Things Fall Apart Why does Things Fall Apart end with the District Commissioner musing about the book that he is writing on Africa? The novel’s ending is Achebe’s most potent satirical stab at the tradition of Western ethnography.
Full Answer
What is the district commissioner's report in Things Fall Apart?
The title of the District Commissioner's work alludes to Kurtz's report for The International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs in Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart in response to Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, which portrayed Africans as uncivilized savages.
What happens at the end of Things Fall Apart?
Things Fall Apart ends with two related tragedies. The first tragedy is Okonkwo’s death. Following an outburst of unsanctioned violence in which he kills a European messenger who tries to stop a meeting among clan elders, Okonkwo realizes that he is no longer in sync with his society.
What does the district commissioner think about as the novel ends?
Note what the District Commissioner thinks about as the novel ends: The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him.
Why does the District Commissioner go to Okonkwo's compound?
Following the killing of the messenger, the District Commissioner goes to Okonkwo's compound and, finding a small crowd, demands to see Okonkwo. Obierika repeatedly says that he is not home.
What does the district commissioner do in Things Fall Apart?
The District Commissioner in Things Fall Apart is a high-ranking British official who has been placed in charge of upholding the government, religion, and new laws that the colonists have set up in Umuofia.
How does the district commissioner respond to what happened to Okonkwo?
The End of Umuofia The Englishmen do not care. The Commissioner simply tells his men to take Okonkwo's body down from the tree and bring everyone present to court to deal with the aftermath of Okonkwo's death. The Commissioner leaves some of his men to retrieve Okonkwo's body, and he thinks about the villagers.
What are Obierika's comments to the Commissioner at the end of the novel?
Obierika asks the Commissioner if his men will cut Okonkwo down from the tree and bury him. According to tradition, the people of the clan cannot touch the body of a man who killed himself — a sin against the earth. Obierika angrily accuses the Commissioner causing the death of his good friend.
How does the district commissioner Think of the people of Umuofia?
He believes the Umuofians are inferior and that he is doing them a favor by bringing civilization to them, and to all of Nigeria, when, really, he is doing quite the opposite, and the villagers dislike him for it.
How does the district commissioner trick Okonkwo?
At the meeting, the District Commissioner tricks them, handcuffing the men while Ekwueme is telling the story of Enoch's crime. The District Commissioner tells them that they cannot burn people's houses and places of worship, and that they will be released after the village pays a fine of two hundred bags of cowries.
What punishment did the district commissioner hand down?
What punishment does the District Commissioner hand down? He commands the men imprisoned until the village of Umuofia payed 200 cowries for their release.
What does Obierika yell to the district commissioner after Okonkwo's body is taken down?
Obierika yells to the District Commissioner "That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog."
How does the district commissioner trick the leaders of Umuofia?
How does District Commissioner trick the six leaders of Umuofia into jail? How does Okonkwo feel and why does he kill the messenger? why does he commit suicide? The District Commissioner calls in guards under the guise of translators to incapacitate the six leaders.
What does the ending of Things Fall Apart mean?
As the narrator explains, the Igbo consider suicide a “feminine” rather than a “masculine” crime. Okonkwo's suicide is an unspeakable act that strips him of all honor and denies him the right to an honorable burial. Okonkwo dies an outcast, banished from the very society he fought to protect.
Why does the district commissioner become so angry at Obierika and the others?
Why is Obierika so angry at the District Commissioner? The District Commissioner does not understand Igbo life or customs. By imposing the British worldview, he feels he is helping the people.
What does the district commissioner Do three days after the destruction of the church?
What does District Commissioner do three days after the destruction of the church? he sent a messenger to leaders of Umuofia to meet him at his headquarters.
What does the district commissioner do to the village leaders including Okonkwo?
He flogs the village leaders when they are imprisoned.
What does the district commissioner do to the village leaders including Okonkwo?
He flogs the village leaders when they are imprisoned.
What does Obierika yell to the district commissioner after Okonkwo's body is taken down?
Obierika yells to the District Commissioner "That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog."
When the district commissioner arrives at Okonkwo's compound looking for him Obierika takes the district commissioner where?
Summary: Chapter 25 When the District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo's compound, he finds a small group of men sitting outside. He asks for Okonkwo, and the men tell him that Okonkwo is not at home. The commissioner asks a second time, and Obierika repeats his initial answer.
What does the district commissioner Do three days after the destruction of the church?
What does District Commissioner do three days after the destruction of the church? he sent a messenger to leaders of Umuofia to meet him at his headquarters.
Who Is the District Commissioner?
The District Commissioner is a high ranking government official in Chinua Achebe's famous postcolonial novel Things Fall Apart . This novel is studied as the foremost example of Nigerian postcolonialism because it illustrates many of the issues faced by Nigerians during the period of English colonization. As a fair warning, it should be noted that this book is very depressing, and the District Commissioner is the man largely responsible for much of that depressing stuff.
What is the theme of Chinua Achebe's book Things Fall Apart?
Chinua Achebe's postcolonial Nigerian novel Things Fall Apart introduces the reader to the problems of the native Igbo people of Nigeria under the period of British colonization.
Why doesn't the D.C. make friends with the men of Umuofia?
For this, the villagers constantly deride him behind his back. They laugh at his foolishness. The D.C. also doesn't make many friends among the men of Umuofia because he manipulates and tricks them into paying a huge fine to keep Okonkwo and his friends from being hanged for trying to incite a rebellion. The D.C. is, if nothing else, loyal to the Queen and the British Empire.
Is the District Commissioner a nice guy?
The District Commissioner (for short, he'll be referred to as the D.C. from now on) is, in short, not a nice man. He's a calculating, cold official in the British colonial government, and he's also a racist to boot. Again, not a nice guy.
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What is the second tragedy in Okonkwo?
The novel’s second tragedy occurs on the broader level of history. Achebe signals this second tragedy by ending the novel with a shift from an African to a European perspective. In the novel’s final two pages, the District Commissioner reflects on how he will depict the events surrounding Okonkwo’s death in the book he’s working on, titled The Pacification of the Tribes of the Lower Niger. The District Commissioner threatens to erase the specificity of Okonkwo’s tragedy by removing the events from their context and simplifying them into a tale meant to entertain his readers: “The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading.” Even more troubling, the District Commissioner threatens to reduce Okonkwo’s story to a fleeting anecdote in the European history of conquest: “One could almost write a whole chapter on [this man]. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate.” Decontextualized and stripped of all complexity and nuance, Okonkwo’s story will be tragically lost to history.
What happened to Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart?
Things Fall Apart ends with two related tragedies. The first tragedy is Okonkwo’s death. Following an outburst of unsanctioned violence in which he kills a European messenger who tries to stop a meeting among clan elders, Okonkwo realizes that he is no longer in sync with his society. No one applauds his action, and Okonkwo sees that he alone wishes to go to war with the Europeans. Caught between his rage that the nine villages would succumb to European rule and the futility of fighting the Europeans alone, Okonkwo retreats to his compound and hangs himself. With this act, Okonkwo lives up to his role as a tragic hero whose struggles with society ultimately lead to death. Okonkwo’s death also has another, culturally specific implication. As the narrator explains, the Igbo consider suicide a “feminine” rather than a “masculine” crime. Okonkwo’s suicide is an unspeakable act that strips him of all honor and denies him the right to an honorable burial. Okonkwo dies an outcast, banished from the very society he fought to protect.
What does Okonkwo see in his actions?
No one applauds his action, and Okonkwo sees that he alone wishes to go to war with the Europeans. Caught between his rage that the nine villages would succumb to European rule and the futility of fighting the Europeans alone, Okonkwo retreats to his compound and hangs himself.
What is Okonkwo's role in the story?
With this act, Okonkwo lives up to his role as a tragic hero whose struggles with society ultimately lead to death. Okonkwo’s death also has another, culturally specific implication. As the narrator explains, the Igbo consider suicide a “feminine” rather than a “masculine” crime.
What happens after the killing of the messenger?
Summary. Following the killing of the messenger, the District Commissioner goes to Okonkwo's compound and, finding a small crowd, demands to see Okonkwo. Obierika repeatedly says that he is not home. When the Commissioner threatens the men, Obierika agrees to show him where Okonkwo is, expressing the hope that the Commissioner's men will help them.
Where does Obierika find Okonkwo's body?
Obierika leads the Commissioner and his men to an area behind the compound, where Okonkwo's body hangs lifeless from a tree — a victim of suicide. Obierika asks the Commissioner if his men will cut Okonkwo down from the tree and bury him. According to tradition, the people of the clan cannot touch the body of a man who killed himself — ...
What is monkey tricks?
monkey tricks possibly a racial slur directed at the natives.
Can the people of the clan touch the body of a man who killed himself?
According to tradition, the people of the clan cannot touch the body of a man who killed himself — a sin against the earth. Obierika angrily accuses the Commissioner causing the death of his good friend. The Commissioner orders his men to take down the body and bring it and the crowd to the court.