Things Fall Apart

1. improvident (adjective):

lacking foresight; wasteful

“In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.” (Chapter 1, Page 5)

2. proverbs (plural noun):

simple, traditional sayings that convey a general truth

“Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are a palm-oil with which words are eaten.” (Chapter 1, Page 7)

3. perpetual (adjective):

unending or unchanging

“His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.” (Chapter 2, Page 13)

4. capricious (adjective):

expressing unpredictable and sudden changes in behavior or mood

“It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.” (Chapter 2, Page 13)

5. benevolent (adjective):

kind; well-meaning

“The oldest man present said that those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” (Chapter 4, Page 26)

6. communal (adjective):

available for all members of a group to share

“Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him, like a son, carrying his stool and his goatskin bag.” (Chapter 4, Page 28)

7. persistent (adjective):

continuing or enduring, often despite opposition

“The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging.” (Chapter 5, Page 44)

8. disembodied (adjective):

separate or existing independently from a body

“The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.” (Chapter 6, Page 50)

9. harmattan (noun):

a dry, dusty wind that blows from the Sahara Desert and passes over West Africa

“They came in the cold harmattan season after the harvests had been gathered, and ate up all the wild grass in the field.” (Chapter 7, Page 54)

10. harbingers (plural noun):

people or things that signal future events

“At first, a fairly small swarm came. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land.” (Chapter 7, Page 56)

11. cowries (plural noun):

sea snails whose shells are sometimes used as money

“In Umunso they do not bargain at all, not even with broomsticks. The suitor just goes on bringing bags of cowries until his in-laws tell him to stop.” (Chapter 8, Page 74)

12. chi (noun):

a universal life force central to many religions and belief systems

“How could she know that Ekwefi’s bitterness did not flow outwards to others but inwards into her own soul; that she did not blame others for their good fortune but her own evil chi who denied her any?” (Chapter 9, Page 79)

13. pandemonium (noun):

a situation marked by wild chaos, noise, and confusion

“The egwugwu house was now a pandemonium of quavering voices.” (Chapter 10, Page 88)

14. trifle (noun):

a thing or matter of little significance or value

“I don’t know why such a trifle should come before the egwugwu.” (Chapter 10, Page 94)

15. inadvertent (adjective):

accidental; done without deliberation

“The crime was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent.” (Chapter 13, Page 124)

16. diffused (past participle):

spread or dispersed over a wide area or in many directions

“A vague sense of life and green vegetation was diffused in the air.” (Chapter 14, Page 130)

17. derisive (adjective):

expressing ridicule or scorn

“When this was interpreted by the men of Mbanta they broke into derisive laughter.” (Chapter 16, Page 146)

18. callow (adjective):

inexperienced or immature

“Nwoye’s callow mind was greatly puzzled.” (Chapter 16, Page 147)

19. impotent (adjective):

powerless; lacking in strength or effectiveness

“Living fire begets cold, impotent ash.” (Chapter 17, Page 153)

20. blasphemes (present-tense verb):

speaks disrespectfully of something sacred

“When a man blasphemes, do we go and stop his mouth? No. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing.” (Chapter 18, Page 158)

21. ostracize (verb):

exclude from society or a group

“Everybody in the assembly spoke, and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians.” (Chapter 18, Page 159)

22. abominable (adjective): extremely bad, so to cause revulsion

“An abominable religion has settled among you.” (Chapter 19, Page 167)

23. resilient (adjective):

able to bounce back from hardship

“At first it appeared as if it might be too great for his spirit. But it was a resilient spirit, and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow.” (Chapter 20, Page 172)

24. expedient (adjective):

practical and convenient but possibly immoral

“Everything was possible, he told his energetic flock, but everything was not expedient.” (Chapter 21, Page 178)

25. discordant (adjective):

unharmonious or contradictory

“Discordant bells clanged, machetes clashed and the air was full of dust and weird sounds.” (Chapter 22, Page 188)

26. wan (adjective):

pale in complexion, often as a result of illness or exhaustion

“It was a wan smile, but there was deep gratitude there.” (Chapter 22, Page 189)