PART II SUMMARY

Part number II from the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, starts with Okonkwo´s exile from his clan. He started a new life in a different place and clan. He was received by his mother´s kinsmen in Mbanta and by an old man who was his mother´s youngest brother, Uchendu. Okonkwo was “taking his family of three wives and their children” to look for some refuge in his motherland. He was given a part of land and he and his family worked very hard to plant and build a new farm.

Few days after Okonkwo arrival, there was going to be a wedding ceremony as Amikwu, the youngest of Uchendu´s five sons was marrying a new wife. In the ceremony the sister in law will ask questions to the bride such as “How many men have lain with you since my brother first expressed the desire to marry you”? From that day the bride Amikwu will take the young bride to his hut and she became his wife. Two days after the wedding Uchendu gathered all his sons, daughters and his nephew Okonkwo. He wanted everyone to know why was Okonkwo with them today and let everyone asked questions about this fact…”Why is Okonkwo with us today?”…”a man belongs to his fatherland, not to his motherland”.Uchendu replied that he wanted Okonkwo himself to give the answers, but Okonkwo replied..” I don´t know the answer”. Then, Uchendu said that he didn´t know the answer because he was still a child even though he had three wives, he then continued saying that..”it´s true  that a child belongs to his father”, but when a father beats his child, it was ok for him to look for love and comprehension in his mother´s hut.

Two years passed from Okonkwo´s arrival when Obierka his friend came to visit him. He came with two young men, each of them were carrying a heavy bag on their heads. Obierka started to tell the story about a white man who came to their clan during the last planting season….and “he was riding an iron horse”… The elders of the clan consulted the Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them, and that other withe men were on their way. So, they killed him and the point is that he didn´t say anything when they killed him, not a word. For many markets weeks nothing happened, but one day three white men and a very large number of other men surrounded the market and began to shoot. Everybody was killed, except for the old and the sick because they were home. Their clan was completely empty.  The message that Obierka wanted to give with this story is “never killed a man who says nothing”. Then, Obierka pointed at the two heavy bags and said that it was the money from Okonkwo´s yams and gave it to him.

Two years later Obierka came to visit his friend in exile again, but this time things were not very happy because the missionaries had come to Umofia and had built their church there, won a lot of converts and were already sending evangelists to the other towns and villages around them. Obierka found out that Nwoye was already one of them but he could barely talk to him. He came back to talk to his friend Okonkwo but he didn´t say a word. It was Nwoye´s mother who explained Obierka what was happening and told him that those missionaries said that there was just one God and they worshiped him all the time with strange songs and noises in the church and that Nwoye was unfortunately one of them now.

Things Fall Apart. [online] Available at: Things Fall Apart Part II [Accessed: 21 Mar 2013].

CHAPTER 15 MOTHER KITE STORY

“Never kill a man who says nothing”, this is how Uchendu starts telling the story. The story is about an eagle called Mother Kite, who one day sent its daughter to bring some food; the daughter came back with a ducking. Its mother said it was fine but she wanted to know what did the duckling´s mother said when she took the duckling away from her. The daughter answered that it said nothing and just walked away. Then, Eagle Mother Kite told her that it most returned the duckling, because there was something hidden behind the silence, so the daughter went back and returned the duckling and took a chick instead. When she came back her mother asked again what did the mother of the chick did and the eagle daughter answered that it cried, raved and cursed her. After that, Mother Kite said that there was nothing to fear because it shouted, and “There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts”, so they could eat the chick.

After reading this story I could understand that the message that Uchendu wanted to give is that we most fear or be careful with people that doesn’t speak or doesn’t express feelings, that to the ones that are always yelling, screaming or preventing us about their acts. Because when someone is going to do something bad to you he or she will do it, without preventing or telling you. For example, a robber will not prevent you when he is going to robe you, he will just go and do it. On the other hand, people who will be telling you that he or she will be doing something bad to you; they will probably never do it.  There is a Mexican proverb that says “Perro que ladra no muerde”, this means that “dog that barks will not bites”.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe