Things Fall Apart
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- Nwoye
- Okonkwo believes is weak and lazy. He maintains, however, doubts about some of the laws and rules of his tribe and eventually converts to Christianity, an act that Okonkwo criticizes as "effeminate."
- Ikemefuna
- He develops an especially close relationship with Nwoye, Okonkwo's oldest son, who looks up to him. Okonkwo too becomes very fond of him, who calls him "father" and is a perfect clansman
- Ekwefi
- Okonkwo's second wife, once the village beauty. ran away from her first husband to live with Okonkwo. good friends with Chielo, the priestess of the goddess Agbala.
- Mr. Brown
- institutes a policy of compromise, understanding, and non-aggression between his flock and the clan. He even becomes friends with prominent clansmen and builds a school and a hospital in Umuofia. Unlike Reverend Smith, he attempts to appeal respectfully to the tribe's value system rather than harshly impose his religion on it.
- Enoch
- A fanatical convert to the Christian church in Umuofia. His disrespectful act of ripping the mask off an egwugwu during an annual ceremony to honor the earth deity leads to the climactic clash between the indigenous and colonial justice systems. While Mr. Brown, early on, keeps him in check in the interest of community harmony, Reverend Smith approves of his zealotry.
- Ezinma
- The only child of Okonkwo's second wife, Ekwefi. is treated by her mother as an equal. She is also Okonkwo's favorite child, for she understands him better than any of his other children and reminds him of Ekwefi when Ekwefi was the village beauty
- Chinua Achebe
- Author of Things Fall Apart
- Mr. Kiaga
- The native-turned-Christian missionary who arrives in Mbanta and converts Nwoye and many others.
- Mr. (Reverend James) Smith
- is uncompromising and strict. He demands that his converts reject all of their indigenous beliefs, and he shows no respect for indigenous customs or culture. He is the stereotypical white colonialist, and his behavior epitomizes the problems of colonialism. He intentionally provokes his congregation, inciting it to anger and even indirectly, through Enoch, encouraging some fairly serious transgressions.
- Unoka
- Okonkwo's father. of whom Okonkwo has been ashamed since childhood. By the standards of the clan, he was a coward and a spendthrift. He never took a title in his life, he borrowed money from his clansmen, and he rarely repaid his debts. He never became a warrior because he feared the sight of blood. Moreover, he died of an abominable illness. On the positive side, he appears to have been a talented musician and gentle, if idle. He may well have been a dreamer, ill suited to the chauvinistic culture into which he was born
- Ogbuefi (Ezeudu)
- The oldest man in the village and one of the most important clan elders and leaders. was a great warrior in his youth and now delivers messages from the Oracle.
- District Commissioner
- thinks that he understands everything about native African customs and cultures and he has no respect for them. He plans to work his experiences into an ethnographic study on local African tribes, the idea of which embodies his dehumanizing and reductive attitude toward race relations
- Mbanta
- The village of Okonkwo's mother
- Nwakibie
- A wealthy clansmen who takes a chance on Okonkwo by lending him 800 seed yams—twice the number for which Okonkwo asks
- Okonkwo
- influential clan leader in Umuofia. embarrassment about his lazy, squandering, and effeminate father, Unoka, has driven him to succeed
- Uchendu
- The younger brother of Okonkwo's mother. He receives Okonkwo and his family warmly when they travel to Mbanta and he advises Okonkwo to be grateful for the comfort that his motherland offers him lest he anger the dead—especially his mother, who is buried there. all but one of his six wives are dead and he has buried twenty-two children. He is a peaceful, compromising man and functions as a foil (a character whose emotions or actions highlight, by means of contrast, the emotions or actions of another character) to Okonkwo, who acts impetuously and without thinking
- Umuofia
- The village in which Okonkwo lives
- Chielo
- A priestess in Umuofia who is dedicated to the Oracle of the goddess Agbala.
- Okagbue (Uyanwa)
- A famous medicine man whom Okonkwo summons for help in dealing with Ezinma's health problems
- Obierika
- Okonkwo's close friend. He looks out for his friend, selling Okonkwo's yams to ensure that Okonkwo won't suffer financial ruin while in exile. He questions some of the tribe's traditional strictures
- Maduka
- Obierka's son. Hewins a wrestling contest in his mid-teens. Okonkwo wishes he had promising, manly sons like him
- Akunna
- A clan leader of Umuofia. He and Mr. Brown discuss their religious beliefs peacefully, and his influence on the missionary advances Mr. Brown's strategy for converting the largest number of clansmen by working with, rather than against, their belief system
- Ojiugo
- Okonkwo's third and youngest wife, and the mother of Nkechi. Okonkwo beats her during the Week of Peace.
- Obiageli
- The daughter of Okonkwo's first wife. Although she is close to Ezinma in age, Ezinma has a great deal of influence over her.