Slippers
Genius
2 min. di lettura
Vota 5 / 5

Concetti Chiave

  • The novel, set in the 1890s Ibo society of Nigeria, follows Okonkwo, a respected village leader, and his tragic downfall.
  • Okonkwo, a successful farmer with three wives, hides his emotions, viewing them as signs of weakness.
  • After accidentally killing a clansman's son, Okonkwo is exiled to his mother's village, where he witnesses the arrival of white colonizers.
  • Christianity challenges traditional Ibo beliefs, leading to cultural conflicts and conversions, including Okonkwo's son, Nwoye.
  • Upon returning home, Okonkwo struggles with the changes and ultimately takes his own life after failing to incite rebellion.

This novel is written by one of the most famous Nigerian Novelist Chinua Achebe in 1958. It describes the story of a traditional big man and that of this downfall. The story is set in the Nigerian Ibo society of the 1890s in Umuofia, a

group of nine Ibo villages. Okonkwo , the protagonist, is a great man who, thanks to his own efforts has become one of the village's most admired inhabitants and 'lord of the clan. He is a rich farmer and has three wives. As he regards emotions as a sign of weakness, he always represses his feelings.

Indice

  1. L'esilio e il cambiamento
  2. Il ritorno e la ribellione

L'esilio e il cambiamento

At the funeral of Ezeudo, the most senior elder, Okonkwo's old gun

accidentally explodes killing Ezeudo's young son, Okonkwo is thus forced into exile in Mbanta, his mother's native land and village. While away, white men arrive and half of the people of the tribe are massacred in an act of revenge, Nwoye, Okonkwo's son, becomes a convert to the white men's religion. The power of the traditional gods is challenged by Christianity.

Il ritorno e la ribellione

After Seven years Okonkwo returns to Umuofia. Everything has changed. Some umuofians have become Christians and the servants of the colonial rulers. Okonkwo cannot accept this, he is determined to rebel in order to keep the Ibo

traditions alive. With a group of friends he burns down the mission church of the Christians and later decapitates the white messenger who came to the palace. They very moment he realizes that his friends will not fight against the white men, he decides to commit suicide and hangs himself.

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