Things Fall Apart Chapter 17 Summary

Things Fall Apart

Chapter 17

Summary

Characters

Summary

Key Events in Chapter 17

Characters Description

. Missionaries

. Nwoye

. Okonkwo

. Mr. Kiaga

• Missionionaries: The ones who try turn the village people into Christans
• Oknnkwo: He dislike the white men (Mr.Kiaga) & his Missionionaries who was turning the people of Mbanta into christans (main character of the story)
• Mr.Kiaga: Head of the churches in the Mbanta clan
• Nwoya: Okonkwo’s oldest son, struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful, and demanding father. Slowly starts to become a Christian

• Marketplace
• Chief of the Mbanta
• The "Evil Forest"
• Church in the Mbanta Clan
• Okonkwo's Place

The missionaries request a piece of land on which to build a church. The village leaders and elders offer them a plot in the Evil Forest, believing that the missionaries will not accept it. To the elders’ amazement, the missionaries rejoice in the offer. But the elders are certain that the forest’s sinister spirits and forces will kill the missionaries within days. To their surprise, however, nothing happens, and the church soon wins its first three converts. The villagers point out that sometimes their ancestral spirits will allow an offending man a grace period of twenty-eight days before they punish his sins, but they are completely astounded when nothing happens after twenty-eight days. The church thus wins more converts, including a pregnant woman, Nneka. Her four previous pregnancies produced twins, and her husband and his family are not sorry to see her go. One of Okonkwo’s cousins notices Nwoye among the Christians and informs Okonkwo. When Nwoye returns, Okonkwo chokes him by the neck, demanding to know where he has been. Uchendu orders him to let go of the boy. Nwoye leaves his father’s compound and travels to a school in Umuofia to learn reading and writing. Okonkwo wonders how he could ever have fathered such an effeminate, weak son.

Mbanta Clan

Thoughts or Predictions

Analysis

Comparison

Compare

Okonkwo was wrong to do what he did to Nwoye (Choking him almost to death). Nwoye did the right thing by leaving and going to become a Christian, because he followed what he felt. (Thoughts)

Nwoye will leave with Mr.Kiaga, to become a Chritstian and convert the people of the the other clans to become Christians. Okonkwo will go find Nwoye then try to fight Nwoye for forgetting his family's religion. Okonkwo might have a huge problem that would convert himself to Christianity, or somone in his family or his clan might telling to change his religion to Christianity and worship the "white missionaries" God. (Prediction)

• The missionaries' actions begin to challenge the clan's beliefs—by building a church in the forest and not dying they show either that the forest isn't actually dangerous or that their own god is stronger than the forces of the forest, which is likely why the first three people converted. The music draws Nwoye to the church on Sundays, but he knows that his father, who approves of tradition and masculinity, would disapprove.
• Nwoye seems to be attracted to the Christians because they offer a less violent option (of course, as we'll see, they can be pretty violent too). Okonkwo's physically violent reaction to seeing Nwoye among the Christians is therefore exactly the wrong thing—in trying to force Nwoye to stay, he in fact pushes him away. Nwoye, like others who feel mistreated by the old traditions, naturally move toward the new option. They represent the change within the clan.
• This is the first instance we see Okonkwo employ a metaphor, since he's usually straightforward and blunt. He believes that his strength fostered feminine qualities in Nwoye. He doesn't see that this same aggression will eventually burn him out as well, since fire eventually consumes its source.

Oknokwo "The Roaring Flame" to Fire

• The "Evil Forest" was only used to bury the people of the clan who died or died from Evil Diseases.