to become men under his father’s watch.

A very special celebration in the tribe is the Week of Peace; this is done before the planting season in order for their earth goddess to provide them with perfect planting conditions for the year. During that week no one can hurt anybody, it is a great crime to do it. When Okonkwo returned home dinner wasn’t ready and this was his second wife’s responsibility so he got very mad and beat her. He had to offer some animals and crops in order to be forgiven. After all the harvest season it came the New Yam Festival. The tradition was to invite your neighbors to eat and celebrate. During the preparations Okonkwo beat Ekwefi, his second wife, again for cutting palm leaves. The next day took place the wrestling event. There were many wrestles between members of two teams, the crowd got very excited at the last battle which was very close.          

Time passed, Nwoye and Ikemefuna were almost men. They spent time with his father and learned everything they needed. This was the process for growing up in the tribe. One day the elders came and whispered something to Okonkwo. Everybody knew it was about Ikemefuna. They had decided he needed to be killed. Ikemefuna was taken to the forest and in an instant assassinated with a machete. Nwoye was very sad, so as the rest of the family.