Chapter 12 Okonkwo And Ekwefi example essay topic

CHAPTER 10 A very dramatic public ceremony is described in detail that involves meting out justice. On the village commons pp gather and the rest of the village is behind them. Nine stools are placed for the to sit. Egwugwu represent the spirits of their ancestors and are respected members of the community who can dispense justice in trials.

Women stood on the edges of the circle. A gong is loudly blasted and the guttural voice of the is heard. When he makes his appearance, it is very dramatic as he wears a fearful looking mask and pretends to scare the women. With him, nine other masked men emerge.

Okonkwo's wives notice that one of the walks with a springy step such as Okonkwo does. They also notice he is absent from where the elders sit. The leader of the speaks some words. The hearing then begins.

It involves a man named Uzowulu whose wife was taken away by him by her family. He wishes that either she return or they pay him his bride-price. The women's brother argues that she has been rescued because she is beaten every day and that she will return on the promise that he never hit her again. After the discussion the leader returns with a verdict. He tells Uzowulu to bring wine to his wife's family and beg his wife to return to him. He also expresses disgust at Uzowulu's cowardice in beating women and asked him to accept his brother-in-law's offer.

The and their system of justice are similar to Western society's notion of a fair public trial. The men who conduct the hearings are the senior members of the society, and have political as well as economic power, but they mask themselves to hide their identity, so that a fair judgment can be given. Here each party is given a chance to state their case and then the leave to debate a verdict as well as a punishment or remuneration. The dismissive attitude one of the elders shows for a trial of this kind reveals the lack of power and respect that women had in this society.

Not only does the women's brother speak for her, but she has no say in the verdict handed to her husband. Whether or not she wants to return is overlooked by the larger economic reason for her return. Her husband's hand is slapped for being so violent but other than that he is not punished for his crime, simply fined CHAPTER 11 One night, Ezinma and her mother are sitting in their hut having their supper. Ekwefi is telling a story about a tortoise and birds and says why tortoises's hells are un even.

When she finishes, Ezinma begins her story. Half way through, she has to break off because they could hear Chielo, the priestess of Agbala prophesying, and calling to Okonkwo. Chielo then enters the hut and insists on talking Ezinma with her since Agbala wanted to see her. Carrying Ezinma on her shoulders, she takes off into the hills. Ekwefi follows her doggedly, though the path is very dangerous and risky. Finally they reach the caves and Chielo enters with Ezinma.

Ekwefi is frightened of what might be happening inside. Behind her, she hears a footstep, and finds Okonkwo, who has followed behind her. Both of them wait together outside the cave for Chielo to reappear, and Ekwefi is grateful for his presence. Notes The importance of oral tradition is shown in this chapter with Ekwefi's tale of why the turtle has a broken shell.

Ezinma herself is a budding storyteller although she is young. Stories are told to reinforce cultural customs and traditions and to explain unknown phenomena. Here both Ekwefi and Okonkwo defy tradition and customs in order to protect Ezinma from harm. Even though she is taken by Chielo, who shares a special bond with this young girl, Ezinma's life is in danger in this scene as it is impossible to know why the Oracle has summoned her. Ekwefi's love for her only child is so great that she is prepared to invoke the wrath of the gods, in order to ensure her child's safety even when Chielo says to her: 'Woman, go home before Agbala does you harm', she cannot. Okonkwo shows himself to be a responsible and caring parent as he follows his family into the forest although this image jars with the other incident that occurred in the forest: the killing of Ikemefuna.

The sight of Okonkwo is thrilling to Ekwefi as she realizes how much her daughter means to him and also how much he means to Ekwefi even after all these years. Despite his "hard shell" Okonkwo has qualities that are admirable. Okonkwo's love for his daughter is portrayed in him having followed Chielo although he would never openly admit it. CHAPTER 12 Okonkwo and Ekwefi wait for Ezinma's exit from the cave but it is not until the early morning hours that Chielo appears with Ezinma. She doe not acknowledge either of them, but simply walks straight to Ezinma's hut and puts her to bed. The parents follow behind.

That day there is a festive air in the neighborhood as Obierika is celebrating his daughter's uri, a part of the betrothal ceremony, where the bridegroom brings the palm-wine for the bride's family, her kin, and extended family. Every family brings food and brides mom is responsible for preparing the food and food is being prepared by the women. Oberieka is preparing two goats for the soup and admiring another that has been brought in as a gift. As the women were preparing the soup, they heard a cow got loose.

They all go to look for it and all have to leave the house. When they found it the owner was fined. The rescue of the cow by all the women of the village is another custom that is observed quite strictly. The price for having a loose animal is steep and meant to maintain a sense of order in the village. The number of pots of palm-wine brought by the bridegroom is of great significance since it denotes the respect they have for the bride's family. Okonkwo therefore dares them to bring fewer than thirty pots-'I shall tell them my mind if they do' he warns.

Fortunately, fifty pots are brought, which counts as enough respect for the bride's people. CHAPTER 13 In the middle of the night, the sound of a drum and a cannon announces the death of Ogbuefi Ezendu, the oldest man in the clan. The whole village attends the funeral as Ogbuefi was a man with three titles, an achievement that was rare. Since he was a warrior, the funeral abounds in warriors, dressed in raffia skirts. Once in a while an spirit makes its appearances from the underworld. Some of them are quite violent and terrifying and often threatening.

In the midst of this ceremony, a cry of agony is heard. Ezudu's son is found lying dead in the crowd shot by Okonkwo who fired his gun and accidentally hit pierced the young boy's heart. Okonkwo knows that killing a member of one's own tribe is a crime against the Goddess of the Earth and therefore he is banished from his village for seven years. He and his family escape to the village of his mother called Mbanta. After daybreak, the men, dressed in garbs of war, set fire to his house, not due to hatred, but to get his memory out of town sort to speak Notes It is ironic that Okonkwo kills the son of a man who had warned him not to kill Ikemefuna, a boy who was like a son to Okonkwo. That there is no precedent for this kind of accident shows how singular this event is in the history of the village and how it will have repercussions even though justice has been dispensed.

The chapter's ending proverb that 'If one finger brought soil, it soiled the others,' may allude to Okonkwo's crime having even more significant repercussions. CHAPTER 14 Okonkwo's uncle Uchendu receives Okonkwo and his family's presence. Each of Uchendu's sons contribute three hundred seed yams so that Okonkwo can start his farm. He and his family worked hard on the farm he once had but now that it got burnt down, he lost his spirtsThe isa-if ceremony, where Uchendu's youngest son Amikwu, is to marry takes place. Theres a big circle and they start to talk about her virginity The next day, Uchendu calls Okonkwo and his sons together and makes Okonkwo understand that he has come to his mother's land for refuge, and that he cannot continue to be displeased with his present circumstances nor should he sulk or despair about his fall from power.

Tells him if he disobey, then he " ll displease the dead. He He also ask him to get his family set and get them ready to go back to in 7 yrs Notes The isa-if ceremony is another traditional custom of the Igbo culture. In this culture, a woman's virginity is of prime importance, and the woman is questioned about her virginity prior to her marriage. Although men are allowed to marry many times depending on their economic status, women usually marry only once and must have been faithful during the courtship. Two different standards for men and women is a continuing motif in this book where even crimes are categorized into 'male' and 'female. ' Due to his exile, Okonkwo rethinks his chi and realizes that it was not made for great things.

He is humbled and aware that what he can achieve in a lifetime is sometimes limited by unfortunate circumstance. CHAPTER 15 During Okonkwo's second year of exile, Obierika comes to visit him, bringing with him two young men carrying sacks of cowries. Okwonko takes him to meet his uncle and while they are talking, Obierika tells them that the clan of Aba me has been wiped out. The story follows that a white man had come to their village on a bicycle, or what the villagers call an 'iron horse,' and although they had been frightened of him at first, they eventually tied his vehicle to the sacred tree and killed him based on what the Oracle had said about white men who would destroy them. After some months, more white men had come and after seeing the bicycle tied to the tree they left. Months later, when the clan was at the market, white men with guns came and proceeded to shoot all the villagers, except the old and the sick, who had fled.

Now the village is deserted. Notes This chapter reveals the importance that white people will play in the lives of the people of Africa. Until now, there have been several references but nothing as tangible as the story in this chapter that shows a conflict between the native peoples and the white men. Both Okonkwo and Uchendu think it was foolish that they killed this man without knowing his story. This shows the respect these men have for human life as well as their insistence on having a reason for killing someone. Even though they based their decision on what their Oracle had predicted, the men do not see this as good enough reason to kill someone.

CHAPTER 16 By the time Obierika pays his next visit two years later, the missionaries have already invaded Umuofia, built their church and begun their task of converting the people to their religion. He also tells Okonkwo that he has seen Nwoye among these people, but Okonkwo refuses to discuss his son's whereabouts. After talking with Nwoye's mother, Obierika learns of how the missionaries have converted many people in Mbanta also. One day six men arrived in Mbanta, one of them white. The white man used an interpreter to preach to them about everyone being brothers and sons of God and that they should worship the true god, not the false gods of wood and stone.

He also spoke about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The people of Mbanta were annoyed by this and began to move away, but when the missionaries burst into song, they once more became interested. Okonkwo had left the scene in disgust, but Nwoye had been struck by these talks and started mingling with them. Notes Basically some pp came and tried to spread Christina ity CHAPTER 17 The missionaries begin building a church on that land and the people consider the missionaries to be fools as they have accepted the cursed land. But much to their surprise they build their Church without any difficulty and thrive in the Evil Forest, attracting new converts daily. Nwoye, at first, dares not go too close to them as he is afraid of his father's wrath but as the converts grow he gains more and more confidence.

The missionaries are successful in converting a handful of people to Christianity, among them is a pregnant woman called Nne ka. Since she had been only bearing twins, that have all been destroyed, her family is not too upset about her joining the missionaries. Finally Nwoye is spotted among them, and Okonkwo is very angry with him. He ends up beating the truth out of him and is stopped by Uchendu. Nwoye leaves and never returns.

Notes The villagers had thought that the white men wouldn't accept the Evil Forest, but much to their dismay they do. The villagers assume that they would die, but they don't. The villagers assume that the glasses worn by one of the missionaries has unbelievable powers, through which he could see and talk to evil spirits. This chapter reveals the power that the Christians are gaining in the village and their ability to make many of the village's customs seem outdated and false. The Evil Forest does not contain the power that the villagers have imbued it with and therefore people begin to doubt the validity of many customs and beliefs.

The first converts are mostly those who are outcasts from society or those who have been judged harshly or suffered emotional trauma. Twins who were normally killed are now saved by the missionaries and brought up like regular children. CHAPTER 18 The church continues to carry on its activities and even begin rescuing the twins from the forest. Eventually rumors begin to circulate that the church has set up its own government. Although the two communities have remained separated from one another for a while, now several converts come into the village and threaten that they will burn the shrines of false gods. Several clan members beat the converts and then a long period of silence occurs between them while the clan ignores their activities.

However, a problem arises when the outcasts or the o su of the village begin entering the church, seeing that the new religion welcomes twins. These outcasts live in the Evil Forest and cannot marry a free person or cut their hair. When the other converts raise a hue and cry about their appearance at the church, Mr. Kiaga explains that nobody is a slave before God, and that all men are created free and equal. Some converts wish to go back to their clan, but Mr. Kiaga is firm and the converts accept this tolerant doctrine. The outcasts are also accepted. A year later when one of the outcasts is rumored to have killed the royal python, the most revered animal in Mbanta, an assembly is formed to decide the course of action.

In the end they decide to ostracize the Christians. The Christian community, which has now become a large group, are considered outlawed and are debarred from entering the market or collecting water. Okoli denies that he has killed this sacred animal and Mr. Kiaga tries to solve the problem, but by the end of the day, Okoli has died. The villagers believe that the Gods have taken their revenge and therefore they do not have any reason left for harassing the Christians. Notes This chapter highlights the delicate balance and the increasing conflict growing between these two disparate groups.

Although they attempt to avoid each other, inevitably when they cross paths, they have violent encounters. More and more the church and its converts are becoming increasingly aggressive towards the clan and its traditions, ridiculing and degrading its customs and holy objects. With more of the clan crossing over into Christianity, the village is becoming less powerful and unified. Even Okonkwo acknowledges the power the church has in increasing its numbers and worries that his family will eventually jettison the traditional Igbo ways. His anger towards the Christians is extreme and reveals his separation from other clan members.

He looks for violent solutions whereas they are willing to condone the actions of the church. Again he frames his solutions for what is to be done as being either 'womanly' or ' hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io hd yu io sure i will.