Summary: Chapter 9
Ekwefi awakes Okonkwo very early in the morning and tells
him that Ezinma is dying. Okonkwo ascertains that Ezinma has a fever and
sets about collecting medicine. Ezinma is Ekwefi’s only child and
the “center of her world.” Ekwefi is very lenient with her: Ezinma
calls her by her first name and the dynamic of their relationship
approaches equality.
Ekwefi’s nine other children died in infancy. She developed
the habit of naming them symbolic things such as “Onwumbiko,” which
means, “Death, I implore you,” and “Ozoemena,” which means, “May
it not happen again.” Okonkwo consulted a medicine man who told
him that an ogbanje was tormenting them. An ogbanje is
a “wicked” child who continually re-enters its mother’s womb only
to die again and again, causing its parents grief. A medicine man
mutilated the dead body of Ekwefi’s third child to discourage the ogbanje’s
return. When Ezinma was born, like most ogbanje children,
she suffered many illnesses, but she recovered from all of them.
A year before the start of the novel, when Ezinma was nine, a medicine
man named Okagbue Uyanwa found her iyi-uwa, the small,
buried pebble that is the ogbanje’s physical link
to the spirit world. Although the discovery of the iyi-uwa ought
to have solved Ezinma’s problems, every illness that Ezinma catches
still brings terror and anxiety to Ekwefi.
Summary: Chapter 10
The village holds a ceremonial gathering to administer
justice. The clan’s ancestral spirits, which are known as egwugwu, emerge
from a secret house into which no woman is allowed to step. The egwugwu take
the form of masked men, and everyone suspects that Okonkwo is among
them. The women and children are filled with fear even though they
sense that the egwugwu are merely men impersonating
spirits.
The first dispute that comes before the egwugwu involves
an estranged husband and wife. The husband, Uzowulu, states that
the three brothers of his wife, Mgbafo, beat him and took her and
the children from his hut but would not return her bride-price.
The woman’s brothers state that he is a beastly man who beat their
sister mercilessly, even causing her to miscarry once. They argue
that Uzowulu must beg Mgbafo to return to him. If she agrees, the
brothers declare, Uzowulu must understand that they will cut his
genitals off if he ever beats her again. The egwugwu decide
in favor of Mgbafo. One village elder complains that such a trifling
matter should not be brought before them.
Summary: Chapter 11
Ekwefi tells Ezinma a story about a greedy, cunning tortoise.
All of the birds have been invited to a feast in the sky and Tortoise
persuades the birds to lend him feathers to make wings so that he
can attend the feast as well. As they travel to the feast, Tortoise
also persuades them to take new names for the feast according to
custom. He tells the birds that his name will be “All of you.” When
they arrive, Tortoise asks his hosts for whom the feast is prepared.
They reply, “For all of you.” Tortoise proceeds to eat and drink
the best parts of the food and wine. The birds, angry and disgruntled
at receiving only scraps, take back the feathers that they had given
to Tortoise so that he is unable to fly home. Tortoise persuades
Parrot to deliver a message to his wife: he wants her to cover their
compound with their soft things so that he may jump from the sky
without danger. Maliciously, Parrot tells Tortoise’s wife to bring
out all of the hard things. When Tortoise jumps, his shell breaks
into pieces on impact. A medicine man puts it together again, which
is why Tortoise’s shell is not smooth.
Chielo, in her role as priestess, informs Ekwefi that
Agbala, Oracle of the Hills and Caves, wishes to see Ezinma. Frightened, Okonkwo
and Ekwefi try to persuade Chielo to wait until morning, but Chielo
angrily reminds Okonkwo that he must not defy a god’s will. Chielo
takes Ezinma on her back and forbids anyone to follow. Ekwefi overcomes
her fear of divine punishment and follows anyway. Chielo, carrying
Ezinma, makes her rounds of the nine villages. When Chielo finally
enters the Oracle’s cave, Ekwefi resolves that if she hears Ezinma
crying she will rush in to defend her—even against a god. Okonkwo
startles her when he arrives at the cave with a machete. He calms
Ekwefi and sits with her. She remembers when she ran away from her
first husband to be Okonkwo’s wife. When he answered her knock at
his door, they exchanged no words. He led her to his bed and began
to undo her clothing.
