THINGS FALL APART

THINGS FALL APART

KEY LITERARY ELEMENETS

SETTING

The novel is set during the late 1800s/early 1900s in a small village called Umuofia situated in
the southeastern part of Nigeria. The time period is important, as it was a period in colonial
history when the British were expanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, and
politically. Umuofia is an Igbo village with very well defined traditions. It is a village that is
respected by those around it as being powerful and rich. Each person has a hut or obi that is
located in the center of a compound. Each of the wives has a separate obi with a shed for goats
and an attached chicken coop. The main occupation of the men is sowing and growing yams
since yams are considered the most important crop. The women grew less significant crops like
coco-yams, beans and cassava.

When Okonkwo is banished from his village, he takes his family to his mother's native village
called Mbanta, where he is given ...