Things Fall Apart Chapter 21 - 25
Okonkwo’s return to Umuofia wasn’t at all like anything he had imagined, as the arrival of the white missionaries had changed Umuofia significantly, and the villagers were still coming to terms with it. The changes weren’t all bad as the white men had also brought along additional trade and money. The head of the mission was a gentle priest, Mr. Brown, who treated the native people with respect rather than disdain. He spent time trying to understand the culture of the Igbo people as he had lengthy discussions with a respected elder of the clan. He constructed schools, and hospitals, and then convinced the people of the clans that the future of the clan would be expanded through literacy. His gentle nature won him several converts, but his health soon began to fail and he was forced to return to his homeland.
He was replaced by a much harsher man, Reverend Smith, who takes over the duties of leading the mission. He comes to believe that Mr. Brown had been far too concerned about increasing the number of followers of Christianity and hadn’t thought that Heaven should have only those of devout faith. He encourages the converts to be more aggressive with their faith, and one such convert is the eccentric Enoch. He committed a grave crime against the Igbo, as he unmasked one of the Egwugwu when they had been performing one of their ceremonies. The unmasking of the Egwugwu was a grave crime that shocked the whole village. The mother of spirits wailed throughout the night, and a meeting was called for the elders to discuss a course of action. Reverend Smith was taken aback at the eerie sounds coming from the village, and he decided that he would try and deescalate the matter by hiding Enoch away. On his part, Enoch was quite disappointed with the reaction of the priest since he had been hoping for a holy war.
The following morning, the Egwugwu descended on the church in their complete gear and confronted the waiting Reverend Smith. They had already razed the buildings of Enoch’s compound, and they now burned the church even though they left the Christians unhurt. There was no activity from the missionaries for the next few days, but when the district commissioner returned to the court from his tour, Reverend Smith sought an audience with him. The following day, the elders of Umuofia were invited to meet with the district commissioner. A large group of the elders, which included Okonkwo, traveled with their arms to the courthouse for the discussion. It turned out to be an ambush, as the commissioner had them suddenly handcuffed and trapped. He admonished them for burning down the church and demanded that the village furnish a fine for the elders to be released. The village elders are shocked at this turn of events, however, matters become worse as the commissioner leaves the elders in the custody of the corrupt court messengers. These men take the opportunity to disrespect the elders and inflate the amount of the fine to serve their purpose.
The villagers pay the fine, and the elders are released. Okonkwo makes his way straight home without discussing the occurrences with any of the villagers. At home, he eats a little of the food that Ezinma brings for him, but his thoughts are focused only on vengeance. He hears the town crier call for a meeting of the whole village in the morning, and he begins to ready himself for convincing the village to go to war. He believes that one of the village leaders would caution the assembly against this arrangement, but he is adamant that he will strike out to seek out revenge on his own if the village decides against war. He barely manages to get any sleep and awakens early to join the crowd that is making its way to the market.
One of the elders who had been captured by the commissioner begins the assembly, and he calls for war. He tells the people that it doesn’t matter that some of the Christians are their clan members, and they could spill their blood without exile since these people had turned against their own culture. The meeting is interrupted by a group of Court Messengers but Okonkwo confronts them alone and prevents them from coming any further into the market. The head messenger tells Okonkwo that they need to stop the assembly as the commissioner had decided that it would be unlawful. Okonkwo doesn’t wait for the response of the assembly, he strikes the head messenger with his machete and kills him in front of everyone. The market explodes with activity as the villagers run away and the remaining court messengers flee. However, Okonkwo learns at that moment that the village would not be going to war since the villagers had run away at the sight of violence rather than staying behind to help him.
The district commissioner leads a large contingent of soldiers to Okonkwo’s house and calls him out to answer for the murder of the head messenger. Obierika and other male relatives come out of Okonkwo’s home, and they lead the commissioner to a tree behind Okonkwo’s compound where they find Okonkwo hanging by his neck. Obierika tells the commissioner that their culture does not allow them to care for the body of a man who has committed suicide. The commissioner is highly interested in this ritual, but Obierika doesn’t explain it in great detail instead he blames the white men for leading Okonkwo down this terrible path. The commissioner sets his men to work on Okonkwo’s body, and he thinks of Okonkwo’s account as an addition to the book that he had been writing about his work, one he intends to title, “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.”
Analysis
The Igbo people are now forced to confront the onslaught of the white religion as well as the government. The white missionaries are not satisfied with just the introduction of their religion, but require the establishment of their laws as well. Mr. Brown, the first missionary in the region, attempts to understand the Igbo culture, and proceeds with an attitude of curiosity and respect even as he attempts to convert the villagers. Reverend Smith and the district commissioner do not share his attitude, a fact that is evident in Smith’s conduct as well as the title of the Commissioner’s book. These men see the Igbo people as primitive, without ever truly spending any time understanding the culture they possess. The author proves them wrong by showing us the deeper reasons that dictate their customs and lets us observe the complexity of their beliefs which could seldom be described as being primitive.
Okonkwo decides to take his life, an action that is characterized to be the unmanliest thing in the Igbo culture. It is a surprising ending for the man who had criticized all men around him forever displaying any emotion that could remotely be considered unmanly. However, Okonkwo finds himself in a new society that doesn’t accept the value he brings as a warrior, and so he chooses to end his life rather than face the punishment of the white men.
