Commentary on Chapter One

In a few strokes, we get a picture of tribal life and customs. The main character,
Okonkwo, is sketched out for us, as well as his father. The father’s background is
necessary because overcoming his father’s reputation is his driving force in life.

White missionaries arrive later in the story, allowing the contrast of traditional
tribal life to the disruption of outside forces. Igbo life is one of strong tradition, and
the ways of the nine villages of Umoufia have served the people well for centuries.
The narrator tells the action from the Igbo point of view.

 Proverbs, containing wit, wisdom, and the worldview of the Igbo in a few concise
words, are used liberally throughout the book to explain what cannot be explained
in any other way. In a pithy saying, a character or tradition may be summed up.
These proverbs are traded back and forth in conversation, the stock for song,
poetry, and judgments. In the proverb characterizing Unoka, for instance, is
expressed the folly of saving up for the future when one should enjoy what is at
hand.

 Traditions are the most important part of the narrative, without which the actions
would not make sense. A Westerner, looking only at what the Igbo do, would find
them “primitive” as the English do, later on in the story. Yet we are offered a
vision of their life within their own context. The importance of bringing and
receiving gifts, the treatment of guests, the marriage customs, family life, all these
are given from an Igbo view, without Western commentary.

 When Unoka offers the kola nut to his guest, Okoye answers in a proverb, “he
who brings kola brings life” ( Ch. 1, p. 6). They argue over who has the honor to
break the kola nut first. All these are subtle points in tribal relations. The kola nut
contains caffeine and is used in ceremonies and visits. The kola is bitter but
rejuvenating and euphoric in nature, an aphrodisiac, and also relieves hunger
pangs, which may be why Okoye, the well-fed rich man, may have let the poor
Unoka have the honor. He is also buttering him up, hoping to get back the money
Unoka owes him.

 One of the most important things Achebe establishes in his narrative is the skillful
and delicate way the Igbo maintain balance within the tribe, and between the
people and the gods. It is an elaborate, elegant, yet simple system, and each person
knows his or her place. In the West, Okoye might have taken Unoka to court to get
his money, but the shame attached to being a debtor seems to be enough for this
tribe. Okoye lets it go.
1
Commentary on Chapter Two

Darkness is a frightening time for the Igbo. Children are told not to whistle at night
for fear of evil spirits. A snake is not called by its name at night; it is called a
string. Oddly enough, this sort of thing frightens Okonkwo as war does not. He is
proud of being able to drink his palm-wine at a funeral from a human head.

 Umoufia is powerful in magic and war, yet just. It does not go to war needlessly,
and only on the advice of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves.  Sometimes the
Oracle forbids war. The tribe does not disobey the Oracle for fear of defeat, for
their war power comes mostly from their strong tribal magic. The medicine magic
is called “agadi-nwayi” or old woman with one leg medicine, with its shrine in the
center of Umuofia. This medicine never allows a war of blame, but the current
threat would be a just war, so the people of Mbaino do what they can to avoid it.

 The portrait of Okonkwo is built carefully for he bears a double burden as a

character. He represents a study of the tribe, as well as a study of his own
character. As a person, he is out of balance with the laws of his tribe, as will
become more and more apparent. He is rash and driven by fear. The fear is that he
will be like his father. He overcompensates, bringing misery to his family, and
eventually the tribe.

Commentary on Chapter Three

 Okonkwo’s enterprising nature in getting his start in life despite his father’s ill-
fated legacy is illustrated here. Even more importantly, we see how tribal justice
works. No one is bound to help the young man of a lazy father, but Okonkwo’s
sincere desire to excel excites the admiration of the richest and most successful
man in town, who has all but the highest title. By appealing to him as a father in a
ceremonial and public way among the elders, he asks the tribe to redress the wrong
done him by his own father. These delicate negotiations are done with the usual
flurry of proverbs, and the one spoken by Okonkwo that wins the day is: “Let the
kite perch, and let the eagle perch, too. If one says no to the other, let his wing
break” (Ch. 3, p. 19).

Okonkwo thus announces his intention to be a great man too. There is room at the
top. “The man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness”
(Ch. 3, p. 19).

 It is clear from this chapter that it is not only hard work that leads to success but
harmony with gods, ancestral spirits and personal chi. The tribal god, Agbala, has a
2
shrine in the middle of the villages, and the Oracle is consulted for difficult
questions. When a worshipper goes to the Oracle, he or she must crawl on the belly
into a dark hole and into a large dark cave where nothing is visible, a sort of
reverse birth process. No one sees Agbala but the priestess who speaks with its
voice. No one goes against the Oracle, and this is important in the action to come.

 Each person also has a personal god, or chi, who rules his or her fate. Unoka is
deemed to have an evil chi, because of all the bad luck and dishonor that follow
him

Commentary on Chapter Four

Okonkwo’s individual story is told within the important cycles of nature and
village life. It is made clear that the individual is subordinate to the tribe, and that
anyone endangering the tribe’s relationship to the gods is out of favor. Yet, even
sinners can make amends. The most important thing is balance, and when
Okonkwo puts the tribal spirit out of place, he has to pay the price for ceremonies
to restore his balance and the village’s.

 Tribal law and custom, though it is a fixed framework, are flexible and evolving,
as is seen in Ezeudu’s story about how penance during Peace Week changed over
time. Oral tradition works by precedents handed down, along with their practical
results.

 Over and over it is shown that Okonkwo has trouble restraining his temper. He
will not stop beating his wife, once he has started. He would rather do penance
than back down. His pride and anger become more and more of a problem.

 Commentary on Chapter Five

The narrative shifts from the larger cycle of the earth festival to a close-up of
Okonkwo’s family as they prepare for the holiday. The relationship of the family
members is revealed as well as the customs that hold them together and hold them
securely in the Igbo society. For instance, we see the harmony among the wives
and children, who must work together. The wives care for each other’s children,
share utensils and fire, and protect each other from their husband’s anger.
Ikemefuna tries to protect Obiageli, Okonkwo’s daughter of his first wife, from
being punished for breaking her water pot—an irony, considering his fate.

3
 Okonkwo is lord and master and against his unreasonable anger there is no relief,
even when he beats a wife or shoots at her. He is the provider and protector, so his
word is law up to a certain point. As we see, however, he is as bound as the others
to the law of Ani, the earth goddess, who is the ultimate judge of morality. There
are a number of sins mentioned that offend her, and to offend her is to risk the
livelihood of the whole clan. Therefore, the individual has freedom only within the
law of the earth and the clan.

 We see more deeply into Okonkwo’s flaw. He clearly has no control over his
anger. His wife had done nothing to provoke it; it is deep inside. He shoots first
and worries after. Anger is the only emotion he shows. He feels affection towards
his children, Ezinma, for instance, but never shows it, for fear of seeming weak. 

 Commentary on Chapter Six

We see the villages of Umoufia at the height of their strength and joy during the
wrestling matches. The drums unite the people with the earth, and the feast and the
wrestling make all feel secure. Even Ekwefi, who is always worried Ezinma will
die, as her other children did, is assured by the priestess that the girl will stay. The
main concern at this moment is who will win the wrestling. This is a celebration
that unites everyone, and it comes right before the first of the tragedies that marks
the decline of Okonkwo’s luck, and the luck of Umuofia.

 The interesting fact is thrown in casually that there are slaves in Umuofia, a fact
the narrator does not explain or excuse. This will be an important point when the
Christians arrive. The slaves are captives or hostages given to the gods. They have
no place in society and are ruled by the village council. Ikemefuna has no idea he
is in such a position because he is treated as a son in Okonkwo’s household.

 Commentary on Chapter Seven

The cruel customs of the Igbo come to light here, such as killing the innocent
hostage, Ikemefuna, and the custom of throwing out or abandoning twins as an
abomination. Nwoye seems to have the gentleness of his grandfather, Unoka, in
him, which is why Okonkwo is so hard on him. Nwoye naturally had taken to the
kind treatment of Ikemefuna as an elder brother, and knowing that his father had a
hand in killing the boy could hardly make him respect his father. He connects such
cruelty to the inexplicable custom of abandoning twins in the Evil Forest where all
bad things are put. This is where Okonkwo’s father was left to die of an unclean
disease. The warriors did not take Ikemefuna there but out of the village limits to
kill him, for fear of contaminating the village.
4
 Okonkwo has been warned not to participate in this ritual killing and yet he does.
Even if he felt bound to go, he needn’t have struck a blow himself. Yet the fear in
him is greater than his reason. His fear of being thought weak rules him, and so he
strikes the final blow that kills his foster son. Ezuedu had warned him against it
because of the relationship between him and the boy. It would offend the earth to
kill one’s own child or family member. Okonkwo has not committed an official
sin, but it is a sin in the account book of the earth; it is the turning point of his own
story.

 The narrator makes the incident particularly tragic by switching to Ikemefuna’s

point of view, his thoughts of home, his mother, her song, and finally, his trust in
his foster father. We also see the horror of it in Nwoye’s reaction, his total
repulsion for his father.

 Commentary on Chapter Eight

Okonkwo recovers from his guilt as soon as he has something to do. He still does
not get the point he has done anything very wrong in killing the boy, even when his
friend rebukes him. He has not broken any law, after all. It is telling that Okonkwo
does not understand the devotion of the old couple who died together; after all,
Ogbuefi Ndulue was a great warrior, he says! Why should he confide in his wife?
No soft emotion seems right to him, and this casting off of everything feminine or
emotional makes Okonkwo rigid in his beliefs and rash in his actions.

 His rigidity comes out in the discussion of tradition; for instance, the ozo rank has
become watered down in other villages, and, the men joke that in some places the
children belong to the women, which is as bad as the woman lying on top of the
man.

 An elder reminds them: “what is good in one place is bad in another place” (Ch. 8,
p. 74). There is in general a spirit of tolerance and balance among the Igbo that
goes beyond mere rule of law. Okonkwo thinks manliness is in fulfilling the letter
of the law and the rank, but that is not what keeps the tradition alive. Okonkwo is a
respected man of rank, but he is not one of the wisest of the clan.

 Ominously, the group makes reference to the strange white men they have heard
of and make a joke that they are white like lepers, for that is the disease of the
“white skin.” Ironically, the life of the Igbo is about to change in much larger ways
than they can imagine.

Commentary on Chapter Nine

5
The magical beliefs of the Igbo are delved into with the incident of Ezinma’s
illness, for she is believed to be an ogbanje, a troublesome child that keeps dying
and being reborn. Ezinma is an extraordinary girl, and plays up her role and takes
advantage of her special position. Her mother spoils her with eggs and other
forbidden foods, trying to keep her well. At nine years of age, Ezinma leads the
people and medicine man on a chase for her magic stone, iyi-uwa, that is supposed
to keep her tied to the spirit world. She points to a spot and the medicine man and
her father dig all day a hole so deep that they cannot be seen. Finally a stone
wrapped in a cloth is found and the child is saved. Ezinma trades and interprets
traditional stories of the tribe with her mother and calls her Ekwefi instead of
mother. In every way she indicates she is special, and she gains the attention of the
priestess, who gives her sweets. Ezinma alone understands Okonkwo, and he
grieves that she was not a boy.

Commentary on Chapter Ten

Igbo justice is based not on hard and fast rules, but on keeping the peace. The men
masquerading as the ancestral spirits have authority and are not looked on as their
personalities. Okonkwo must transcend his limitations in this instance and help to
find the just solution. In this case, it was simply that the situation needed to come
to light in public, so the husband would be more restrained in private. There is no
thought about finding guilt or punishment; merely, to find a workable solution that
brings peace to the clan.

 The irony of this is that Okonkwo is playing the role of the judge while he has a
similar problem as Uzowulu’s at home—he is a violent man who cannot restrain
himself. Okonkwo has chance after chance to learn his lesson but does not take the
hint or admit he is wrong

Commentary on Chapter Eleven

 Both Okonkwo and Ekwefi are prepared to defend their daughter from the god
should he want to harm her. This strain on the people between the commands of
their gods and their own desires is important and builds to a climax once the
Christians come. Ekwefi is already embittered with the gods for taking away
eleven of her children. She is not about to give up her one remaining child.
Okonkwo’s support means a lot to her, for he is a strong elder of the clan, one of
the egwugwu, or ancestral spirit judges. Here we see him in the role of a father who
wants to protect his favorite child, despite the tribal laws. We also see tenderness
in him for once because he knows his wife is suffering. She remembers why she

6
married him. Ekwefi reflects that he never spoke much, so it is plain that she
understands, as Ezinma does, the deeper currents of his heart.

 The tale of Tortoise is an example of folk stories and lore integrated into the larger
story. The tale contains folk wisdom against selfishness and deceit, and we see the
way the tales are told in the evenings before bed. They also illustrate the way in
which animals, nature, and humans are all contained in the same moral framework.
In this way, the stories are not exactly like Aesop’s fables that are strictly parables.
The stories are closer to those of Native American tradition in which the animals
are participants with humans and gods.

 Commentary on Chapter Twelve

This is another picture of the Igbo tradition, working to create harmony. Marriage
is not a private matter. The families become allied. Two villages are more closely
united and celebrate together. The bride-price indicates that women are highly
valued, although it may appear they are sold by their families. Women obviously
have a say in the matter, as Ekwefi did, who left her first husband for Okonkwo,
and when she grows up, Ezinma will turn down many suitors before she accepts
one. And a man who is brutal to his wife can be stopped by the clan, as was seen in
the court case. The family interconnections are numerous and courtesy important.
The exact number of pots of wine indicate something about the respect and wealth
of the suitor. Women are a source of sons, and they are married young to ensure
many children. As in many traditional societies, wives and children are counted as
part of one’s wealth. This wedding is a moment of peace before a storm.

 Commentary on Chapter Thirteen

The funeral unleashes great power and emotion. The masked ancestral spirits
themselves seem mad, and it is implied that the passion was too much for
Okonkwo who accidentally fires his gun and kills the boy of the dead man. We
have seen that Okonkwo has unrestrained anger and emotion, but he is also a bad
shot. He missed hitting Ekwefi when firing at her in anger, and here, he did not
intend the death at all. His luck has changed, and it was the dead warrior, Ezeudu,
who had warned him about Ikemefuna. Now, he really has offended the earth by
killing a clansman, and has to go into exile to pay the penalty. Obierika is a
thoughtful man who questions this judgment, as when he had to kill his newborn
twins, an abomination to the earth. Yet, a formal judgment is a way to pay off the
guilt and put a limit to it. This judgment is very harsh on a man like Okonkwo who

7
is still trying to rise, and may have had ambitions to take the highest title. This
event ends Part One of the novel.

 Commentary on Chapter Fourteen

Uchendu aptly identifies Okonkwo’s weakness—his over attachment to the male

virtues. Thus, his punishment seems just: he gets one more opportunity to learn the
female side of life. Uchendu tries to instill in him the value of mother and mother
earth. He says that when a woman dies, there is a song that says,

 “For whom it is well, for whom it is well?

There is no one for whom it is well.” (Ch. 14, p.135)

Okonkwo never admits his love for feminine things or his wives and daughters.
His own mother died when he was quite young.

Commentary on Chapter Fifteen

Okonkwo’s tragic accident had happened the year earlier, and now the tragic news
concerns the whole land, with white settlers moving in. The Igbo hardly know how
to react. Their Oracle is correct, but their solution of killing the white man only
sets off the inevitable conflict between the ancient civilization and modern
colonizers.

 The men in Uchendu’s hut analyze the problem according to their magic and
tradition. Uchendu insists on knowing what the white man said when they killed
him, and the answer was nothing. That was the mistake, said Uchendu. You can
never kill a person who says nothing, and he tells the story of Mother Kite and the
duckling.

 This telling of tales is the way the Igbo comprehend events. It seems humorous to
a white point of view, like tying up the iron horse or bicycle to the tree, but it
represents a clash of worldviews. The Igbo have guns, but they are used to doing
things in a ceremonial fashion. No war has been declared. The villagers killed the
white man on the Oracle’s pronunciation. At most, they expected to see his friends
or relatives. They are not prepared for genocide in the market place when no one is
armed.

 Okonkwo’s reaction is that they should have armed themselves at all times. This is
his typical warrior pose, that everything can be taken care of with violence.

8
Obeierika reflects that they had heard of white men taking slaves across the sea,
but they did not believe the stories. This shows, along with the earlier joke about
whites as lepers, that the Igbo have no comprehension about whites or outside
world history. It is also clear when they return quickly to their own local affairs
that they do not comprehend the white threat to themselves.

 Commentary on Chapter Sixteen

The conflict in the novel has widened from Okonkwo and his culture to the clash
of two different worldviews or religions, as the whites colonize Africa. Because we
have been immersed in the Igbo world and point of view, a Western reader sees
Christian doctrine in a new way and can understand why it would sound absurd to
the people of Umuofia. Yet, the cracks have been shown to exist in the Igbo
society already, so it is no surprise that the disaffiliated, like Nwoye, respond to the
new religion and new hope held out to them.

 The forces of colonization are insidious because they do not come first with armed
forces, but with goods, religion, and ideas. The religion plants seeds, and the
government follows. This kind of tactic destroys a man like Okonkwo from the
inside. He is a simple warrior, and has no ground on which to stand or understand.

 Commentary on Chapter Seventeen

The Christians have indeed descended like locusts, and Okonkwo sees clearly what
the outcome will be. It is more than a personal affront that his son has abandoned
his fathers; the clan and the ancestors will be annihilated as well. He cannot fathom
such a grievous sin that makes his sins seem pale. Now, not only his own glorious
future has been ruined, but the clan’s as well. He thinks of his old name: “Roaring
Flame” and looking at the smoldering log in the fire, he understands that fire
begets ash. His son is nothing but a woman.

 Commentary on Chapter Eighteen

So far, the clan and the Christian Africans are able to maintain some kind of
balance, though there is conflict. The Igbo have always had the wisdom of “live
and let live” unless there is a serious violation of law. In this case, the clan is
gratified by the proof the gods are still alive when the accused dies suddenly and
mysteriously, and let the Christians go on in their strange ways with the dregs of
society. They still don’t take the new religion too seriously, though it is an
annoyance.

9
 It is an ominous note for Okonkwo, however, that he is repeatedly ignored by his
people in his advice to attack the invaders. They opt for placating the outsiders and
putting up with them. Okonkwo assumes this is the womanish spirit of his mother
land. The solution of the Mbanta elders, nevertheless, seemed to work: they let the
gods fight their own battles, and the offender died without causing a further feud.

 Commentary on Chapter Nineteen

Here is another of the great feasts in the old style that call the clan together. The
elders speak of the strength of the clan and how it is more important than anything
else. They thank Okonkwo for this moment of unity in the face of the divisive new
religion. It gives us the last glimpse of Igbo unity before the deluge to come.

 Commentary on Chapter Twenty

The white government has now completely usurped the power of the clan to solve
its own arguments. They intervene on behalf of black Christians who adhere to
their religion and rules. Aneto’s case was not allowed to be settled by the tribal
custom. Thus, as Obeirika tries to explain to Okonkwo, it is too late to fight
because they have won over so many of the people. He mentions how clever the
white man was to come peaceably with his new religion, then took over: “He has
put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Ch. 20, p.
176).

 Obierika speaks the theme of the book. Achebe took the title of the novel from a
phrase by Yeats in his poem, The Second Coming: “Things fall apart; the center
cannot hold.” There are the natural rhythms of the seasons, the land, life and death.
From an Igbo point of view, life is unpredictable and often violent, yet there was
an order to it before the whites came. Now, they are losing their relationship to
land, gods, and each other. Their center is gone.

 Commentary on Chapter Twenty-One

As Obierika had said to Okonkwo, it is too late to defeat the white man, for he has
conquered from within. The people are already becoming dependent on the new
ways, even if there are negative side effects. Mr. Brown is one of the more
intelligent missionaries who actually tries to learn about the people. The religious
discussion with Akunna allows the reader to see more than Mr. Brown does
however, into Igbo beliefs, for Akunna acquits himself well. He explains what the
dense white man does not get about earth religions: they worship lesser gods to
honor certain powers and elements in nature, but they also recognize a supreme
10
God, Chukwu. As with human government, there is a hierarchy of powers, and one
must honor them all and call on the right one for certain favors. Mr. Brown does
not get the theological significance of these arguments as he sticks to his own
dogma, but he understands practically that these are not ignorant or unreflective
heathen, so he takes a different, more indirect tactic. The conversation shows the
depth and flexibility of Igbo spirituality, and the inflexibility of the Christians, who
despite their religion of love, are ruthless in practice.

 Mr. Brown forbears from trying to convince anyone after that; he goes for the
practical lures of education, jobs, goods, money. These temptations are too much
for most of the villagers who look to what will bring prestige in the future. They
try to keep up with the times. Okonkwo is exactly the sort of person who will
suffer most from this change. He has lost his power, his status, and his clan. His
strategy of arriving in his old town with beautiful marriageable daughters is
successful but does not stir that much attention, and because he cannot initiate his
sons into the ozo society for two years, the gesture is lost. Life has left the old
warrior behind.

Commentary on Chapter Twenty-Two

One of Achebe’s messages is that the black and white thinking of Rev. Smith or
Okonkwo is not the spirit of life; it is the soul of conflict. It is remarkable under the
provocation that the egwugwu are restrained and that their leader, Ajofia, gives a
fair judgment, of merely burning the church rather than revenge on any people.
Enoch has a personality like Okonkwo’s but on the other side of the fence. He
longs for a holy war.

 It is clear that both sides have difficulty in understanding the other. Why it is an
unheard of disaster to unmask an ancestor is difficult for Mr. Smith, and why it is
terrible to mutilate an evil child is difficult for the clan. The interpreter wisely
mistranslates during negotiations for this very reason, trying to keep tempers under
control. Yet, despite the people of good will on either side, the tension keeps
escalating, and the reader can see greater disaster coming, though the clan cannot.

Commentary on Chapter Twenty-Three

The Commissioner does not treat the elders with any dignity or fairness, assuming
they are savages. He deceives them and says they will be safe in prison, but the
other black guards, the hated court messengers—imported from a distant town—
take the opportunity to humiliate and torture them. Thus, he need not dirty his own
hands.
11
 The speech in which the Commissioner explains he is the representative of the
Queen, administering a just government, and that they are not going to be allowed
to break the law, sounds reasonable, but only if the clansmen are assumed not
human or having any legitimate right to their own land and ways. He says he will
listen to their grievance, but he does not and acts unilaterally. This is
incomprehensible to Igbo people who have a fair way of dealing with enemies.

 Commentary on Chapter Twenty-Four

The meeting represents the last chance of the people to stop the white man, and
Okonkwo has declared war, whether or not his people follow. He worries about the
pacifist, Egonwanne, who never even gets the chance to speak. Instead, a fellow
prisoner, Okika, makes the speech Okonkwo would have made for war. The
messengers showing up to stop the meeting are only five in number, and yet the
fact that the people do not kill them is a sign they know they cannot win. They give
up and go away in a panic.

 Okonkwo has always been violent and rash, so we are not surprised that he kills
the head messenger. These messengers had been involved in the capture and
torture of Okonkwo and the other leaders. It was an instinctive move to take out his
machete and strike, without thought. He had vowed vengeance, and the
opportunity presented itself before he expected. But Okonkwo can also read the
crowd. The fact that they dispersed at the appearance of the messengers means the
lesson has already been learned. The stripes on Okonkwo’s back have been felt by
the whole clan. They do not fight, and it is not because of Egonwanne or any
pacifist speech.

 Commentary on Chapter Twenty-Five

In this last chapter, white civilization has taken over, and Obierika cries in grief the
only funeral oration for his friend. Okonkwo, knowing for certain the outcome, and
not wanting to let the white man have the satisfaction of hanging him, kills
himself, against all the laws of the clan.

 We get the impact of the defeat of the Igbo people with the surprise death of the
proud Okonkwo. It is a symbol of the deep despair of losing autonomy, honor,
their religion and relation to the Earth. The gods and ancestors are dying, and they
cannot save Okonkwo or the tribe. There is no sacrifice that can undo what has
been done. His suicide, like the killing of Ikemefuna, the boy at the funeral, and the
messenger, are sudden and rash, on the one hand, but a deep expression of his chi,
on the other hand. He clings to manly violence as the only honorable way of a
12
warrior, even if it turns out to be wrong in both worlds: the white world and the
world of his fathers.

 The irony of his having given his whole life and strength to provide for his family
and clan, only to throw it away in this fashion is truly tragic. Obierika does not
condemn his friend as he would an individual committing the same act, however,
for it is the fate of his people that Okonkwo represents, more than his own losses

 The last stroke of humiliation is the District Commissioner’s relegating the life of
Okonkwo and the Igbo people to an interesting footnote in his book on how to
conquer and colonize. This colonization is a form of war Okonkwo and his people
cannot understand nor survive, intact. Okonkwo sees it all coming, the horror of
the ancestors and gods not being worshipped. We get the earlier hint that his son,
Nwoye, had gone off to the white man’s school and will come home to convert the
rest of his family once his father is gone. They will make the transition to a new
Africa, but Okonkwo is the last of his kind.

13