Things Fall Apart Summary: Chapters 20 - 25

Okonkwo is just about to return to his old life. He starts planning his arrival in Umofia, although he knows he might have lost all his hopes in becoming someone important for the tribe, he returns with big enthusiasm to puta ll his efforst and move forward. Ezinma, his daughter, is now a beautiful and charming woman and Okonkwo is doing everything to rebuild this time better and bigger.

When he finally arrives to his loved town, he finds everyhthing changed. Christians are now all over Umofia, the church gets more and more followers everyday and his tribe is starting to lose all his power. Okonkwo can not believe how important the church is now and how all the members of his powerful clan have lost interest in everything that had been important for them once. White men are being able to control them and bring them to believe their ideas and form of government.

Although Okonkwo refuses to like Christians, Umofia starts to grow bringing money and economic benefits with it. Mr. Brown, a white christian, talks with Akunna, one of the leaders of the clan, about their Gods and beliefs. He explains how there is just one trae God, but the people of Umofia refuse to accept that. Mr. Brown accepts what others believe and is not in a place to fight for that.

He builds a school and a hospital in the town and convinces everyone to enter their children telling them that if they didn’t others who Could read and write might be able to control them. Mr. Brown comes to Okonkwo to tell him that Nwoye is in training to be a teacher, and after this retires due to his bad health condition.

After the reitirement of Mr. Brown, another man comes to take his place. He is a harsh and inflexible man called Mr. James. He is very strict and is not happy with how good Mr. Brown was. The ceremony to adore the egwugwu spirits is being celebrated in Umofia when Enoch, decides to unmask one of the spirits. This means that he has killed and ancestral spirit. At the next day, the tribe decides to burn Mr. James Church.

The comissioner comes to the leaders of the clan and says that they should solve and discuss what happened in the church in a friendly way. When the members of Umofia left their machetes on the floor they were captured and thrown to jail for some days. They were kept in bad conditions and were threatened to be hanged if the people from Umofia didn’t pay a fine of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries.

Once they are left out of jail, they return to the village. Ezinma and Obierika go to see Okonkwo and they notice that he has been mistreated. The members of the clan gather in a meeting at the next day, which is interrupted by five court messengers. Okonkwo gets upset and mad and kills the messenger without reason.

Okonkwo leaves the town before anyone could find him. The comissioner gets mad and threatens the whole clan to tell him where Okonkwo was. Obierika decides to take him. On the way to find him, they suddenly find Okonkwo’s body hanging from a tree. Since they can’t touch the body because he comitted suicide which is considered a great sin for the clan and now the body is evil and can only be touched by people they didn’t know, they ask some strangers from another village to help them take the body down and bury it. Obierika blames the comissioner for his best friend’s death. Maybe Okonkwo knew that his very loved clan, would never return to what they managed to be once.

Reference:

Achebe, C. (1994). Things fall apart. New York, Anchor Books.