Apartment Choice

Okonkwo Proud, ambitious, and ill-tempered, Okonkwo is the tragic hero of Things Fall Apart. An ambitious man who has risen from nothing to a man of importance in his tribe, Okonkwo rules his family with an iron fist. He is deeply dedicated to the traditions and social hierarchies of his people, and he is determined that his sons and daughters follow his demanding example. The indignities forced on him and his people by the British eventually prove to be too much for him. After an act of defiance which goes unsupported by his people, Okonkwo gives in to despair. He kills himself, partly so that he will not be executed under the white man's laws and partly because he is grieving for the death of his people. Unoka Okonkwo's father. He died when Okonkwo was very young, and he was a failure. Shame for Unoka drives Okonkwo to work tirelessly. Unoka died in debt and humiliation; the memory of him gives Okonkwo a terrible fear of failure. Ikemefuna A young boy given to Umuofia by a ...

Minor Characters Unoka Unoka is Okonkwo's father. Though a talented musician in life, he was also lazy and irresponsible, accumulating many debts. Unoka dies a shameful death, still in debt and without title. His death haunts Okonkwo , who vows to hate everything that his father loved, including gentleness and idleness. Obierika Obierika is Okonkwo's close friend. He questions clan tradition at times, choosing not to take part in the killing of Ikemefuna , for example, and wondering why Okonkwo's accidental crime should merit exile for seven years. He helps Okonkwo by selling his yams and visiting him in exile. Akunna Akunna, a respected man of the clan, discusses religious beliefs with Mr. Brown. During these discussions, Akunna brings up some striking similarities between their methods of worship. Uchendu Uchendu is the younger brother of Okonkwo's mother. Uchendu attempts to reassure Okonkwo after he arrives with his family in Mbanta, advising him to be grate...

THE CHIMNEY-CORNER FOR 1866. VIII. HOW SHALL WE ENTERTAIN OUR COMPANY? “T he fact is," said Marianne, "we must have a party. Bob don't like to hear of it, but it must come. We are in debt to everybody: we have been invited everywhere, and never had anything like a party since we were married, and it won't do." "For my part, I hate parties," said Bob. "They put your house all out of order, give all the women a sick-headache, and all the men an indigestion; you never see anybody to any purpose; the girls look bewitched, and the women answer you at cross-purposes, and call you by the name of your next-door neighbor, in their agitation of mind. We stay out beyond our usual bedtime, come home and find some baby crying, or child who has been sitting up till nobody knows when; and the next morning, when I must be at my office by eight, and wife must attend to her children, we are sleepy and headachy. I protest against making overtures to entrap some hund...