things fall apart thesis//

Thesis Statement: Secondary characters or “minor” characters, as I’d like to call it, are basically characters who are a bit less important than the major character and they often contribute to the development or downfall of the main character. Unlike the major character who stays all throughout the novel, a minor character may come and go.

Secondary characters or “minor” characters, as I’d like to call it, are basically characters who are a bit less important than the major character. They often contribute to the development or downfall of the main character. Unlike the major character who stays all throughout the novel, a minor character may come and go. In the novel Things Fall Apart, I would say that there would probably be seven significant secondary characters in which Chinua Achebe decided to include in order for us to better understand the main character, Okonkwo and the whole book itself. These characters are Unoka, Nwoye, Ezinma, Ikemefuna and Obierika.

The first secondary character I’ve mentioned is Unoka, the father of the main character, Okonkwo. Those who have read the book would know that the reason behind Okonkwo’s mindset is because of his father. He basically doesn’t want to be anywhere close to being like Unoka so he tries his best to be seen as lazy and weak. Knowing this, it makes it clearer for the readers to fully understand Okonkwo’s personality and mindset. He is literally the cause of Okonkwo’s tragic flaw.

Next is Nwoye, Okonkwo’s eldest son. At the beginning of the story, he can be seen as someone who is quite feminine, unlike his dad. But there are some parts of the book, where he can be seen as someone who’s independent and rebellious. Examples of these are when he went against his father’s opinion about manliness because he preferred his mother’s stories and when he decided to convert his religion to Christianity. He for sure contributed a lot with regards to the building up of tension and conflict of the story in a way that he brought shame to Okonkwo his family when he leaves his tribe’s religion for Christianity.

Moving on to Enzima who is Okonkwo’s daughter with Ekwefi. She is considered to be Okonkwo’s favorite child as she has a lot more similarities with his father than any of the other children and because of this, she comes out as very dominant and more “manly” compared to her siblings. I think her purpose in the novel is to show how complex Okonkwo’s character is. Her character brings out the soft side of her father which contradicts his usual personality.

Then, Ikemefuna, the fifteen year old boy whom Okonkwo adopted from a neighboring village. He is known to be masculine and lively. He got along very well with Okonkwo’s family as he brought joy and happiness among them. He cared a lot about his new family and he strongly bonded with Nwoye, Okonkwo’s eldest son. He also taught Nwoye how to be more masculine and because of this, Okonkwo favoured him more. I would say that he is probably the most significant character in the novel because he brought out Okonkwo’s inner conflict or the complexity of his emotions and personality when he killed him and weeped afterwards.

And last but not the least, Obierika. I think it’s safe to say that Obierika is Okonkwo’s best friend and confidant throughout the novel. Unlike Okonkwo, he is very compassionate and reasonable. He thinks about things before he does something. He is also known to be respected in his tribe. I think his main purpose in the novel is to show that despite Okonkwo having a very unlikable personality, there was still someone who was willing to help him in his situation. He contrasted perfectly with Okonkwo and he is they suitably foil each other.