Things Fall Apart, Chapter 24 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How do the six leaders respond while the District Commissioner lectures them before their release?

   • They thank him and promise to keep the peace in Umuofia
   • They argue that the fine was far higher than was fair
   • Correct answer: They sit and look at him without listening to his words
   • They ask him to punish the messengers who mistreated them

   The narrator says the men did not listen; they just sat and looked at him and at his interpreter.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Okonkwo eat the food Ezinma brings him?

   • He has gone without food for days and is very hungry
   • Correct answer: He only eats to please her, since he has no appetite
   • Obierika insists that a warrior must eat before a war
   • Custom requires a freed man to eat in front of his kin

   Okonkwo eats absent-mindedly; he has no appetite and eats only to please his daughter.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Okonkwo plan to do if the clan decides against war?

   • Leave Umuofia and return to his mother's village
   • Accept the decision as the will of the whole clan
   • Ask the Oracle whether he should fight by himself
   • Correct answer: Go out alone and take his own revenge on the white man

   Lying awake, he swears that if they chose to be cowards he would go out and avenge himself.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why is Onyeka asked to salute Umuofia before Okika speaks?

   • Correct answer: Onyeka has the booming voice needed to silence the crowd
   • Onyeka is the oldest and most respected man at the great meeting
   • Okika is still too weak from his time in the guardroom
   • Custom forbids a former prisoner from opening a meeting

   Okika is a great orator but lacks the booming voice a first speaker needs to establish silence, so Onyeka gives the salute.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Okika, why must this war be unlike any their fathers fought?

   • The white man has guns, while the men of the clan have only machetes
   • Correct answer: Fighting the stranger will mean shedding a brother's blood
   • The gods have refused to support the clan in battle
   • The clan has never before fought on its own land

   Okika says the converts have joined a stranger, so fighting him means hitting brothers, something the fathers never did.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does no one see the court messengers until they are close to the crowd?

   • They arrive at dawn before the meeting has properly begun
   • Correct answer: They come round a sharp bend in the road from the court
   • They hide in the bush that grows thick beside the path
   • They mingle with the latecomers from the nine villages

   A sharp bend in the road from the marketplace to the court hides the five messengers until they are a few paces away.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Okonkwo know, right after the killing, that Umuofia will not go to war?

   • The elders openly condemn him in front of the whole crowd
   • Okika calls on the clan to hand Okonkwo over to the court
   • Correct answer: The crowd breaks into tumult and lets the other messengers escape
   • Egonwanne rises and persuades everyone to return home in peace

   He knows because they let the other messengers escape; they broke into tumult instead of action, and he senses fright in it.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events happen in Chapter 24?

   • Okonkwo brings down his war dress, which he has not touched since his exile.

     Happened

   • Egonwanne makes a long speech urging the clan not to fight.

     Didn't happen

   • The crowd answers Onyeka's salute with a roar of "Yaa!"

     Happened

   • Okonkwo greets each of his friends warmly at the marketplace.

     Didn't happen

   • The head messenger stands his ground when Okonkwo confronts him.

     Happened

   • The men of Umuofia seize the other four messengers.

     Didn't happen

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'orator' mean as used in: 'Okika was a great man and an orator'?

   • A priest who speaks for one of the gods
   • Correct answer: A skilled and powerful public speaker
   • An elder who judges disputes in the clan
   • A singer who leads the men in war songs

   An orator is a gifted public speaker, which is why Okika gives the main speech even though he lacks a booming voice.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'impotence' mean as used in: 'he moves our men to impotence'?

    • Correct answer: A loss of the power or will to act
    • A sudden burst of anger and violence
    • A deep respect for the clan's elders
    • A feeling of shame about past defeats

    Okonkwo complains that Egonwanne's words leave the men powerless to act.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'discerned' mean as used in: 'He discerned fright in that tumult'?

    • Caused or stirred up deliberately
    • Ignored as if it were not there
    • Shared with the rest of the crowd
    • Correct answer: Noticed or perceived it

    Okonkwo perceives the fear hidden in the crowd's uproar and understands that the clan will not fight.

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