Okonkwo
finally is returning to Umuofia and although he knows things have changes he
has some plans to make his return more important. At first he notices that no
one really cares about his return because the big thing that is going on is the
white man invasion. During a festivity of the town Enoch, a converted man,
unmasked an egwugwu that is a big crime someone can commit. I think that Enoch
did this as to say that their religion was false and the spirits didn’t
existed. After this crime obviously everyone was mad and went to burn the
church. This was like the event that started to create a confrontment ambient
between both cultures.
In
a preventive act the commissioner cheated the clansmen of Umuofia by capturing
them. They tortured the clansmen during days. No food, no water, no space. They
were whipped and hurt. This continued until the commissioner asked for 200
cowries as an exchange for the prisoners. When the messenger went for the
cowries he asked for 250 and took those left 50. The clansmen were finally
released so they decided to organize a reunion of the entire town. Okonkwo was
full of anger and hate towards the white men for what they had done to him and
his men.
During
the reunion some of the clansmen spoke and started to discuss about the actual
situation. Suddenly they see a messenger sent by the commissioner and without
thinking it twice Okonkwo grabbed his machete and decapitated the messenger.
Everyone was shocked; they were not sure why he had done that. Okonkwo got disappointed
because he did that as to encourage his town to rebellion but everyone gave him
their back. This was too much for Okonkwo, after all he has fight for and
everything he has been thought, so he gave up. He killed himself as to say that
they couldn’t change him because he was going to die before they killed him.
At
the end the missioner speaks as if the tribe were an inferior specie and that
he was just “studying” them.
Achebe,
C, (1994), Things
fall apart, Anchor Books, New York.
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