![]() He goes to Ezeulu's friend, Akuebue, and asks him to speak to Ezeulu. It will create conflict and division in the family and Edogo, as eldest son, will have to deal with it. But Edogo begins to wonder what will happen if Ulu doesn't choose Nwafo, if he chooses Edogo or Obika. And Ezeulu has trained Nwafo in the ways of the priesthood, so he's clearly staking his claim on Nwafo as the one Ulu will choose. By sending Oduche to learn the religion of the white man, Ezeulu has essentially taken Oduche out of the running. He believes that Ezeulu has tried to influence Ulu's decision about which son will be the next priest. ![]() Edogo, his oldest son, gets to thinking, and decides that the old man's propensity to choose favorites among his sons has created a problem. Because Ezeulu assumes that Obika has done something to deserve the whipping, he precipitates a crisis in his own household. Why are they forced to work for free, when Okperi men are paid for their labor? What makes them different? Why should they be treated like this? Though they grumble among themselves, they are never able to come to a decision about what to do. ![]() Wright whips him, it stirs up the resentments of all the men. He had too much palm wine to drink the day before. One day, Ezeulu's son Obika is late getting to work. He receives permission and Umuaro is the unlucky recipient of the demand for free labor. Wright, the overseer, petitions to conscript labor. They've run out of funds, but still need to complete the road, so Mr. The colonial administration has commissioned a new road to be built, connecting Okperi with Umuaro. Ezeulu responds by telling Ezidemili to die (literally) and the matter rests there, uneasily. The royal python belongs to the god Idemili, and as soon as the priest of Idemili hears about it, he sends a messenger to chide Ezeulu, and to ask what he intends to do to purify his house, (i.e., to make up for what his son tried to do). ![]() Doing anything to the royal python is considered an abomination. Oduche chickens out at the last minute, putting the snake in a box instead, but his family discovers the terrible deed when he's at church. But the competition isn't limited to within the Igbo religion the missionaries call the Chrisitan Igbo, including Oduche, to kill the sacred python. Though Idemili is a lesser god in comparison to Ulu, the competition between the two priests is dividing Umuaro, creating suspicion and ill will among brothers. Nwaka is fortified and strengthened by his relationship with Ezidemili, the high priest of the god, Idemili. In other words, things have gotten to the point where men in the two villages try to kill each other using poison. Animosity between Ezeulu and Nwaka and their respective villages has grown to the point called kill and take the head (4.1). Ezeulu is sending his son Oduche to church, to be his eyes and ears, and to learn the ways of the white man. Christian missionaries have made major inroads into society, establishing converts and trying to show that the old gods are ineffective. Five years later, life in Umuaro has returned to normal. Meanwhile, the people of Umuaro become angry with Ezeulu because he didn't take their side. Captain Winterbottom, a British colonial official who commands the local station, breaks and burns all the guns in Umuaro, becoming a legend. The colonial administration steps in to stop the war and rules in favor of Okperi after discussing the matter with Ezeulu, the one man in Umuaro who tells the truth. This war is launched against the advice of Ulu's chief priest, Ezeulu. The people of Umuaro start a war with Okperi over land they want to claim they are encouraged to start the war by a wealthy man named Nwaka, who challenges Ulu. These six villages are linked by their worship of a common god, Ulu. Though we don't know the boundaries of Okperi, we do know that Umuaro is made up of six villages. The novel begins with a war between two neighboring regions of rural Igboland: Umuaro and Okperi. Arrow of God is set in rural Nigeria during the 1920s in a southern part of the country where the Igbo people reside.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |