Okonkwo
returns to his village after seven years of exile, knowing that he had lost his
place among the men who administered the justice in the clan. Umofia has
changed a lot. The church has growth in strength and the white men set up their
rules and judicial system. There is a discussion of the story of Aneto, who was
hanged by the government after he killed a man. Obierika and Okonkwo finished
the discussion by sitting in silence together.
Some people
of Umofia are happy with the white men influence in their clan. Mr. Brown and
Akunna meet often to discuss about their different points of views, including
religion. Mr. Brown built a hospital and a school. He told Okonkwo that Nwoye
is in a training school for teachers but he chose him away and behaved
violently.
A man came
to replace Mr. Brown, his name was Reverend James Smith, who was a strict and
intolerant man and wanted every member of the village to obey to the letter of
the Bible and disapproves Mr. Brown´s tolerant and unorthodox policies. Enoch
Unmasked an egwugwu during the annual ceremony to honor the earth, this is
considered as killing an ancestral spirit. The next day, the egwugwu burned
Enoch´s compound the ground. They later gathered in front of the church to confront
Reverend Smith and his Christians. They wanted to destroy the church in order
to clean their village of Enoch´s. Smith said to leave the problem on his
hands. They ignore him and burn the church.
Okonkwo and
his people are on the guard and armed themselves with guns and machetes. The
District Commissioner came and met with the leaders of Umofia. They went, but
no sooner they put their machetes on the floor than a group of soldiers surprises
them. They were all put in jail and suffered insults and physical abuse. A fine
of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries was asked to set them free. A day
later, the clan decided to collect the cowries to pay the fine and set them
free.
The prisoners
return to the village, they were very bad looking that the women and children
were afraid to greet them. The village crier announces a meeting for the next
morning. But Okonkwo decides on a course of action to which he will stick no
matter what the village decides. He took out his war dress. The meeting is
packed with men from all the clan´s nine villages. During the meeting five
court messengers approach, their leader orders the meeting to end, but Okonkwo
killed him with two strokes of his machete. Unfortunately the villagers allowed
the messenger to escape and concluded the meeting. Okonkwo understood that his
clan will not go to war. He wiped his machete from blood and left.
Finally
Obierika agreed to lead him. They went behind a small bush and discovered
Okonkwo´s body dangling from a tree. He has hanged himself. Obierika explains
that suicide is a grave sin and his clansmen may not touch Okonkwo´s body. The
commissioner, who is in the middle of writing a book about Africa, imagines
that Okonkwo´s death will be an interesting paragraph but not an entire chapter.
The title of his book will be “The pacification of the primitive Tribes of the
Lower Niger”.
ThingsFallApart. [online] Available at: ThingsFallApart part IIl [Accessed: 15/04/2013.
