Reading Journal: Things Fall Apart , Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Things Fall Apart presents an omniscient narrator that start to describe the main character of the text, Okonkwo. We learn about his past, how he had beaten he who was said to be the strongest wrestler, unbeaten for seven years, Amalinze the Cat. This allows us to infer and create a vision of who the protagonist is, the power he has and his status quo.

Through the use of an inner description, we learn about Okonkwo’s character and how he reacts to people. “He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men.” (p.3) We can conclude though this quote that his close-minded and unstable nature might be a source of problems later on in the story.

There is a contrast shown between the way the protagonist leads his own life and how his own father did. It shows us a flashback, making us realize the importance of Unoka’s (Okonkow’s father) failure in building his own destiny and how that influenced Okonkwo. “He had no patience with his father.” (p.3) His father had died ten years ago and he (Okonkwo) had to build a name for himself.

At the end of the chapter is presents us what might be a future conflict, the appearance of someone called Ikemafuna, who is only mentioned, but it is said that the protagonist had to come and look after him.