Edexcel International GCSE English Literature Things Fall Apart Exam Questions

About Edexcel International GCSE English Literature Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart is a Modern Prose text in Paper 1, Section C of the Edexcel International GCSE in English Literature. Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel portrays Igbo life in the village of Umuofia through the rise and fall of Okonkwo, then shows the impact of British missionaries and colonial government. You answer one of two essay questions for 40 marks, assessed on AO1 and AO4. Examiners want clear evidence of context, such as Igbo customs and colonial rule, not just hints of it, and they reward answers that select moments from all three parts of the novel.

Key themes, characters and context

• Okonkwo A respected warrior and wrestler driven by fear of being like his idle father Unoka. His violence and rigid idea of manliness lead to his exile and, finally, his suicide.
• Igbo society Achebe presents a complex culture with its own laws, religion, ceremonies and justice: the egwugwu, the Oracle, kola nut hospitality, the week of peace and the importance of a person's chi.
• Ikemefuna and Nwoye Ikemefuna is given to Umuofia as compensation and lives with Okonkwo's family for three years. Okonkwo joins in killing him, which deeply damages Nwoye, who later converts to Christianity.
• Structure Part One shows Umuofia intact; Part Two covers Okonkwo's seven-year exile in his motherland Mbanta and the missionaries' arrival; Part Three shows colonial rule taking hold and Okonkwo's death.
• Colonialism and religion Mr Brown is tolerant, but Reverend Smith is aggressive. The District Commissioner's planned book, reducing Okonkwo to a paragraph, shows how Europeans misread African history.
• Context for AO4 Achebe wrote to give Africans a voice in literature, responding to European novels that portrayed Africans as primitive. The title comes from Yeats's poem 'The Second Coming'.

Common mistakes in Things Fall Apart

• Hinting at context without evidence. Name the custom or colonial change and explain its effect, which examiners say is often missing.
• Presenting Igbo culture as simply 'primitive'. Achebe shows its strengths and flaws, such as the treatment of twins and osu.
• Treating Okonkwo as a straightforward hero or villain. Show how his fear of weakness is both his drive and his tragic flaw.
• Forgetting Part Three. Questions on change, religion or colonialism need the later chapters on the church, the courts and the imprisonment of the elders.

Try three Things Fall Apart practice questions