Summaries and Commentaries
Part One: Chapter 1
Summary
Set around the turn of the century, the novel
focuses first on the hero of the book, Okonkwo, and on his late father, Unoka.
Okonkwo is a respected leader within the Igbo (formerly spelled Ibo) community
of Umuofia in eastern
Because of Unoka’s laziness and wastefulness,
the community had considered him a failure and laughingstock; he was a
continual source of deep shame to Okonkwo. Even though he had a family to care
for, Unoka frequently borrowed money and then squandered it on palm-wine and
merrymaking with his neighbors, thus neglecting his family who barely had
enough to eat.
The story is told about the day, years ago,
when Unoka was visited by Okoye, a successful neighbor. After the traditional
ceremonial courtesies and small talk, Okoye asked Unoka for the two hundred
cowries that Unoka had borrowed two years earlier. Okoye needed the money for
the ceremony in which he would purchase the third highest title of honor.
Unoka burst into laughter and pointed to the
wall on which he recorded his debts. He told Okoye that tradition required him
to repay his largest debts before repaying small ones like his debt to Okoye.
Okoye left without his money.
Despite his father’s shameful reputation,
Okonkwo is now highly respected in Umuofia, which honors individual achievement
rather than family heritage. Still a young man in his thirties, Okonkwo has
become a wealthy farmer of yams—a sacred crop—and supports three wives, a
significant indicator of wealth and “manliness.” Furthermore, he is known for
his incredible prowess in two intertribal wars, and he holds two honorific
titles, though his father died with none.
Because Okonkwo is honored as one of the
greatest men in his community, he will be asked to look after a young man who
will be given as a peace offering to Umuofia by the neighboring
Commentary
Although not indicated in this chapter, the
events of Things Fall Apart take place in the late 1800s and early
1900s, just before and during the early days of the British Empire’s expansion
in
* Legends
and traditions (the fight with a spirit of the wild by the founder of their
village)
* Symbols
of honor (titles)
* Indicators
of wealth (yams, cowries)
* Marriage
customs (more than one wife)
* The
reckoning of time (markets, a week of four days)
* Social
rituals (kola nuts, alligator pepper, chalk, small talk, and proverbs)
* Music,
entertainment, food, and drink
In his goal to demonstrate the complexity and
sophistication of Igbo society, Achebe gradually introduces these details when
they are relevant to the story.
Chapter 1 describes Okonkwo’s principal
accomplishments that establish his important position in Igbo society. These
details alone provide insight into Okonkwo’s character and motivation. Driving
himself toward tribal success and recognition, he is trying to bury the
unending shame that he feels regarding the faults and failures of his late
father, Unoka. Essentially, Okonkwo exhibits qualities of manhood in Igbo
society.
Familiar with Western literature and its
traditional forms, Achebe structures Things Fall Apart in the tradition
of a Greek tragedy, with the story centered around Okonkwo, the tragic hero.
Aristotle defined the tragic hero as a character who is superior and
noble, one who demonstrates great courage and perseverance but is undone
because of a tragic personal flaw in his character.
In this first chapter, Achebe sets up Okonkwo
as a man much respected for his considerable achievements and noble virtues—key
qualities of a tragic hero. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is his obsession with
manliness; his fear of looking weak like his father drives him to commit
irrational acts of violence that undermine his nobleness. In the chapters
ahead, the reader should note the qualities and actions that begin to reveal
the tragic flaw in Okonkwo’s otherwise admirable actions, words, ideas, and
relationships with others.
At the end of Chapter 1, Achebe foreshadows
the presence of Ikemefuna in Okonkwo’s household and also the teenage boy’s
ultimate fate by referring to him as a “doomed” and “ill-fated lad.”
One of the most significant social markers of
Igbo society is introduced in this chapter—its unique system of honorific
titles. Throughout the book, titles are reference points by which members of
Igbo society frequently compare themselves with one another (especially
Okonkwo). These titles are not conferred by higher authorities, but they are
acquired by the individual who can afford to pay for them. As a man accumulates
wealth, he may gain additional recognition and prestige by “taking a title.” He
may also purchase titles for male members of his family (this aspect is
revealed later). In the process of taking a title, the man pays significant
initiation fees to the men who already hold the title.
A Umuofian man can take as many as four
titles, each apparently more expensive than its predecessor. A man with
sufficient money to pay the fee begins with the first level—the most common
title—but many men cannot go beyond the first title. Each title taken may be
shown by physical signs, such as an anklet or marks on the feet or face, so
others can determine who qualifies for certain titles.
The initiation fees are so large that some
writers have referred to the system as a means for “redistributing wealth.”
Some Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest observe their own version
of redistributing wealth through a potlatch ceremony at which the
guests receive gifts from the person gaining the honor as a show of wealth for
others to exceed.
Glossary
gyre a circular or spiral
motion; a revolution. The word appears in the book’s opening quotation from a
W.B. Yeats poem, “The Second Coming.”
Okonkwo The name implies male
pride and stubbornness.
Umuofia The community name,
which means children of the forest and a land undisturbed by
European influences.
harmattan a dry, dusty wind that
blows from the Sahara in northern Africa toward the Atlantic, especially from
November to March.
Unoka Okonkwo’s father’s
name; its translation, home is supreme, implies a tendency to stay home
and loaf instead of achieve fame and heroism.
cowries shells of the cowrie,
a kind of mollusk related to snails and found in warm seas; especially the
shells of the money cowrie, formerly used as currency in parts of Africa and
southern Asia.
egwugwu leaders of the clan
who wear masks during certain rituals and speak on behalf of the spirits; the
term can be either singular or plural.
markets Igbo weeks are four
days long, and the market day is on the first of day each week; therefore,
three or four markets is a period of twelve to sixteen days.
kites birds of prey with
long, pointed wings and, usually, a forked tail; they prey especially on
insects, reptiles, and small mammals.
Okoye an everyman name
comparable to John Doe in English. Okoye represents all the people to whom
Unoka owes money.
kola nut the seed of the cola,
an African tree. The seed contains caffeine and yields an extract; it
represents vitality and is used as a courteous, welcoming snack, often with
alligator pepper.
alligator pepper a small brown fruit of
an African shrub, whose hot seeds are like black pepper; also called offe.
The seeds may be ground and blended with kola nut in the ritual welcome of
visitors.
chalk a material that
represents peace. The Umuofians use chalk to signify personal honors and status
by marking the floor and the toe or face, according to the level of honorific
title they have taken. For example, Okoye marks his toe to indicate his first
title.
Mbaino This community name
means four settlements.
ekwe a drum.
udu a clay pot.
ogene a gong.
Ibo a member of a people
of southeastern Nigeria; known for their art and their skills as traders.
Today, the word is spelled Igbo (the g is not pronounced).
Idemili title This title, named
after the river god Idemili, is the third-level title of honor in Umuofia.
Part One: Chapter 2
Summary
One night, as Okonkwo is settling on his bed,
he hears the beat of a drum and the voice of the town crier. The messenger
summons every man in Umuofia to gather at the marketplace the next morning.
Okonkwo wonders whether the emergency concerns war with a neighboring clan. War
does not frighten Okonkwo, because he knows that it frightened his cowardly
father. In Umuofia’s most recent war, for example, Okonkwo brought home his
fifth human head.
The next morning, Okonkwo joins the men in the
marketplace to hear the important message. A powerful orator shouts a welcome
to them by greeting them in all four directions while punching his clenched
fist into the air; the assembled men shout in response. After silence returns,
he angrily tells the crowd that a Umuofian woman has been killed in Mbaino
while she was attending the market. The outraged crowd finally agrees that
Umuofia should follow its usual course of action: Give Mbaino a choice of
either going to war with Umuofia or offering Umuofia a young man and a young
virgin as compensation for the death of the Umuofian woman.
Umuofian’s power in war and magic is feared by
its neighbors, who know that Umuofia will not go to war without first trying to
negotiate a peaceful settlement and seeking the acceptance of war by its
Oracle. Everyone knows that a war with Mbaino would be a just war, so the clan
sends Okonkwo as their emissary to negotiate with Mbaino; he returns two days
later with a young man and a virgin offered by Mbaino.
The elders of Umuofia decide that the girl
should live with the man whose wife was killed and that the young man, named
Ikemefuna, belongs to the clan as a whole. They ask Okonkwo to take fourteen-year-old
Ikemefuna into his home while the clan decides what to do with him. Okonkwo
then gives the care of Ikemefuna to his senior wife, the mother of Nwoye, his
oldest son, who is twelve. Ikemefuna is quite frightened, especially because he
does not understand what has happened or why he is in Umuofia, separated from
his family. The elders decide that the teenage boy will live in Okonkwo’s
household for three years.
Because Okonkwo is continually afraid that
someone may consider him weak, he rules his household with a stern hand and a
fierce voice, causing everyone to fear his explosive temper. When he was a
child, a playmate called his father agbala, which means woman and also a
man who has taken no title. Okonkwo learned to hate everything his father
loved, including gentleness as well as idleness. He also sees signs of laziness
in his son Nwoye. To purge himself of the reminder of his father, Okonkwo nags
and beats Nwoye daily.
In his family compound, Okonkwo lives in a hut
of his own, and each of his three wives lives in a hut of her own with her
children. The prosperous compound also includes an enclosure with stacks of
yams, sheds for goats and hens, and a medicine house, where Okonkwo keeps the
symbols of his personal god and ancestral spirits and where he offers prayers
for himself and his family. He works long hours on his farms and expects others
to do the same. Although the members of his family do not possess his strength,
they work without complaint.
Commentary
In Chapter 2, the reader begins to see beliefs
and practices of the Igbo tradition that are particularly significant in the
story—for example, the wide division between masculine and feminine actions and
responsibilities. Respect and success are based on only manly activities and
accomplishments; taking care of children and hens, on the other hand, are
womanly activities.
In Okonkwo’s determination to be a perfect
example of manhood, he begins to reveal the consequences of his fear of
weakness—his tragic flaw. Okonkwo hates not only idleness but also gentleness;
he demands that his family works as long as he does (without regarding their
lesser physical stamina), and he nags and beats his oldest son, Nwoye.
Achebe continues weaving traditional elements
of Igbo society into Chapter 2. The marketplace gathering illustrates the Igbo
society’s reverence for what is “manly”—for example, the male villagers’
loyalty to each other when they refer to the woman murdered by another village
as “a daughter of Umuofia.” This scene also illustrates the ceremonial nature
of town meetings, as the speaker shouts the customary greeting to the crowd
while turning in four different directions. In addition, the reader learns that
Umuofian religious traditions include the worship of wooden objects
representing not only one’s personal god but also the ancestral spirits to whom
one prays and makes sacrifices.
Achebe continues to use the art of traditional
storytelling and references to legends and sayings of the time to illustrate
what people believe and respect. For example:
* Okonkwo remembers
from childhood when his father was called a woman.
* The proverb, “When
the moon is shining, the cripple becomes hungry for a walk,” represents a
belief in the protective quality of moonlight in contrast with the fear of the
darkness.
* The legend of the old
woman with one leg explains, in part, why the other clans fear Umuofia.
Glossary
Ogbuefi a person with a high
title, as in Ogbuefi Ezeugo (the orator) and Ogbuefi Udo (the man whose wife
was killed in Mbaino).
Ezeugo the name for a person
of high religious significance, such as an Igbo priest.
Udo peace.
about ten thousand men The nine villages of
Umuofia unlikely have as many as ten thousand men. This saying probably means
every man of the community—an example of hyperbole, an exaggeration not
intended to be taken literally.
Umuofia kwenu a shout of approval
and greeting that means United Umuofia!
agadi-nwayi an old woman.
Oracle the place where, or
medium by which, the deities are consulted; here, the Oracle of the Hills and
the Caves.
a just war Societies throughout
history have rationalized certain wars as justified for religious or cultural
reasons. For example, in the fifth century, St. Augustine of the early
Christian church wrote extensively about the just war; the Crusades of the late
Middle Ages were initiated as holy wars; and today’s Muslim word jihad
means holy war.
emissary a person or
agent sent on a specific mission.
ndichie elders.
obi a hut within a
compound.
compound an enclosed
space with a building or group of buildings within it.
Part One: Chapter 3
Summary
Chapter 3 describes incidents from Okonkwo’s
childhood and young adulthood—incidents that have contributed to Okonkwo’s
flawed character.
According to the first story from Okonkwo’s
past, his father, Unoka, consulted the Oracle of the Hills and Caves, asking
why he had produced bad harvests each year in spite of his sacrifices and
planting procedures. During his story, Chika (the priestess of the Oracle)
interrupted him angrily and told him that he hadn’t offended the gods, but in
his laziness, he took the easy way out by planting on exhausted land. She told
him to go home and “work like a man.”
Bad fortune followed Unoka, even to his death.
He died of swelling in his stomach and limbs—an affliction not acceptable to
Ani, the earth goddess. He therefore could not be buried properly, so he was
taken to the Evil Forest to rot, making Okonkwo even more ashamed of his father.
In the second story from Okonkwo’s past, the
young Okonkwo was preparing to plant his first farm in yams—a man’s crop—while
his mother and sisters grew women’s crops—such things as coco-yams and cassava.
Because Okonkwo had received nothing from his father, he began his farming
through share-cropping. To get help for his planting, he visited Nwakibie, a
great man of the village, symbolized by his three barns, nine wives, and thirty
children. After the proper greetings and rituals, Okonkwo asked Nwakibie for
seed-yams and pledges his hard work in growing and harvesting them. According
to the share-cropping contract, Okonkwo would return two-thirds of what he grew
to Nwakibie and receive only a third of the total crop for himself, his
parents, and his sisters. Nwakibie had already turned down similar requests
from other young men. But he acknowledged Okonkwo’s earnestness and ambition
and gave Okonkwo twice the number of seed-yams he’d hoped for.
The growing season that followed was
disastrous for Okonkwo as well as for most other farmers of the village. The
land suffered first a great drought and then unending rain and floods—a
combination ruinous to the season’s harvest. Okonkwo was deeply discouraged,
but he knew that he would survive because of his determination to succeed.
Commentary
Achebe’s use of storytelling further
illustrates how Okonkwo’s resentment of his father grew, as well as how his own
determination to succeed was tested—the two sides of his characterization as
tragic hero.
The separation between the man’s world and the
woman’s world in Umuofian culture is again emphasized in this chapter—first, in
the roles of the women in the ritual wine-drinking and, later, in the
classification of crops. Coco-yams, beans, and cassava are considered women’s
crops; in contrast, the yam is identified as the “king of crops”—a man’s crop.
Chapter 3 also illustrates several traditional
ideas and truths that shape day-to-day Igbo life. These principles are often
expressed through indirect language and symbols in the following proverbs:
* “A toad does not run
in the daytime for nothing.”
* “The lizard that
jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said that he would praise himself
if no one else did.”
* “[Because] men have
learned to shoot without missing, [Eneke the bird] has learned to fly without
perching.”
* “You can tell a ripe
corn by its look.”
These traditional expressions demonstrate the
great respect and courtesy that the Igbo people show to one another because the
speaker uses veiled language when making comments about himself (Okonkwo in the
lizard example, and Nwakibie in the Eneke example); about others (Ogbuefi Idigo
talking about Obiako in the toad example); about the person he is addressing
(Nwakibie speaking to Okonkwo in the corn example); and about life in general
even to oneself (Okonkwo in the old woman example). This symbolic language
represents a high level of cultural sensitivity and sophistication.
An especially significant concept introduced
in this chapter is the belief in personal chi. At its simplest level,
chi parallels the Western concept of soul, although chi is a more complex idea.
The Igbo believe that an individual’s fate and abilities for the coming life
are assigned to the chi, and each individual is given a chi by the Creator
(Chukwu) at the moment of conception. Before each reincarnation, the individual
bargains for improved circumstances in the next life. The chi thus becomes
one’s personal god that guides one to fulfill the expected destiny. On the one
hand, the individual is ruled by his chi, but on the other hand, only the
individual can make the most of the fate planned through the chi.
Notice that Achebe’s first name, Chinua,
begins with chi. Achebe explained the usage of chi in the following excerpt:
When we talk about chi, we’re talking about
the individual spirit, and so you find the word in all kinds of combinations.
Chinwe, which is my wife’s name, means chi owns me; mine is Chinua,
which is a shortened form of an expression that means may a chi fight for me.
My son is named Chidi, which means chi is there. So it’s [in] almost
[all my family members’ names] in one form or the other. Our youngest girl
asked me why she didn’t have chi in her name. She thought it was some kind of
discrimination, so she took the name Chioma, which means good chi.
Glossary
Agbala, the Oracle the prophet of the
Igbo. Achebe bases the Agbala Oracle (the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves) on
the Awka Oracle that was destroyed by the British. Chielo was the priestess who
spoke to Unoka on behalf of the god Agbala.
Ani the earth goddess who
owns all land.
chi a significant cultural
concept and belief meaning one’s personal deity; also one’s destiny or fate.
Nna-ayi translated as our
father; a greeting of respect.
sharecropping working land for a
share of the crop, especially as a tenant farmer. Here, Okonkwo works as a
sharecropper to obtain seed-yams.
coco-yam the edible,
spherical-shaped tuber of the taro plant grown in the tropics and eaten like
potatoes or ground into flour, cooked to a paste, or fermented for beer. Here,
the round coco-yam (a woman’s crop) is a different tuber than the
elongated-shaped yam (a man’s crop).
cassava any of several plants
(genus Manihot and especially M. esculenta) of the spurge family
grown in the tropics for their fleshy, edible rootsticks that produce a
nutritious starch. Here, the plant also provides valuable leaves for livestock
feed as well as tubers, which are prepared like coco-yams.
Part One: Chapter 4
Summary
In spite of Okonkwo’s
beginnings in poverty and misfortune, he has risen as one of the most respected
elders of the clan. Yet others remark on how harshly he deals with men less
successful than himself. For example, at a meeting to discuss the next
ancestral feast, Osugo—a man without titles—contradicts Okonkwo, who in turn
insults Osugo by declaring the meeting is “for men.” When others at the meeting
side with Osugo, Okonkwo apologizes.
Okonkwo’s hard-earned
success is evident because the clan chooses Okonkwo to carry the war ultimatum
to their enemy, the enemy treats him with great respect in the negotiations,
and the elders select Okonkwo to care for Ikemefuna until they decide what to
do with him. Once the young man is entrusted to Okonkwo’s care, the rest of the
clan forgets him for three years.
At first, Ikemefuna is very
unhappy—he misses his mother and sister, he tries to run away, and he won’t
eat. After Okonkwo threatens to beat him, Ikemefuna finally eats, but then vomits
and becomes ill for twelve days. As he recovers, he seems to lose his fear and
sadness.
Ikemefuna has become very
popular in Okonkwo’s house, especially with Nwoye and the other children. To
them, he seems to know everything and can make useful things like flutes,
rodent traps, and bows. Even Okonkwo has inwardly become fond of Ikemefuna, but
he does not show affection—a womanly sign of weakness. He treats Ikemefuna with
a heavy hand, as he does other members of his family, although he allows
Ikemefuna to accompany him like a son to meetings and feasts, carrying his
stool and his bag. Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo “father.”
During the annual Week of
Peace just before planting time, tradition permits no one in the village to
speak a harsh word to another person. One day during this week, Okonkwo’s
youngest wife, Ojiugo, goes to a friend’s house to braid her hair, and she
forgets to prepare Okonkwo’s afternoon meal and feed her children. When Ojiugo
returns, Okonkwo beats her severely. Even when he is reminded of the ban on
violence, he doesn’t stop the beating. Because Okonkwo’s violation of peace can
jeopardize the whole village’s crops, the priest of the earth goddess orders
Okonkwo to make offerings at his shrine. Although Okonkwo inwardly regrets his
“great evil,” he never admits to an error. His offensive breaking of the peace
and the priest’s mild punishment are talked about in the village.
After the sacred week, the
farmers of the village begin to plant their harvest. Okonkwo allows Ikemefuna
and Nwoye to help him collect, count, and prepare the seed-yams for planting,
though he continually finds fault with their efforts. He believes that he is
simply helping them learn the difficult and manly art of seed-yam preparation.
Soon, the rainy season
begins and the planting takes place, followed by the intense period of care for
the young plants. During the resting time between planting and harvest, the
friendship between Ikemefuna and Nwoye grows even stronger.
Commentary
To secure his manliness, Okonkwo believes that
he should beat members of his family (Nwoye, Ikemefuna, Ojiugo, and his wives)
and that he should ridicule men who remind him of his father— even for slight
annoyances. Although he may inwardly experience emotions of affection and
regret, he cannot show these emotions to others, so he isolates himself through
extreme actions.
Two more examples of traditional wisdom are
used when talking about Okonkwo:
“Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for
them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble.” This proverb means
that a man whose success is a result of luck must not forget that he has
faults. Okonkwo, however, had “cracked them himself,” because he overcame
poverty not through luck, but through hard work and determination.
“When a man says yes, his chi says yes also.” This Igbo proberb
implies that a man’s actions affect his destiny as determined by his chi.
Okonkwo’s chi is considered “good,” but he “[says] yes very strongly, so his
chi [agrees].” In other words, Okonkwo’s actions to overcome adversity seem
justified, but because he is guided by his chi, his denial of kindness,
gentleness, and affection for less successful men will prove self-destructive.
(The chi itself is somewhat ambiguous. Review the discussion of chi in the
Commentary for Chapter 3.)
The end of the chapter refers to Ikemefuna’s
favorite story about “the ant [who] holds his court in splendor and the sands
dance forever.” Watch for this story to reappear under tragic circumstances.
Osugo The name means a
low-ranked person.
Week of Peace In Umofia, a sacred
week in which violence is prohibited.
nza a small but aggressive
bird.
nso-ani a sin against the
earth goddess, Ani.
Amadiora the god of thunder and
lightning.
Part One: Chapter 5
Summary
The village of Umuofia prepares for the Feast
of the New Yam, which takes place just before the harvest. All yams left over
from the old year must be thrown away, and everything used in preparing,
cooking, and serving yams must be thoroughly washed before being used for the
new crop. Relatives and other guests are invited from afar for the feast;
Okonkwo invites his wives’ relatives. While everyone else seems enthusiastic
about the coming festival, Okonkwo knows that he will grow tired of celebrating
the festival for days; he would rather tend to his farm.
Near the end of the preparations, Okonkwo’s
suppressed anger and resentment about the feast explodes when he thinks someone
has killed one of his banana trees. However, leaves have merely been cut off
from the tree to wrap food. When his second wife, Ekwefi, admits to taking the
leaves, Okonkwo beats her severely to release his pent-up anger. Then he sends
for his rusty gun to go hunting—Okonkwo is not a hunter nor is he skilled with
a gun. When Ekwefi mumbles about “guns that never shot,” he grabs his gun, aims
it at her, and pulls the trigger. Although it goes off, she is not injured.
Okonkwo sighs and walks away with the gun.
Despite Okonkwo’s outbursts, the festival is
celebrated with great joy, even in his household and by Ekwefi after her
beating and near shooting. Like most people of the village, she looks forward
to the second day of the feast and its great wrestling matches between men of
the village and men of neighboring villages. This contest is the same kind in
which Okonkwo, years earlier, not only won the wrestling match but also won
Ekwefi’s heart.
Okonkwo’s wives and daughters excitedly
prepare the yams for the feast in anticipation of the contest. As his evening
meal is served by daughters of each of his wives, Okonkwo acknowledges to
himself how especially fond he is of his daughter Ezinma. As if to offset his
soft feelings, however, he scolds her twice while she sits waiting for him to
eat.
Commentary
Chapter 4 repeatedly illustrates Okonkwo’s
volatility—his readiness to explode into violence at slight provocations. His
feelings often differ from what he says or does. Although the people of the
village respect him and his accomplishments, he does not quite fit in with his
peers, some of whom disagree with his treatment of less successful men.
Okonkwo does not even enjoy the leisurely
ceremonial feast as others do. His impatience with the festivities is so great
that he erupts. He falsely accuses one of his wives, beats her, and then makes an
apparent attempt to shoot her. Further evidence of his violent nature is
revealed when he moves his feet in response to the drums of the wrestling dance
and trembles “with the desire to conquer and subdue . . . like the desire for a
woman.” Okonkwo’s need to express anger through violence is clearly a fatal
flaw in his character. His stubborn and often irrational behavior is beginning
to set him apart from the rest of the village.
In contrast, Okonkwo exhibits feelings of love
and affection—his first encounter with Ekwefi and his fondness for Ezinma, his
daughter. However, Okonkwo considers such emotions signs of weakness that
betray his manliness, so he hides his feelings and acts harshly to conceal
them.
The amount of detail included about the Feast
of the New Yam, just before the annual harvest, underscores how closely the
life of the community relates to the production of its food. The description of
household preparations for the festival reveals two significant issues about
Igbo culture:
* The roles of women
and daughters to keep the household running smoothly and to prepare for special
occasions even though they can hold positions of leadership in the village.
* The insignificant
impact a wife beating and a near shooting have on family life, as if violence
is an acceptable part of day-to-day life in the household.
For the first time in the story, Achebe
mentions guns. Because of an outgrowth of Igbo trade with the rest of the
world, Western technology actually arrived in the village before the Westerners
did. Umuofia was not a completely isolated community.
Glossary
calabash the dried, hollow
shell of a gourd, used as a bowl, cup, and so on.
yam foo-foo pounded and
mashed yam pulp.
cam wood a dye from a West
African redwood tree that is used by women to redden their skins before
decorating themselves with other patterns for special occasions.
bride-price in some cultures,
money and property given to a prospective bride’s family by the prospective
groom and his family.
Ezinma Ekwefi and Okonkwo’s
daughter; meaning true beauty. She is also called Nma and Ezigbo, which mean
the good one (child).
ilo the village gathering
place and playing field; an area for large celebrations and special events.
making inyanga flaunting or showing
off.
Part One: Chapter 6
Summary
On the second day of the festival, everyone
gathers at the village playing field to watch the wrestling contest between men
of the village and men of a neighboring village. The first matches, between two
teams of boys fifteen or sixteen years old, provide entertainment and
excitement before the main events. One of the victorious boys is Maduka, the
son of Okonkwo’s good friend Obierika. Neighbors greet each other and tension
builds until matches between the real wrestlers begin.
The current priestess of the Oracle, Chielo,
talks casually with Ekwefi about Okonkwo’s attack on her and about Ekwefi’s
daughter Ezinma, of whom Chielo seems particularly fond.
As the drums thunder, two teams of twelve men
challenge each other. Many expect the final match between the two greatest
fighters in the villages to be uneventful because of the similar styles of the
two wrestlers. However, the spectators are thrilled when the local fighter,
Okafo, takes advantage of one of his opponent’s moves and suddenly defeats him.
The crowd carries the victorious Okafo on their shoulders with pride.
Commentary
The spectacle of the wrestling matches
illustrates the value that is placed on physical agility and strength in the
Igbo culture. In ways similar to today’s sports, the wrestling events—even in
their violence—provide vicarious pleasure for the spectators who consider the
victors heroes and often carry them on their shoulders. Many years earlier,
Okonkwo himself sparked his reputation as a powerful man by defeating an
opponent who had wrestled undefeated for seven years.
This scene also displays the sense of
community and kinship among members of the village, as in the brief exchange
between Ekwefi and her neighbor Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle Agbala.
The conversation between Ekwefi and Chielo
includes several puzzling references to Ezinma:
Chielo: And how is my daughter Ezinma?
Ekwefi: She has been well for some time now.
Perhaps she has come to stay.
Chielo: I think she has. How old is she now?
Ekwefi: She is about ten years old.
Chielo: I think she will stay. They usually
stay if they do not die before the age of six.
Ekwefi: I pray she stays.
Except for the marketplace and gatherings such
as the Feast of the New Yam, the women get little opportunity to visit other
villagers who are not in their family. However, note the concern that Ekwefi
has for Ezinma, as well as the Chielo’s particular fondness for Ezinma, whom
she calls “daughter.” This scene implies that Chielo, the priestess, perhaps
knows more about Ezinma’s fate than she is revealing.
Glossary
silk-cotton tree any of several large,
tropical, trees (genera Bombax and Ceiba) of the bombax family
that have capsular fruits with silky hairs around the seeds. Here, the tree is
revered because it contains spirits of good children as yet unborn.
palm fronds leaves of a palm tree.
Here, they are tied together in clusters for “beating the ground” or the legs
and feet of the pushing crowd.
Chielo the name of the
current priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.
Part One: Chapter 7
Summary
Nwoye and Ikemefuna spend all their time
together like brothers. In the evenings, they sit with Okonkwo in his hut and
listen to his manly stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye still enjoys his
mother’s folk tales and legends, but he tries to impress Okonkwo by acting
masculine by pretending to dislike the women’s stories and by grumbling about
women. Okonkwo is inwardly pleased as Nwoye grows more tough and manly, and he
credits the change to Ikemefuna’s good influence.
One day while Okonkwo and his sons are working
on the walls of the compound, a great black cloud descends upon the town. The
villagers are joyful because they recognize the coming of the locusts, a great
delicacy in Umuofia. Everyone sets out to catch them for roasting, drying, and
eating.
As Okonkwo, Nwoye, and Ikemefuna are happily
eating the rare food, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man of the village, calls on
Okonkwo to speak to him privately. He tells Okonkwo that the Oracle has decreed
that Ikemefuna must be killed as part of the retribution for the woman killed
three years before in Mbaino. He tells Okonkwo to take no part in the killing
since the boy calls him “father.”
Later, Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he is
going home to Mbaino, but the boy does not believe him. When Nwoye hears that
his friend is leaving, he bursts into tears and is beaten by his father.
Many men of Umuofia accompany Ikemefuna to the
outskirts of the village and into the forest. With Okonkwo walking near him,
Ikemefuna loses his fear and thinks about his family in Mbaino. Suddenly,
Okonkwo drops to the rear of the group and Ikemefuna is afraid again. As the
boy’s back is turned, one of the men strikes the first blow with his machete.
Ikemefuna cries out to Okonkwo, “My father, they have killed me!” and runs
toward Okonkwo. Afraid to appear weak, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna with his
machete.
When Nwoye learns that Ikemefuna is dead,
something changes within him. He recalls the feeling that he experienced one
day when he heard a baby crying in the forest—a tragic reminder to him of the
custom of leaving twins in the forest to die.
Commentary
With the killing of Ikemefuna, Achebe creates
a devastating scene that evokes compassion for the young man and foreshadows
the fall of Okonkwo, again in the tradition of the tragic hero. Along the way,
the author sets up several scenes that juxtapose with the death scene:
* The opening scene of
the chapter shows the increasing affection and admiration Okonkwo feels for
Ikemefuna, as well as for Nwoye.
* On the journey with
Ikemefuna and the other men of Umuofia, they hear the “peaceful dance from a
distant clan.”
In Chapter 2, the author comments that the
fate of Ikemefuna is a “sad story” that is “still told in Umuofia unto this
day.” This observation suggests that the decision to kill Ikemefuna was not a
customary one. Before dying, Ikemefuna thinks of Okonkwo as his “real father”
and of what he wants to tell his mother, especially about Okonkwo. These
elements combined suggest that the murder of Ikemefuna is senseless, even if
the killing is in accordance with the Oracle and village decisions.
The murder scene is a turning point in the novel.
Okonkwo participates in the ceremony for sacrificing the boy after being
strongly discouraged, and he delivers the death blow because he is “afraid of
being thought weak.” At a deep, emotional level, Okonkwo kills a boy who “could
hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father”—someone whom Okonkwo truly
loves as a son. Okonkwo has not only outwardly disregarded his people and their
traditions, but he has also disregarded his inner feelings of love and
protectiveness. This deep abyss between Okonkwo’s divided selves accounts for
the beginning of his decline.
For the first time in the novel, Okonkwo’s
son, Nwoye, emerges as a major character who, in contrast to his father,
questions the long-standing customs of the clan. Achebe begins to show the boy’s
conflicting emotions; he is torn between being a fiercely masculine and
physically strong person to please his father and allowing himself to cherish
values and feelings that Okonkwo considers feminine and weak.
Glossary
eneke-nti-oba a bird that flies
endlessly.
entrails the inner organs of
humans or animals; specifically, the intestines; viscera; guts.
tie-tie a vine used like a
rope; from Pidgin English to tie.
harbingers persons or things
that come before to announce or give an indication of what follows; heralds.
pestle a tool, usually
club-shaped, used to pound or grind substances in a mortar, or very hard bowl.
ozo a class of men holding
an ozo title; it also refers to the ritual which accompanies the
granting of a title to a person.
Eze elina, elina a favorite song of
Ikemefuna’s about how Danda the ant holds court and how the sand dances
forever; it was introduced as a story at the end of Chapter 4.
twins two born at the same
birth. Here, according to Igbo custom, twins are considered evil and must be
placed in earthenware pots and left to die in the forest.
Part One: Chapter 8
Summary
For two days after Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo
cannot eat or sleep; his thoughts return again and again to the boy who was like
a son to him. On the third day, when his favorite daughter Ezinma brings him
the food he finally requested, he wishes to himself that she was a boy. He
wonders with disgust how a man with his battle record can react like a woman
over the death of a boy.
Okonkwo visits his friend Obierika, hoping to
escape thoughts of Ikemefuna. He praises Obierika’s son Maduka for his victory
in the wrestling match and complains about his own son’s wrestling skills and
mentally likens him to his own weak father, Unoka. To counter these thoughts
with a manly deed of his own, Okonkwo asks his friend why he didn’t join the
other men in the sacrifice of Ikemefuna. Obierika replies that he “had
something better to do.” He expresses his disapproval of Okonkwo’s role in killing
Ikemefuna. The act, he says, will upset the Earth, and the earth goddess will
get her revenge.
A man interrupts them to relay the news of the
death of an elder of a neighboring village, a former Umuofia leader. His wife,
also later on the same day, complicates the announcement of the elder’s death
and funeral. The mourners recalled that they “had one mind” and that he could
do nothing without telling her. Okonkwo and Obierika disapprove of this lack of
manly quality. They also discuss with regret the loss of prestige of the ozo
title. Feeling renewed by the conversation, Okonkwo goes home and returns
later to take part in a discussion of the bride-price with the suitor of
Obierika’s daughter. After the preliminaries, the bride-price is decided using
a ritual. Her price is negotiated between the bride’s family and the groom’s
relatives by passing back and forth quantities of sticks that represent
numbers.
The men eat and drink for the rest of the
evening while ridiculing the customs of the neighboring villages compared to
their own. They also refer contemptuously to “white men,” comparing their white
skin to lepers’ white skin.
Commentary
In the scenes of Chapter 8, the reader can
begin to see Okonkwo’s growing separation from his family members as well as
from his from peers in the village. Okonkwo asks Nwoye to sit with him in his
hut, seeking affirmation that he has done nothing wrong by killing Ikemefuna.
But his son pulls away from him.
Even Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, disapproves
of his role in the killing of Ikemefuna. Obierika is presented as a moderate,
balanced man and thus serves as a contrast to Okonkwo. Obierika periodically
questions tribal law and believes that some changes can improve their society.
Okonkwo tends to cling to tradition regardless of the cost, as the killing of
Ikemefuna illustrates. Essentially, Obierika is a man of thought and
questioning, while Okonkwo is a man of action without questioning.
However, both men seem to agree that manliness
does not allow a man and his wife to be inseparable and outwardly loving to
each other. (A village woman who has died before her husband’s death can be
publicly announced, but a wife’s death soon after her husband’s may be a sign
that she is guilty of killing him.) The couple is known to be almost
inseparable in their day-to-day life—a sign of weakness in the husband,
according to Okonkwo and Obierika. The village must wait until she is buried
before they can officially announce the death of the man who was once a great
warrior.
An example of the economic customs of the
village is the marriage negotiations for Obierika’s daughter. The opening
ceremonies—the costume and jewelry of the bride, the use of the sticks, and the
drinking of the palm-wine—illustrate the complexity of Umuofian ritual. These
African customs are reminiscent of marriage customs in other cultures in which
the bride’s parents pay a dowry or pay the cost of the wedding (although in
Igbo custom, the groom himself pays the bride-price). Such customs refute
commonly held notions about primitive and uncivilized African society.
The first shadow of “the white man“ appears in
community conversation, revealing their lack of contact with white men and
their aversion to them (similar to their aversion to lepers).
Glossary
plantain a hybrid banana
plant that is widely cultivated in the Western Hemisphere.
taboo any social prohibition
or restriction that results from convention or tradition.
uli a liquid made from
seeds that make the skin pucker; used for temporary tattoo-like decorations.
jigida strings of hundreds of
tiny beads worn snugly around the waist.
And these white men, they say, have no
toes The white men’s toes are hidden because they
are wearing shoes.
leprosy a progressive
infectious disease caused by a bacterium that attacks the skin, flesh, nerves,
and so on; it is characterized by nodules, ulcers, white scaly scabs,
deformities, and the eventual loss of sensation, and is apparently communicated
only after long and close contact.
Part One: Chapter 9
Summary
Okonkwo finally enjoys a good night’s sleep
since the death of Ikemefuna, when suddenly, he is awakened by a banging at his
door. His wife Ekwefi tells him that Ezinma is dying. Ekwefi’s only living
child, Ezinma is the light of her life; her nine other children have died in
infancy. Ezinma is also a favorite of Okonkwo, and because of her spirit and
cleverness, he sometimes wishes that she had been born a boy. Now she lies
suffering with fever while Okonkwo gathers leaves, grasses, and barks for
medicine.
Ezinma has survived many periods of illness in
her life, and people have considered her an evil ogbanje, a child who
dies young because she is possessed by an evil spirit that reenters the
mother’s womb to be born again. But she has lived much longer than Ekwefi’s
other children, and Ekwefi believes faith will bring the girl a long and happy
life. A year ago, she was reassured when a medicine man dug up Ezinma’s iyi-uwa,
an object buried by ogbanje children. After Ezinma led the medicine man to the
exact spot, he dug a deep pit in which he finally found a shiny pebble wrapped
in a rag. Ezinma agreed that it was hers. The unearthing of the iyi-uwa was
thought to break Ezinma’s connection with the ogbanje world, and everyone
believed that she would never become sick again.
At last, Okonkwo returns from the forest and
prepares the medicine for his daughter, who inhales the fumes from a steaming
pot and soon sleeps again.
Commentary
Just when Okonkwo’s guilt over killing
Ikemefuna seems to lessen, his rarely displayed devotion to his family is again
tested. When Ekwefi informs him of his daughter’s illness, he rushes out in the
middle of the night to hunt for medicine in the woods. By nature, Okonkwo is
not a cold and heartless man; he simply cannot escape the haunting images of
his despised father’s womanly qualities.
Ekwefi’s dedication to her daughter Ezinma
exemplifies the important role children play in a woman’s life in Umuofian
society. Ekwefi says that children are a “woman’s crowning glory,” and before
Ezinma was born, her own life was consumed with the desire to have a healthy
child. But nine times, she lost children in infancy. A woman’s status in Igbo
society is related to how many children she bears and how many of them are
male.
But although women’s child-bearing abilities
are an important aspect of their status, Okonkwo and Ekwefi’s deep concern and
fondness for Ezinma shows that, despite the divide between manly and womanly
qualities, woman play an essential role in Igbo society. Women are responsible
for preparing most of the celebratory activities, which strengthen relations
within the village and with other communities. Women also create the
decorations for the huts as well as elaborate body art.
Another important aspect of women in Igbo
society is represented by Chielo, who is significant because, as a woman, she
speaks on behalf of the God Agbala. Chielo refers to Ezinma as her “daughter,”
which may indicate that she will replace Chielo’s position as priestess.
In Chapter 6, Ekwefi was hopeful that Ezinma
had “come to stay.” This observation foreshadowed that Ezinma was no longer an
ogbanje because the medicine man dug up her iyi-uwa.
Glossary
iba fever, probably
related to malaria.
ogbanje a child possessed by
an evil spirit that leaves the child’s body upon death only to enter into the
mother’s womb to be reborn again within the next child’s body.
iyi-uwa a special stone
linking an ogbanje child and the spirit world; The ogbanje is protected as long
as the stone is not discovered and destroyed.
Part One: Chapter 10
Summary
Chapter 10 is devoted to a detailed
description of a village public trial. At a gathering on the large village
commons, the elders sit waiting on their stools while the other men crowd
behind them. The women stand around the edges, looking on. A row of nine stools
awaits the appearance of the nine egwugwu, who represent the spirits of
their ancestors. Two small clusters of people stand at a respectful distance
facing the elders and the empty stools. The opposing sides of a family dispute,
the two groups wait for a hearing by the masked and costumed egwugwu, who
finally appear from their nearby house with great fanfare and ceremony. As the
egwugwu approach the stools, Okonkwo’s wives notice that the second
egwugwu walks with the springy step of Okonkwo and also that Okonkwo is not
seated among the elders, but of course, they say nothing about this odd
coincidence.
The egwugwu hear the case of Uzowulu,
who claims that his in-laws took his wife Mgbafo from his house, and therefore,
they should return her bride-price to him. Odukwe, Mgbafo’s brother, does not
deny Uzowulu’s charges. He claims that his family took Mgbafo to rescue her
from daily brutal beatings by Uzowulu, and he says that she will return to her
husband only if he swears never to beat her again.
After the egwugwu retire to consult with each
other, their leader, Evil Forest, returns a verdict: He orders Uzowulu to take
wine to his in-laws and beg his wife to come back home with him. Evil Forest
also reminds the husband that fighting with a woman is not brave. Evil Forest
then instructs Odukwe to accept his brother-in-law’s offer and let Mgbafo
return to her husband. After the matter is settled, one village elder expresses
wonder at why such an insignificant dispute would come before the egwugwu.
Another elder reminds him that Uzowulu does not accept any decision unless it
comes from the egwugwu.
Another case waits to be heard—one involving
property.
Commentary
The author provides a close-up view of the
community judicial system with its similarities to Western traditions. In the
trial of Uzowulu versus his wife’s family, both sides present their cases to
the ruling members of society, the egwugwu. The nine egwugwu represent the nine
villages of Umuofia, and each village has one egwugwu as its spokesperson.
Okonkwo has obviously risen to a lofty position of village leadership if he has
indeed been selected as the egwugwu representative for his village.
The egwugwu has similarities to a jury led by
a foreman or judge. For example, after retiring to the jury room for
deliberation with the other eight egwugwu, the foreman/judge returns a verdict
that must be carried out. The public is allowed to watch the proceedings within
the boundaries of their social groups—that is, the elders, other men, and
women.
The subject of the dispute, domestic violence,
is a familiar one today, but the way in which the community views Uzowulu
beating his wife is not. The verdict illustrates the widespread disregard for
women’s rights by Umuofian men. After hearing the case, the egwugwu order
Mgbafo to go back to Uzowulu if he begs her; they remind Uzowulu that fighting
with a woman is not manly. The embarrassment of begging his wife is the only
punishment Uzowulu receives. This case illustrates that, in Umuofian culture, a
woman is the property of her husband, but unwarranted and excessive violence
against her is, in theory, inappropriate. Note that one man among the
spectators asks why such a “trifle [as wife beating] should come before the
egwugwu.”
The trial and its verdict also recall
Okonkwo’s treatment of his own wives and how quickly such treatment is
forgotten.
Glossary
Aru oyim de de de dei! egwugwu language
translated as greetings to the physical body of a friend. The egwugwu
speak in a formal language that is difficult for the the Umuofians to
understand. Each of the nine egwugwu represents a village of the Umuofian
community. Together, the egwugwu form a tribunal to judge disputes.
Evil Forest the name of the leader
of the egwugwu; also the name of the forest where taboo objects and
people are abandoned.
I am Dry-meat-that fills-the-mouth / I am
Fire-that-burns-without-faggots two phrases suggesting
that Evil Forest is all-powerful. Faggots are bundles of sticks for burning.
Part One: Chapter 11
Summary
As Okonkwo relaxes in his hut after the
evening meal, he listens to the voices of his wives and children telling folk
stories. Ekwefi relates to Ezinma the tale of Tortoise, which explains why the
Tortoise shell is not smooth. Just as it becomes Ezinma’s turn to tell Ekwefi a
story, they all hear the high-pitched wail of Chielo, the priestess of Agbala.
She then comes to Okonkwo’s hut and tells him that Agbala needs to see his
daughter Ezinma. He begs her to let the child sleep and return in the morning,
but Chielo does not listen and proceeds to Ekwefi’s hut to find Ezinma.
Terrified of the priestess, Ezinma cries in
fear, but she is forced to go with Chielo to Agbala’s house in the sacred cave
and hangs onto Chielo’s back. As Ekwefi watches her only daughter leave, she
decides to follow her.
Following Chielo’s chanting voice, Ekwefi runs
through the forest in the dark. She finally catches up with them but keeps out
of sight. The priestess, however, senses that someone is following her and
curses her pursuer. Ekwefi lets Chielo get farther ahead and soon realizes that
they have passed Agbala’s cave. They are heading toward Umuachi, the farthest
village. But when they reach the village commons, Chielo turns around and
begins to return the way she came, eventually moving toward the cave of Agbala.
Chielo and Ezinma disappear into the cave, and
Ekwefi waits outside doubting that she can help her daughter if any harm comes
to her. Suddenly, Ekwefi hears a noise behind her and turns to see a man
standing with a machete in his hand. Okonkwo has come to take her place outside
the cave, but she refuses to leave. She stays with him, grateful for his
presence and concern. His strong, silent presence reminds Ekwefi of how she ran
away from her first husband to be the wife of Okonkwo.
Commentary
The oral tradition of storytelling in Igbo
culture is a means for teaching history and customs, for passing on legends and
beliefs, and for explaining the natural as well as the supernatural worlds. The
tradition is particularly well-illustrated in the long story about Tortoise and
his shell. The story explains why a tortoise shell is not smooth, but it also
reveals the proverb, “a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for
himself”—another indication that Okonkwo is bringing misfortune upon himself.
In this chapter, Achebe presents a situation
in which Okonkwo and Ekwefi consider their family more important than the
customs of their people or even their own personal safety. Despite Chielo’s
warning about the Oracle Agbala, “Beware, woman, lest he strike you in his
anger,” Ekwefi risks her life for the sake of her daughter when she chooses to
follow Chielo through the woods. And when Okonkwo goes to the cave to help his
wife and protect their daughter, he displays behavior uncharacteristic of him—a
man who uses village tradition to a fault in killing Ikemefuna.
The priestess Chielo continues to refer to
Ezinma as “my daughter,” suggesting a relationship that may lead Chielo to
choose Ezinma as a priestess. She has twice before acknowledged that Ezinma may
have special status because she was, but is no longer, an ogbanje (see Chapters
6 and 9).
Glossary
snuff a preparation of
powdered tobacco that is inhaled by sniffing, is chewed, or is rubbed on the
gums.
saltpeter potassium
nitrate; used in the preparation of snuff (also in gunpowder and fireworks).
Agbala do-o-o-o! . . . Ezinmao-o-o-o Chielo, the priestess,
takes on the voice of the divine Agbala to ask for Ezinma to come to her.
Tufia-a! This sound represents
spitting and cursing simultaneously
Part One: Chapter 12
Summary
After Chielo took Ezinma away, Okonkwo was not
able to sleep. He made several trips to the cave before he finally found and
joined Ekwefi waiting outside the cave. When Chielo came out of Agbala’s cave
with Ezinma in the early morning hours, she ignored Okonkwo and Ekwefi and
carried the sleeping Ezinma home to her bed, with the girl’s parents following
behind.
On the following day, the village celebrates
the next event in the marriage of the daughter of Obierika, Okonkwo’s friend.
The uri is a ritual in which the suitor presents palm-oil to everyone in
the bride’s immediate family, her relatives, and her extended group of kinsmen.
For this ceremony, primarily a woman’s ritual, the bride’s mother is expected
to prepare food for the whole village with the help of other women.
Ekwefi is exhausted after the preceding
night’s events. She delays going to the celebration until Ezinma wakes and eats
her breakfast. Okonkwo’s other wives and children proceed to Obierika’s
compound; the youngest wife promises to return to prepare Okonkwo’s afternoon
meal.
Obierika is slaughtering two goats for the
soup and is admiring another goat that was bought in a neighboring village as a
gift to the in-laws. He and the other men discuss the magic of medicine used in
the other village that draws people to the market and helps rob some of them.
While the women are preparing for the feast, they hear a cry in the distance,
revealing that a cow is loose. Leaving a few women to tend the cooking, the
rest go find the cow and drive it back to its owner, who must pay a heavy fine.
The women check among themselves to be sure that every available woman has
participated in rounding up the cow.
The palm-wine ceremony begins in the afternoon
as soon as everyone gathers and begins to drink the first-delivered wine. When
the new in-laws arrive, they present Obierika’s family with fifty pots of wine,
a very respectable number. The uri festivities continue into the night and end
with much singing and dancing.
Commentary
This chapter further contributes to the
understanding of several tribal customs and beliefs: the uri ceremony, which
illustrates the phase of the marriage process following the agreement on
bride-price (Chapter 8); the belief in supernatural powers to attract people to
a market and even to help rob them; the law that requires villagers to control
and corral their animals or else pay a penalty; and the custom that requires
all available women to chase an escaped cow home. These descriptions follow the
events of the preceding chapter and illustrate the strength of the villagers’
beliefs in the earth goddess and her powers, even when she requires the near
abduction of a child.
Yet, in most of the traditional events, the
less than complete, blind obedience to a law or custom by some men and women
suggests several strong, individual personalities. For example, Ekwefi is
certainly one of the less-traditionally constrained women, and Obierika
represents men who question some traditions and rituals.
Sexual activity is a subtle part of courtship
and marriage rituals. The chant at the end of the celebration, “when I hold her
waist beads / She pretends not to know,” suggests that sexual anticipation is
an enjoyable game for women as well as for men. In the preceding chapter,
Okonkwo’s protective, manly presence in the darkness by the cave triggers
Ekwefi’s fond memories of her first wedding night, when he “carried her into
his bed and . . . began to feel around her waist for the loose end of her
cloth.”
Glossary
umunna the extended family
and kinsmen.
a great medicine a supernatural power
or magic that may take the shape of a person. In the Umuike market, the
medicine assumes the shape of an old woman with a beckoning, magical fan.
yam pottage a watery gruel made of
yams.
Part One: Chapter 13
Summary
In the dead of night, the sound of a drum and
a cannon announce the death of Ezeudu, an important man in the village. Okonkwo
shivers when he remembers that Ezeudu had warned him against playing a part in
the killing of Ikemefuna.
Everyone in the village gathers for the
funeral ceremony of a warrior who had achieved three titles in his lifetime, a
rare accomplishment. During the ceremony, men dance, fire off guns, and dash
about in a frenzy of wailing for the loss of Ezeudu. Periodically, the egwugwu
spirits appear from the underworld, including a one-handed spirit who dances
and brings a message for the dead Ezeudu. Before the burial, the dancing,
drumming, and gunshots become increasingly intense.
Suddenly an agonized cry and shouts of horror
are followed by silence. Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son is found dead in a pool
of blood in the midst of the crowd. When Okonkwo fired his gun, it exploded and
a piece of iron pierced the boy’s heart. In the history of Umuofia, such an
accident has never occurred.
Okonkwo’s accidental killing of a clansman is
a crime against the earth goddess, and he knows that he and his family must
leave Umuofia for seven years. As his wives and children cry bitterly, they
hurriedly pack their most valuable belongings into head loads to be carried as
they prepare to flee before morning to Mbanta, the village of his mother.
Friends move Okonkwo’s yams to Obierika’s compound for storage.
After the family’s departure the next morning,
a group of village men, carrying out the traditional justice prescribed by the
earth goddess, invade Okonkwo’s compound and destroy his barn, houses, and
animals. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika mourns his departure and wonders why Okonkwo
should be punished so severely for an accident. Again, Obierika ponders the old
traditions, remembering his own twin children who were abandoned in the forest
because of tribal tradition.
Commentary
In the literary tradition of the tragic hero,
Okonkwo’s undoing continues with his accidental killing of Ezeudu’s son. Early
in the chapter, Achebe foreshadows the event with Okonkwo’s memory of Ezeudu’s
warning about not killing Ikemefuna. The author builds dramatic tension by
describing an increasingly frenzied scene of dancing, leaping, shouting, drumming,
and the firing of guns, as well as the frightening appearance of the egwugwu.
The action climaxes with an explosion of gunfire and then comes to a stop with
the phrase “All was silent.” Achebe emphasizes the gravity of Okonkwo’s crime
by saying that in Umuofia “nothing like this had ever happened.”
As in Chapter 8, Obierika quietly questions
clan traditions—this time, the tradition demanding that Okonkwo be banished for
seven years because of an accidental killing. He also questions the tribal
abandonment of twins, remembering his own innocent children left to die in the
forest.
The chapter includes several intimations of
impending doom for the clan and its traditions. Achebe ends the chapter
dramatically with the proverb, “If one finger brought oil, it soiled the
others,” suggesting that Okonkwo’s crime may lead to the ultimate downfall of
Umuofia itself.
Glossary
Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. Di-go-go-di-go the
sound of drumbeats on the ekwe, or drums.
esoteric intended for or
understood by only a chosen few, as an inner group of disciples or initiates
(said of ideas, literature, and so).
raffia 1) a palm tree of
Madagascar, with large, pinnate leaves. 2) fiber from its leaves, used as
string or woven into baskets, hats, and so on.
Mbanta The name means small
town and is where Okonkwo’s mother comes from, his motherland, beyond the
borders of Mbaino (Ikemefuna’s original home).
Part Two: Chapter 14
Summary
Okonkwo arrives in Mbanta to begin his
seven-year exile. His maternal uncle, Uchendu, now a village elder, welcomes
him. Uchendu guesses what has happened, listens to Okonkwo’s story, and
arranges for the necessary rituals and offerings. He gives Okonkwo a plot of
land on which to build a compound for his household, and Okonkwo receives
additional pieces of land for farming. Uchendu’s five sons each give him three
hundred seed-yams to start his farm.
Okonkwo and his family must work hard to
develop a new farm, and the work gives him no pleasure because he has lost the
vigor and motivation of his younger days. He knows he is merely “marking time”
while he is in Mbanta. He grieves over his interrupted plan to become one of
the lords of his clan in Umuofia and blames his chi for his failure to achieve
lasting greatness. Uchendu senses Okonkwo’s depression and plans to speak to
him later.
Uchendu’s twenty-seven children gather from
far and near for an isa-ifi ceremony. This final marriage ritual will
determine if the intended bride of Uchendu’s youngest son has been faithful to
him during their courtship. The isa-ifi ceremony is described in detail.
The next day, in front of all of his children,
Uchendu speaks to Okonkwo about his discouragement and despair. Through a
series of questions no one is able to answer, Uchendu helps them all understand
why a man should return to his motherland when he is bitter and depressed. He
advises Okonkwo to comfort his family and prepare them for his eventual return
to Umuofia, and, meanwhile, to accept the support of his kinsmen while he is
here. If Okonkwo denies the support of his motherland, he may displease the
dead. Uchendu points out that many people suffer more serious setbacks than a
seven-year exile.
Commentary
In this chapter, Achebe presents a paradox
about the manly and womanly aspects of Okonkwo’s circumstances. Okonkwo begins
his exile deeply discouraged and unmotivated. While striving for even greater
manliness, he committed a female murder—that is, he accidentally killed a boy
during the funeral ceremony. Making things worse (in his mind), he has been
exiled to the woman’s side of his family. He thus feels that this transition is
an extraordinary challenge to his manliness. His uncle reminds him, though, in
the presence of his own large family, that Okonkwo should use the nurturing
(womanly) quality of his motherland, accept his situation (which is, in fact,
far less devastating than it could be), and recover. Okonkwo needs to maintain
a positive, responsible leadership (including male and female qualities) of his
own family in preparation for their eventual return to Umuofia. The womanly
aspect of his mother’s village is not to be ignored while Okonkwo waits for the
right to return to his own manly village.
In earlier chapters, Okonkwo acknowledged the
vital role of chi in his life. In this chapter, he seems to realize that his
chi “was not made for great things”—a reluctant admission that he may not
achieve everything he wants because his fate is predetermined. His acceptance
of this possible limitation, however, does not last.
With the description of the isa-ifi ceremony,
this chapter completes the reader’s view of the complex Igbo marriage rituals.
Glossary
twenty and ten
years Igbo counting may not
have a unique number for thirty, which is thus counted as twenty and ten.
Similarly, in French, seventy is counted as sixty-ten, and eighty is four
twenties.
It is female ochu. Crimes are divided
into male and female types. Okonkwo’s accidental killing of Ezuedu’s son is
considered manslaughter and therefore a female crime.
the nuts of the water of heaven hailstones.
isa-ifi the ceremony in which
the bride is judged to have been faithful to her groom.
umuada daughters who have
married outside the clan.
Part Two: Chapter 15
Summary
During Okonkwo’s second year in exile, his
good friend Obierika and two other young men pay him a visit in Mbanta. After
his introduction to Uchendu, Obierika relays tragic news about the village of
Abame.
One day a white man rode into the village on a
bicycle, which the villagers called an “iron horse.” At first, the people ran
away from the man, but the ones who were less fearful walked up to him and
touched his white skin. The elders of Abame consulted their Oracle, which told
them that the white man would destroy their clan, and others were on their way,
coming like locusts. Confronting the villagers, the white man seemed only to
repeat a word like “Mbaino,” perhaps the name of the village he was looking
for. They killed the white man and tied his bicycle to their sacred tree.
Weeks later, three other white men and a group
of natives—”ordinary men like us”—came to the village while most villagers were
tending their farms. After the visitors saw the bicycle on the tree, they left.
Many weeks later, the whole clan was gathered at the Abame market and then
surrounded by a large group of men; they shot and killed almost everyone. The
village is now deserted.
Okonkwo and Uchendu agree that the Abame
villagers were foolish to kill a man about whom they knew nothing. They have heard
stories about white men coming with guns and strong drink and taking slaves
away across the sea, but they never believed the stories.
After their meal together, Obierika gives
Okonkwo the money that he received for selling some of Okonkwo’s yams and seed-yams.
He promises to continue giving Okonkwo the profits until he returns to
Umuofia—or until “green men [come] to our clan and shoot us.”
Commentary
Recall from Chapter 8 the joking reference to
white men as lepers. Now, in Chapter 15, Obierika tells a story of how the
first white man ever seen in Abame is initially a matter of curiosity,
especially his skin color and perhaps his bicycle. When the villagers consult
their Oracle, however, it predicts that white men will be instruments of
disaster for the clan. Only then do the villagers take violent action against
this individual white man, an action criticized as premature by Uchendu.
Although Okonkwo agrees that the men of Abame were foolish for killing the
white man, his response, “They should have armed themselves with their guns and
their machetes even when they went to the market,” illustrates that Okonkwo
defies the Umuofian custom not resort to violence without first trying to
negotiate a peaceful settlement and seeking the acceptance of war by its
Oracle. The Oracle never accepted a war with the white men, but it warned the
villagers that the white men would spread destruction like “locusts.”
Ironically, the white men represent the coming of the locusts from Revelation
in the Bible; the village will be destroyed, and among the villagers who aren’t
harmed, nothing good will come to them.
Of course, the retaliation by a large group of
white men later—wiping out the entire village—is out of proportion to the
initial crime. But this excessive action is Achebe’s way of beginning the
novel’s characterization of extremist whites and their oppressive, often
uninformed and insensitive attitude toward the natives. From this point on, the
two groups are depicted as adversaries, and future conflict seems inevitable.
The Abame disaster is based on an actual event
in 1905, in the community of Ahiara. More information about the incident and
its consequences appears in the earlier section “A Brief History of Nigeria.”
The chapter ends with a light-hearted exchange
that seems ominous only when the ending of the novel is revealed:
Okonkwo: I do not know how to thank you.
Obierika: I can tell you. Kill one of your
sons for me.
Okonkwo: That will not be enough.
Obierika: Then kill yourself.
Okonkwo: Forgive me. I shall not talk about
thanking you any more.
Glossary
albino a person whose skin,
hair, and eyes lack normal coloration because of genetic factors: albinos have
a white skin, whitish hair, and pink eyes.
Eke day, Afo day The Igbo week has four
days: Eke, Oye, Afo, and Nkwo.
iron horse the bicycle that the
white man was riding when he apparently got lost.
Part Two: Chapter 16
Summary
Two more years pass before Obierika visits
Mbanta a second time, again with unhappy news. White Christian missionaries
have arrived in Umuofia, have built a Christian church, and have recruited some
converts. The leaders of the clan are disappointed in the villagers, but the
leaders believe that the converts are only efulefu, the worthless and
weak men of the village. None of the converts holds a title in the clan.
Obierika’s real reason for the visit is to
inform Okonkwo that he saw Nwoye with some missionaries in Umuofia. When
Obierika asked Nwoye why he was in the village, Nwoye responded that he was
“one of them.” When asked about his father, Okonkwo, Nwoye replied that “he is
not my father.”
Okonkwo will not talk to his friend about
Nwoye. Only after talking with Nwoye’s mother is Obierika able to learn what happened:
Six men arrived in Mbanta, including one white man. Everyone was curious to see
him after hearing the story of the Abame destruction. The white man had an Igbo
interpreter—with a strange dialect—and, through him, spoke to them about
Christianity. He told them about a new god who created the world and humankind;
this new god would replace the false gods of wood and stone that they had
worshiped. Worship of the true god would ensure that they would live forever in
the new god’s kingdom. The white man told them that he and his people would be
coming to live with them and would be bringing many iron horses for the
villagers to ride.
The villagers asked many questions. When the
missionary insisted that their gods were deceitful and arbitrary, the crowd began
to move away. Suddenly, the missionaries began singing a joyful hymn and
captured their attention once again.
Okonkwo decided that the man spoke nonsense
and walked away. But Nwoye was impressed with the compassion of the new
religion. It seemed to answer his questions about customs that included the
killing of twins and Ikemefuna.
Commentary
Obierika is able to understand Nwoye’s blunt
statement only after he talks to Nwoye’s mother. Her story may be
sympathetically narrated because she is protective of Nwoye.
The Christian missionaries seem to win over
many people of Mbanta rather quickly. The earliest converts are people with low
status in the clan. The missionaries’ promises fill a void in the lives of such
converts. The Christian hymn, for example, touches the “silent and dusty chords
in the heart of an Ibo man.” (The old-style spelling of Ibo is used in
the text; the modern spelling is Igbo.) Also note that the white man is
not personalized yet—he remains a stereotype of a white missionary, though
somewhat more patient in his responses than one may expect.
Considering the fate of the Abame village
after the arrival of the white men, Mbanta’s welcome of the missionaries isn’t
surprising. The presence of only one white person among the missionaries may
have eased the villager’s fears of the missionaries. The villagers are
understandably skeptical about the Christian message but still curious to learn
more about the strange religion and white skin with which they are unfamiliar.
In addition, the missionaries’ use of rhythmic, evangelistic hymns is a good
seductive strategy for expanding their message through a sympathetic medium.
They also promise new experiences, such as riding a bicycle, once they move
into the community.
Unsurprisingly, Nwoye is highly receptive to
the new, more humane-appearing doctrine, because he is a sensitive young man
with deep concerns about certain customs of his people (see Chapter 7).
Achebe provides a humorous illustration of the
difficulties of dialects, even within the Igbo language. The missionary’s
translator is an Igbo, but he speaks a dialect that pronounces some words and
expressions differently from Umuofian Igbo: The word “myself” comes out as “my
buttocks,” resulting in some humorous translations of the white man’s message.
Glossary
efulefu worthless men in the
eyes of the community.
evangelism a
preaching of, or zealous effort to spread, the gospel.
Jesu Kristi Jesus Christ.
callow young and
inexperienced; immature.
Part Two: Chapter 17
Summary
Chapter 17 continues the story of how Nwoye
becomes a Christian. The missionaries sleep in the Mbanta marketplace for
several nights and preach the Christian gospel each morning. After several
days, they ask the leaders of the clan for land on which to build a church. The
elders agree to give them a part of the Evil Forest, where people who died of
evil diseases are buried, as well as the magical objects of great medicine men.
The elders think that the missionaries are fools for taking the cursed land; according
to tradition, the missionaries will be dead in a few days.
To
the villagers’ surprise and disappointment, the missionaries build their church
without difficulty. The people of Mbanta begin to realize that the white man
possesses incredible magic and power, especially because the missionaries and
the church survived twenty-eight days—the longest period the gods allow a
person to defy them. The missionaries soon acquire more converts, including
their first woman—pregnant and previously the mother to four sets of twins, all
of whom were abandoned in the forest. The white missionary moves on to Umuofia,
while his interpreter, Mr. Kiaga, assumes responsibility for the Mbanta
congregation.
As the number of converts grows, Nwoye
secretly becomes more attracted to the religion and wants to attend Sunday
church service, but he fears the wrath of his father if he enters the church.
One day, Okonkwo’s cousin sees Nwoye inside
the Christian church. He rushes to tell Okonkwo, who says nothing until his son
returns home. In a rage, he asks Nwoye where he has been, but he gives no
answer. When he starts to beat Nwoye with a heavy stick, his uncle Uchendu
demands that Okonkwo leave his son alone. Nwoye leaves the hut and never
returns. Instead, Nwoye moves to Umuofia, where the white missionary started a
school for young people. He plans to return someday to convert his mother,
brothers, and sisters.
At first, Okonkwo is furious with his son’s
action, but he concludes that Nwoye is not worth his anger. Okonkwo fears that,
after his death, his younger sons will abandon the family ancestors because
they have become attracted to the new religion. Okonkwo wonders how he gave
life to such a foolish and womanly son, one who resembles his grandfather,
Unoka, in so many ways.
Commentary
As the Christians begin to gain power, the
villagers see their traditional beliefs as increasingly outdated and powerless.
For example, Mbanta’s
The
missionaries are beginning to influence not only the community’s religious
views and practices but also its deeper social customs and traditions; for
example, they welcome the first female convert, a woman who is scorned by the
community because of her four sets of twins. To her, as well as to other early
converts shunned by the clan for one reason or another, the missionaries
provide support and acceptance. The missionaries will not throw away newborn
twins, and the community will eventually see that they are as normal as other
children.
The missionaries apparently expect the new
Christians in the community to accept a new weekly calendar: “Come [to church]
every seventh day.” Suddenly, the narrative refers to “Sunday” instead of the Igbo
days of the week. Did the missionaries know about the Igbo four-day week? Did
they preach the seven-day creation story? Consider the impact on a community
when outsiders impose a new arrangement of days and weeks.
Okonkwo’s violent reaction to Nwoye’s conversion
is typical; he immediately wants to kill the Christians. He recalls that he is
popularly called the “Roaring Flame.” Then he blames the “effeminacy” of his
son on his wife and his father and then on his own chi. The last line in the
chapter suggests that Okonkwo has an insight: “Living fire begets cold,
impotent ash”—perhaps a realization that his own “Roaring Flame” behavior
leaves behind coldness and powerlessness in others—as it has in his son.
Glossary
fetish any object believed by
some person or group to have magical power.
impudent shamelessly bold or
disrespectful; saucy; insolent.
Part Two: Chapter 18
Summary
Initially, the church and the clan remain
segregated from one another in Mbanta. The people of the village believe that
eventually the Christians will weaken and die, especially since they live in
the dreaded forest, where they even rescue twins abandoned in the woods.
One
day, three converts come into the village saying that the traditional gods are
dead, and the converts are ready to burn their shrines. The clan men severely
beat the converts, after which nothing happens between the Christians and the
clan for a long time. Eventually, rumors circulate that the church has set up
its own government. But the villagers remain unconcerned about the church—until
a new issue emerges.
The outcasts of Mbanta, the osu, live
in a special section of the village and are forbidden to marry a free person or
cut their hair. They are to be buried in the
A year later, one of the osu converts named
Okoli is rumored to have killed the sacred python, the clan’s most respected
animal. The clan rulers and elders gather in Mbanta to decide on a punishment
for the crime that they believed would never happen. Okonkwo, who has gained a
leadership role in his motherland, believes the clan should react with
violence, but the elders opt more peacefully to exclude church members from all
aspects of clan life, much to Okonkwo’s disgust.
The proclamation of exclusion keeps the
Christians from the market, the stream, the chalk quarry, and the red earth pit.
From the beginning, Okoli denies killing the python, but then he cannot speak
for himself because he is ill; by the end of the day, he dies. The villagers
see his death as an act of revenge by the gods, so they agree not to bother the
Christians.
Commentary
Okonkwo’s views toward the Christians and his
desire for a violent solution begin to separate him from the rest of his new
Mbanta clan—which he thinks is a womanly clan. He feels that simply excluding
the Christians from several public places is a weak solution.
Hoping
not to come into conflict with one another, the church and the village are
delicately maintaining an equilibrium by avoiding each other. When they do
encounter each other, violence sometimes erupts, as when the three converts make
fun of the old gods. In addition, as more new converts strengthen the church,
they in turn weaken the clan, causing increased tension among the
non-Christians as well as between the Christians and the non-Christians. When
the church violates something sacred in the clan tradition, the precarious
balance between church and clan is upset—a balance that is increasingly more
difficult to maintain. Yet, even this crisis is resolved without violence.
The increasing strength of the new church is
represented by the considerable preparations being made for the Christian Holy
Week and Easter.
Glossary
osu a class of people in
Igbo culture considered outcasts, not fit to associate with free-born members
of the clan.
caste rigid
class distinction based on birth, wealth, and so on, operating as a social
system or principle.
heathen anyone not a Jew,
Christian, or Muslim; especially, a member of a tribe, nation, etc. worshiping
many gods.
python a very large,
nonvenomous snake of Asia, Africa, and Australia, that squeezes its prey to
death.
defecates excretes
waste matter from the bowels.
ostracize to banish, bar,
exclude, etc. from a group through rejection by general consent of the members.
Part Two: Chapter 19
Summary
Although Okonkwo has achieved status in his
motherland, he feels that his seven years in exile have been wasted. He could
have risen to the peak of Umuofian society if he had not been forced into
exile. At the beginning of his last year in Mbanta, Okonkwo sends money to Obierika
in Umuofia to rebuild two huts on the site of his burned-out compound. He will
build the remainder when he returns in a year.
As
the time approaches for his family’s return to Umuofia, Okonkwo instructs his
wives and children to prepare a huge feast for his mother’s kinsmen in Mbanta
in a gesture to show his gratitude for kindness over the years of exile.
Invited to the feast are all the living descendants of an ancestor who lived
two hundred years earlier. Family members pick and prepare vegetables,
slaughter goats and fowl, and prepare traditional dishes.
At the feast, Uchendu is honored as the oldest
man at the feast; he breaks the kola nut and prays for health and children. As
they drink wine, one of the oldest members of the clan thanks Okonkwo for his
generosity in providing the magnificent feast. He then addresses the young
people of the clan, disheartened at seeing the bonds of family and village
breaking down as the Christians pull so many of the clan away, even from within
families. He fears for the future of the young people and for the survival of
the clan itself.
Commentary
Okonkwo’s final days in Mbanta are
characterized by his usual striving to impress, never doing anything by halves.
He expresses his thanks to his motherland’s relatives with an extravagant
celebration. Okonkwo’s rigid, impulsive behavior hasn’t changed during his
seven years in Mbanta, and he is eager to return to Umuofia to make up for lost
time. He reveres Umuofia because of its strong and masculine community, unlike
Mbanta, which he labels a womanly clan.
Achebe ends the
chapter and Part Two with a foreshadowing of what is to follow: An elder member
of the clan tells the young people, “I fear for you; I fear for the clan.”
Glossary
wherewithal that with which something
can be done; necessary means.
egusi melon seeds prepared
for a soup.
I cannot live on the bank of a river and wash
my hands with spittle. One must act according
to one’s fortune and circumstances; spittle is one’s spit.
umunna the extended family,
the clan.
Part Three: Chapter 20
Summary
During Okonkwo’s first year in exile, he
already began to plan his grand return to Umuofia. Now he is determined to
compensate for the seven years he considers wasted. Not only will he build a
bigger compound than before, but he will also build huts for two new wives.
His
plans for a triumphant return, however, are momentarily disrupted when Nwoye
joins the Christians. At first, his oldest son’s action depresses him. But he
is confident that his other five sons will not disappoint him. Okonkwo also
takes pride in his daughters, especially Ezinma, who has grown into a beautiful
young woman. Her periods of illness are almost nonexistent. Many suitors in
Mbanta have asked for her hand in marriage, but she has refused them all,
knowing that her father wishes her to marry in Umuofia. Moreover, she has
encouraged her half-sister Obiageli to do the same.
When Okonkwo returns to his village in
Umuofia, he finds it greatly changed in his absence. The Christian church has
won many converts, including respected men who have renounced their traditional
titles. The white men have established a government court of law in Umuofia,
where they try people who break the white men’s laws; they have also built a prison,
where lawbreakers are sent for punishment. The white men even employ natives as
their “court messengers” to do the dirty work of arresting, guarding, and
administering punishment to offending citizens.
Okonkwo wonders why his fellow Umuofians do
not use violence to rid themselves of the white man’s church and oppressive
government. His friend Obierika says that they fear a fate like Abame’s, the
village destroyed by the white intruders. He also tells Okonkwo about a
villager who was hanged by the government because of an argument over a piece
of land. He points out that any violence will pit clansmen against one another,
because many clan members have already joined the church. Obierika reflects on
how the white men settled in quietly with their religion and then stayed to
govern harshly, without ever learning the language or customs and without
listening to reason.
Commentary
Okonkwo’s concern about his status when he
returns to Umuofia suggests that status and mobility within Umuofian society is
largely self-determined: All males except outcasts have opportunities to move
upward in the clan through hard work, wise use of resources, and gaining
titles. Prominent status is essential to Okonkwo in his drive for manliness.
Out of the community for seven years, Okonkwo lost his status among the village
elders and the other egwugwu, and he has fallen behind in obtaining titles in
the clan. He can compensate by making a show of his larger compound, more
barns, and more wives and by starting to initiate his sons (besides Nwoye) into
gaining titles—something few men can afford to do. He seems to be suppressing
his sorrow over the loss of Nwoye and his disappointment about the loss of
community position by reaffirming his beliefs in traditional Igbo ways and taking
traditional steps toward recognition.
In
light of his near obsession with status and titles, Okonkwo must find it
particularly hard to understand how some of the leaders of the community can
give up their titles when they became Christians.
In Part Two of the book, the major change
introduced by the white man was the Christian church, which not only divided
the community, but divided families. In the first chapter of Part Three, the
white man’s government assumes a central role, not only with its court and its
“court messengers” but also with its prison and its executions. These changes
are reported by Achebe in an ironic tone, as if the establishment of a
government by the white colonialists was the Igbos’ first experience with
government, as if the Igbo did not have a justice system prior to the arrival
of the whites. This tone is especially ironic because, earlier, Achebe takes
great pains to illustrate not only the varieties of justice meted out by the
Oracle (Okonkwo’s banishment) and by the general citizenry (reprimands about
violating the Week of Peace and about women not helping in the recovery of a
stray cow), but he also illustrates the processes followed and the types of
justice meted out by the formal court (Chapter 10). Remember that one of
Achebe’s goals in writing this novel was to demonstrate that the Igbo had
developed a sophisticated society, religion, and justice system long before the
Europeans arrived.
Achebe describes a colonial government that
subdues the Igbo people without requiring the missionaries to learn their
language or try to understand the Igbo traditions and ways. (The first church
representative, Mr. Brown, is the exception in being accommodating to Igbo
language and customs.)
By recruiting other African natives—the kotmas,
or court messengers—to be their agents in the day-to-day enforcement of their
authority, the missionaries bring into their use people with skin color and
language characteristics much like the local natives—people who seem to be
friends of the local natives (though their dialect was apparently different).
Ultimately, the court messengers abused their positions by beating prisoners
and taking bribes. Achebe is implying that corruption among the Igbo people
isn’t exclusive to Umuofia; the court messengers are more interested in what
they can get out of the situation rather than what they can do to spread
Christianity or even to help the Umuofians.
When Okonkwo tells Obierika that his fellow
Umuofians should rise up against the British, Obierika wisely understands that
it is too late. Many Umuofians have already “joined the ranks of the stranger.”
Obierika says that the white man “has put a knife on the things that held us
together and we have fallen apart”—the first specific acknowledgment of the
book’s title, Things Fall Apart.
Glossary
anklet of his titles When a man achieves a
title, he wears a special anklet to indicate his title. He may wear more than
one anklet to indicate more titles.
sacrament
of Holy Communion the most sacred ritual of participating
Christians.
court messengers the native Africans
hired by the British to carry out their law enforcement activities; also called
kotma. Kotma is a Pidgin English word derived from the words
court and messenger.
Part Three: Chapter 21
Summary
Not all members of the Igbo clan in Umuofia
dislike the changes taking place. The Europeans are bringing wealth to the
village as they begin to export palm-oil and palm nut kernels.
The
white missionary, Mr. Brown, takes time to learn about the Igbo form of
worship, often discussing religion with one of the elders of the clan. The two
men debate the forms, actions, and attitudes of their respective gods. Mr.
Brown restrains overeager members of his church from provoking villagers who
cling to the old ways. Through his gentle patience, Mr. Brown becomes friends
with some of the clan leaders, who begin to listen to and understand his
message.
Mr. Brown urges the people of the clan to send
their children to his school. He tells them that education is the key to
maintaining control of their land. Eventually, people of all ages begin to
listen to his message and attend his school. Mr. Brown’s crusade gains power
for the whites and for the church, but his diligence takes its toll on his
health. He is forced to leave his congregation and return home.
Before Mr. Brown goes home, he visits Okonkwo
to tell him that Nwoye—now called Isaac—has been sent to a teaching college in
a distant town. Okonkwo drives the missionary out and orders him never to
return.
Everything about the changed community of
Umuofia displeases Okonkwo. His homecoming was not what he had hoped; no one
really took much notice of his arrival. He can’t even proceed with the
ceremonies for his sons, because the rites are held only once every three years,
and this year is not one of them. The dissolution of the old way of life
saddens him as he sees the once fierce Umuofians becoming more and more “soft
like women.” He mourns for the clan, “which he saw breaking up and falling
apart”—a phrase that again recalls the book’s title.
Commentary
In this chapter, a third institution is
established by the British in Umuofia—trade with the outside world. The
Europeans buy palm-oil and palm kernels from the Igbo at a high price, and many
Umuofians profit from the trade. These Umuofians welcome the new trading
opportunities, though these activities are effectively undermining the clan and
its self-sufficiency. Through narrative that gradually introduces these key,
outside influences—religion, government, and commerce—Achebe shows how the
British convinced so many Umuofians to welcome them in spite of their
disruption of daily life and customs.
Indeed,
the British seem to provide advantages lacking in Umuofian culture. The
established members of the village welcome new opportunities for wealth. At the
other end of the social scale, the disenfranchised members of Igbo society find
acceptance in Christianity that they didn’t experience in the so-called old
ways. Mr. Brown builds a school and a much-needed small hospital in Umuofia;
both institutions produce immediate and impressive results.
So the Umuofians now have more. Are they
better off because of these additions to their lives? The British thought so
and expected them to agree.
Achebe has said that he may have unconsciously
modeled Mr. Brown, the white missionary, after G.T. Basden, a real-life
missionary who worked among the Igbo in the early twentieth-century—a man who
was a friend of Achebe’s parents. Like Brown, Basden was a patient man who was willing
to learn about so-called heathen traditions and values. However, Basden
ultimately misunderstood Igbo culture, writing in Among the Ibos of Nigeria (1921)
that “the black man himself does not know his own mind. He does the most
extraordinary things, and cannot explain why he does them. . . . He is not
controlled by logic.”
Glossary
the new
dispensation the new system; the
new organization of society under British influence.
kernels the inner, softer part
of a nut, fruit pit, etc. Here, found in the fleshy remains of the palm
nut after its husk is crushed for palm-oil. The kernels can be processed by
machine for the extraction of a very fine oil.
Ikenga a carved wooden figure
kept by every man in his shrine to symbolize the strength of a man’s right
hand.
Chukwu the leading god in the
Igbo hierarchy of gods.
the D.C. the District
Commissioner.
singlets men’s
undershirts, especially the sleeveless kind.
Part Three: Chapter 22
Summary
The new head of the Christian church, the
Reverend James Smith, possesses nothing of Mr. Brown’s compassion, kindness, or
accommodation. He despises the way that Mr. Brown tried to lead the church. Mr.
Smith finds many converts unfamiliar with important religious ideas and
rituals, proving to himself that Mr. Brown cared only about recruiting converts
rather than making them Christians. He vows to get the church back on the
narrow path and soon demonstrates his intolerance of clan customs by suspending
a young woman whose husband mutilated her dead ogbanje child in the traditional
way. The missionary does not believe that such children go back into the
mother’s womb to be born again, and he condemns people who practice these
beliefs as carrying out the work of the devil.
Each
year, the Igbo clan holds a sacred ceremony to honor the earth deity. The egwugwu,
ancestral spirits of the clan, dance in the tradition of the celebration.
Enoch, an energetic and zealous convert, often provokes violent quarrels with
people he sees as enemies. Approaching the egwugwu, who are keeping their
distance from the Christians, Enoch dares the egwugwu to touch a
Christian, so one of the egwugwu strikes him with a cane. Enoch responds
by pulling the spirit’s mask off, a serious offense to the clan because,
according to Umuofian tradition, unmasking an egwugwu kills the ancestral
spirit.
The next day, the egwugwu from all the
villages gather in the marketplace. They storm Enoch’s compound and destroy it
with fire and machetes. Enoch takes refuge in the church compound, but the
egwugwu follow him. Mr. Smith meets the men at the church door. Then the masked
egwugwu begin to move toward the church, but they are quieted by their leader,
who belittles Mr. Smith and his interpreter because they cannot understand what
he is saying. He tells them that the egwugwu will not harm Mr. Smith for the
sake of Mr. Brown, who was their friend. Mr. Smith will be able to stay safely
in his house in Umuofia and worship his own god, but they intend to destroy the
church that has caused the Igbo so many problems. Through his interpreter, Mr.
Smith tries to calm them and asks that they leave the matter to him, but the
egwugwu demolish his church to satisfy the clan spirit momentarily.
Commentary
Throughout the book Achebe gives his
characters names with hidden meanings; for example, Okonkwo’s name implies male
pride and stubbornness. When Achebe adds British characters, he gives two of
them common and unremarkable British names, Brown and Smith. His third British
character, the District Commissioner, is known only by his title. The choice of
names, and lack thereof, is in itself a commentary by Achebe on the incoming
faceless strangers.
Achebe portrays Mr.
Smith as a stereotype of the inflexible Christian missionary in Africa. He is a
fire-and-brimstone type of preacher, who likens Igbo religion to the pagan
prophets of Baal of the Old Testament and brands traditional Igbo beliefs as
the work of the devil. Achebe suggests that the issue between Mr. Smith and the
local people may be more than one of religion: “[Mr. Smith] saw things as black
and white. And black was evil.”
Mr. Smith preaches an uncompromising
interpretation of the scriptures. He suspends a woman convert who allows an old
Igbo belief about the ogbanje to contaminate her new Christian way of
life. He labels this incident as “pouring new wine into old bottles,” an act
prohibited in the New Testament of the Christian Bible—”Neither do men put new
wine into old bottles” (Matthew 9:17).
Achebe implies that strict adherence to
scripture and dogma produces religious fanaticism. Enoch’s unmasking of an
egwugwu is portrayed as a result of unbridled fanaticism. In traditional Igbo
religion, the ancestral spirit communicates through the mask in which it
speaks. The Igbo believe that during this time, the human underneath the mask
is not present; the mask is transformed into the spirit. Thus, unmasking the
egwugwu kills the ancestral spirit. Enoch’s action exposes the non-divine
nature of an egwugwu, just a man beneath a mask, another sign of “things
falling apart.” Ironically, the outcome of Enoch’s fanaticism must surely cause
some clan members to question their long-held, sacred beliefs regarding the
egwugwu.
Consistent with his high-energy radicalism,
Enoch is disappointed that his action and its consequences do not provoke a
holy war against the Igbo nonbelievers. “Holy war” was the term applied by
zealot Christians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to the Crusades
against the infidels, nonbelievers in Christianity.
The reference to the Mother of Spirits is
another foreshadowing of the decline of the Umuofians. Her wailing and crying
signals the death of “the very soul of the tribe.” Enoch’s unmasking of the
egwugwu and the subsequent destruction of the church by the Igbo represent the
climax of confrontation between traditional Igbo religious beliefs and British
colonial Christianity, and, to a great extent, these events symbolize the
broader cultural confrontation. Even the egwugwu leader acknowledges the
cultural standoff between them: “We say he [Mr. Smith] is foolish because he
does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not
know his.” Such an acknowledgment seems an indication that the Igbo are
becoming resigned to their “new dispensation”—that they are moving toward a
collective surrender to becoming civilized under the onslaught of forces far
more organized and powerful than themselves.
Glossary
about sheep and goats / about wheat and tares Two
frequently quoted teachings of Jesus relate to the need for separating the good
from the bad. In one, he refers to separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew
25:32); in the other, separating the wheat from the tares, or weeds (Matthew
13:30). Mr. Smith was obviously much concerned about dividing the community
between the good (the Christian converts) and the bad (the traditional Igbo
believers). Not coincidentally, his suspension of a convert is also based on a
quotation from Matthew (9:17).
prophets
of Baal Mr.
Smith is comparing the pagan worship of the warrior god Baal, mentioned in the
Old Testament (I Kings 18) to the Igbo religion. The Israelites saw the worship
of Baal as a rival to their worship of God, causing the prophet Elijah to
challenge the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
bull-roarer a noisemaker
made from a length of string or rawhide threaded through an object of wood,
stone, pottery, or bone; a ritual device that makes a loud humming noise when
swung rapidly overhead.
ogwu medicine, magic.
desecrated to have taken
away the sacredness of; treat as not sacred; profane.
The body of the white man, I salute you. The
egwugwu speak indirectly, using a formal language of immortal spirits.
guttural loosely,
produced in the throat; harsh, rasping, and so on.
Part Three: Chapter 23
Summary
Okonkwo is pleased about the destruction of
the church and feels that daily life is beginning to seem normal again. For
once, the clan listened to his advice and acted like warriors, though they
didn’t kill the missionary or drive the Christians out of Umuofia as he had
urged.
When
the District Commissioner returns from a trip and learns about the destruction
of the church, he asks six leaders of the village, including Okonkwo, to meet
with him in his government office. The six men agree but go to the meeting
armed with their machetes.
The District Commissioner asks the village
leaders, who have set their weapons aside, to explain their actions at the
church to him and twelve other government men. As one of the leaders begins to
tell about Enoch’s unmasking of an egwugwu, the twelve government men surprise
the clan leaders by handcuffing them and taking them into a guardroom.
The Commissioner reminds them that he and his
government promote peace and want to help them be happy. When they treat others
wrongly, they must be judged in the government court of law—the law of the
Commissioner’s “great queen.” The leaders were wrong to hurt others and burn
Enoch’s house and the church. As a consequence, he says that they will be kept
in prison, where they will be treated well and set free only after paying a
fine of two hundred bags of cowries.
In prison, the guards repeatedly mistreat the
six leaders, including shaving the men’s heads. The prisoners sit in silence
for two days without food, water, or toilet facilities. On the third day, in
desperation, they finally talk among themselves about paying the fine. Okonkwo
reminds them that they should have followed his advice and killed the white man
when they had the chance. A guard hears him and hits them all with his stick.
As soon as the leaders were locked up, court
messengers went around the village telling everyone that the prisoners would be
released only after the village paid a fine of two hundred and fifty bags of
cowries—fifty of which the messengers would keep for themselves. Rumors
circulated about possible hangings and shootings that occurred in Abame,
including the families of the prisoners. At a town meeting, the Umuofians
decide to collect the money immediately.
Commentary
This chapter describes the oppressive yet
naive approach that the British took to ensure colonial justice. Although the
District Commissioner says that he wants to hear both sides of the clan
leaders’ story, he doesn’t trust the leaders and imprisons them while he
collects a fine from the village. The Commissioner informs them that the
British “have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that
you may be happy.” He may sincerely believe this statement, and he may also believe
that the British control the court messengers when he assigns them as guards
and as fine collectors. The court messengers (or kotma), however, not
only abuse the prisoners, but they collect a fine considerably larger than what
the Commissioner asks for so they can keep a sizable portion for themselves.
The
District Commissioner’s statements and personal actions are ironic in light of
what is actually taking place: The British have decided that they know what is
best for the Igbo and will go to violent and repressive lengths to bring their
decision about. They justify their actions in the name of their great
sovereign, Queen Victoria, “the most powerful ruler in the world.”
A recurring theme underlying the occupation by
the British is that the Africans are divided among themselves—an illustration
of “divide and conquer.” To help enforce their policies, the British employ
other Africans to help them carry out their occupation and rule. The white
colonialists apparently assume that their black subordinates would gain the
confidence of the black natives. The British may not be aware that their court
messengers, apparently Igbo, believe in customs, language, and values different
from the Umuofians, and they already possess traditional antagonisms toward the
Umuofian Igbo. Clearly, they do not understand Umuofian culture when they joke
about so many Umuofians holding titles. They abuse their power by physically
abusing their prisoners and asking the clan for an extra fifty bags of cowries
for themselves. Because the court messengers are also the translators between
the British and the Igbo, their opportunity for corruption is great. The
British who are aware of the brutality and corruption of their court messengers
probably take refuge in the rationalization that the end—the ultimate
civilizing of the natives—justifies the means.
The other method by which the British divide
the Igbo is through the introduction of Christianity which, as one can see,
results in the division of a community into opposing groups of citizens.
Remember that the destruction of the church was triggered by the actions not of
a white man, but of Enoch, a converted clansman—the ultimate irony.
Glossary
palaver a conference or
discussion, as originally between African natives and European explorers or
traders.
a
great queen Queen Victoria, reigning head of the
British Empire for sixty-four years (1837-1901).
Who is the chief among you? The
kotma (court messenger) guards see by the anklets that all six leaders own
titles and joke that they must not be worth much.
Part Three: Chapter 24
Summary
The District Commissioner sets the six men
free after the village pays the required fine, and the leaders quietly return
to their homes, deep in misery and not speaking to anyone they meet. Okonkwo’s
relatives and friends are waiting for him in his hut, and his friend Obierika
urges him to eat the food his daughter Ezinma has prepared for him. No one else
speaks, seeing the scars on his back where the prison guards beat him.
The
same night, the village crier calls the clansmen to a meeting the next morning.
Okonkwo lies awake, thinking of his revenge.
He hopes Umuofia will wage war on the intruders; if they don’t, he will take
action on his own. His anger turns on villagers who want to keep things
peaceful instead of facing the need for war, even a “war of blame.”
For the meeting in the marketplace, people
come from even the farthest villages, except people who are friendly with the
white foreigners. The first man to address the crowd is one of the leaders whom
the Commissioner arrested. He calls for the village to take action against the
unwanted strangers to rid themselves of the evil the strangers have brought. He
admits that the Umuofians may have to fight and kill members of their own clan.
Suddenly, five court messengers approach the
group. Okonkwo jumps forward to stop them. The messenger in charge says that
the white man has ordered the meeting stopped. Okonkwo takes out his machete
and beheads the man, but no one tries to stop the other messengers from
escaping. The other clansmen are afraid, and someone asks, “Why did he do it?”
Seeing such inaction and fear, Okonkwo cleans his machete on the sand and walks
away, realizing that his fellow Umuofians will never go to war.
Commentary
After Okonkwo is freed from prison, he
remembers better times, when Umuofia was more warrior-like and fierce—”when men
were men.” As in his younger days, he is eager to prepare for war (not unlike
Enoch the convert in the preceding chapter). He is worried that the peacemakers
among them may have a voice, but he assures himself that he will continue the
resistance, even if he has to do it alone. He will be manly in his actions even
to the end.
Umuofian
culture has traditionally discriminated against women and other outcasts—and
currently against Christian converts. This discrimination has marginalized many
people, including even important “sons” of Umuofia. The speaker points out that
not “all the sons of Umuofia” are with them at the vital clan gathering; he admits
that they may have to kill their own clansmen if they go to war. Yet the
speaker feels that they must do battle in order to rid themselves of this evil.
When Okonkwo kills the court messenger, his
fellow clansmen almost back away from him in fear; in fact, his violent action
is questioned. When he realizes that no one supports him, Okonkwo finally knows
that he can’t save his village and its traditions no matter how fiercely he
tries. His beloved and honored Umuofia is on the verge of surrender, and Okonkwo
himself feels utterly defeated. Everything has fallen apart for him. His action
in the final chapter will not be a surprise.
Glossary
a war of blame In
Chapter2, the villagers state that a “fight of blame” (which Okonkwo expects
the peacemakers to label this fight against the strangers) would never be
sanctioned by their Oracle, which approves only a “just war.” Therefore, what
Okonkwo is considering may go beyond even the clan’s traditions—a fight for
which they may not have full justification from their gods.
creepers plants
whose stems put out tendrils or rootlets by which they can creep along a
surface as they grow.
Part Three: Chapter 25
Summary
Following the killing of the messenger, the
District Commissioner goes to Okonkwo’s compound and, finding a small crowd,
demands to see Okonkwo. Obierika repeatedly says that he is not home. When the
Commissioner threatens the men, Obierika agrees to show him where Okonkwo is,
expressing the hope that the Commissioner’s men will help them.
Obierika
leads the Commissioner and his men to an area behind the compound, where
Okonkwo’s body hangs lifeless from a tree—a victim of suicide. Obierika asks
the Commissioner if his men will cut Okonkwo down from the tree and bury him.
According to tradition, the people of the clan cannot touch the body of a man
who killed himself—a sin against the earth. Obierika angrily accuses the
Commissioner causing the death of his good friend. The Commissioner orders his
men to take down the body and bring it and the crowd to the court.
As the Commissioner leaves, he thinks about
the book in which he writes about his experiences in civilizing the people of
Nigeria. He will possibly write a chapter, or perhaps an interesting paragraph,
about the man who killed a messenger and then killed himself. The Commissioner
will title his book The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower
Niger.
Commentary
The book’s final confrontation between the
District Commissioner and the Umuofians is almost anticlimactic. It serves to
demonstrate once more the deep cultural gulf between the Europeans and the
Igbos. This difference is dramatized not solely by the events but also by the
language of the chapter. For example, notice the sudden appearance of several
literate words relating to the Commissioner throughout the scene: infuriating,
superfluous, instantaneously, resolute. He imagines himself to be a “student of
primitive customs,” listening to the explanation of the “primitive belief”
about handling the body of a suicide. His warning about the natives playing
“monkey tricks” may reflect his views that they are, in fact,
animalistic—perhaps like primates in the wild.
In
preparation for the final paragraph of the novel, Achebe dramatically shifts
the narrative style from an omniscient, mostly objective point of view to the
personal point of view of the District Commissioner, whose thoughts in the
final paragraph become the final irony of the book. The Commissioner sees
himself as a benevolent ambassador to the natives—one who must maintain his
dignity at all times in order to earn the favorable opinion of the natives. He
prides himself on having spent many years toiling to bring “civilization to
different parts of Africa,” and he has “learned a number of things.” The Commissioner
feels that his experiences allow him the privilege of writing the definitive
book on The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.
Primitive is, of course, his British point of
view. The Commissioner, like other colonialists, cannot imagine that he
understands very little about the Igbo, especially that they are not
primitive—except perhaps from a European technological perspective. In the
meantime, the novel has revealed to its readers the complex system of justice,
government, society, economy, religion, and even medicine in Umuofia before the
British arrived.
Finally, the Commissioner seems unconcerned
about the ironic fact that the colonialists’ methods of pacification are often
achieved through suppression and violence—themselves essentially primitive
means for achieving nationalistic objectives.
Glossary
superfluous being more than
is needed, useful, or wanted; surplus; excessive.
monkey
tricks possibly
a racial slur directed at the natives.
resolute having
or showing a fixed, firm purpose; determined; resolved; unwavering.
abomination anything
hateful and disgusting.
Yes, sah Yes sir;
the form may be Pidgin English and illustrates how the native-born court
messengers submitted to the orders of their white bosses—at least on the
surface.