Summary During Okonkwo’s second year in exile, his good friend Obierika and two other young men pay him a visit in Mbanta. After his introduction to Uchendu, Obierika relays tragic news about the village of Abame. One day a white man rode into the village on a bicycle, which the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 15Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 14
Summary Okonkwo arrives in Mbanta to begin his seven-year exile. His maternal uncle, Uchendu, now a village elder, welcomes him. Uchendu guesses what has happened, listens to Okonkwo’s story, and arranges for the necessary rituals and offerings. He gives Okonkwo a plot of land on which to build a compound […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Chapter 14Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 13
Summary In the dead of night, the sound of a drum and a cannon announce the death of Ezeudu, an important man in the village. Okonkwo shivers when he remembers that Ezeudu had warned him against playing a part in the killing of Ikemefuna. Everyone in the village gathers for […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 13Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 12
Summary After Chielo took Ezinma away, Okonkwo was not able to sleep. He made several trips to the cave before he finally found and joined Ekwefi waiting outside the cave. When Chielo came out of Agbala’s cave with Ezinma in the early morning hours, she ignored Okonkwo and Ekwefi and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 12Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 11
Summary As Okonkwo relaxes in his hut after the evening meal, he listens to the voices of his wives and children telling folk stories. Ekwefi relates to Ezinma the tale of Tortoise, which explains why the Tortoise shell is not smooth. Just as it becomes Ezinma’s turn to tell Ekwefi […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 11Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 10
Summary Chapter 10 is devoted to a detailed description of a village public trial. At a gathering on the large village commons, the elders sit waiting on their stools while the other men crowd behind them. The women stand around the edges, looking on. A row of nine stools awaits […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 10Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 9
Summary Okonkwo finally enjoys a good night’s sleep since the death of Ikemefuna, when suddenly, he is awakened by a banging at his door. His wife Ekwefi tells him that Ezinma is dying. Ekwefi’s only living child, Ezinma is the light of her life; her nine other children have died […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 9Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 8
Summary For two days after Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo cannot eat or sleep; his thoughts return again and again to the boy who was like a son to him. On the third day, when his favorite daughter Ezinma brings him the food he finally requested, he wishes to himself that she […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 7
Summary Nwoye and Ikemefuna spend all their time together like brothers. In the evenings, they sit with Okonkwo in his hut and listen to his manly stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye still enjoys his mother’s folk tales and legends, but he tries to impress Okonkwo by acting masculine by […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 6
Summary On the second day of the festival, everyone gathers at the village playing field to watch the wrestling contest between men of the village and men of a neighboring village. The first matches, between two teams of boys fifteen or sixteen years old, provide entertainment and excitement before the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 6