Imagery/ Plot Description

All throughout the book yams and fire are seen. While these seem like everyday object, Achebe has written them in a way that is crucially important to the plot of the story and creates a special type of imagery. Yams are present in all the chapters at least one time. While yams are a food source there is also much more meaning to it than just a sweet meal. For one, they are easy to grow and they can fill and support ones diet well, they also symbolize if you are "wealthy" or not. Sure yams are cheap, but they can actually be costly if one does not manage them properly and they could be out of a food source for a season if not farmed properly. We also see hints of fire throughout the book. Achebe describes Okonkwo as "[...] the roaring flame [...]" (153). Fire is a powerful heat source and provides many useful qualities, just like Okonkwo to his tribe.


https://www.pinterest.com/tfa2014ama/things-fall-apart-okonkwo/
"He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days [...]" (153).