Arrow of God (African Trilogy)

This is yet another classic work from Achebe. In it he deftly continues to open to our view , with respect and love, the many and rich layers of Igbo culture. The strengths and flaws of his Igbo characters are also presented to our gaze, like a rich tapestry that we can wonder at and enjoy. This is the product of his brilliant mind and is presented with consummate skill and economy in writing. The book is immensely rewarding, informative and satisfying.

It’s Achebe. Really no reason to say more. But if you’re unfamiliar with this brilliant author - read this for a quick impression of the generational shift & subsequent rift from familial tribal tradition to western educated urban progressive that informs part of the African condition as its countries manage the societal complexities left following the cultural results of colonialism.

I was first struck by how funny this novel was. I guffawed several times while reading it. It takes a remarkable writer to do this with humor, especially across cultures. I thought this work illustrated well the role of religion in society. For the Igbo there was no separation of religion from society--they were one and the same. It's perhaps fitting that while the administration doesn't quite get this (Clarke doesn't even understand that a Chief Priest is not the same as a medicine man) , the missionaries do, ultimately manipulating the villages to connect Christianity to their harvest. Achebe does a superb job humanizing Ezeulu in the story, so that the reader forgets that he is truly half-spirit. This makes Ulu's command to stay the course of revenge near the conclusion all the more shocking. There is no option for Ezeulu to do anything else. At the other end of the spectrum, the reader witnesses the death of the Umuaro society in their necessary drive to survive by finding a way to harvest. Similarly, it would have meant the death of Ezeulu (at least culturally) had he accepted the Chief position since his society isn't structured to be ruled (with the exception of the quasi-king that first had to pay everyone debts). Instead Ezeulu chooses the path of self-destruction. From the British colonial perspective, Achebe shows the tension of indirect rule and their priorities. Clarke and Captain Winterbottom discuss all the money spent on native courts (that they natives won't use) and the void of funding for infrastructure like roads. This is important because one could argue that it is these roads that enable the homogenization of the Igbo people and subjugate a shared identity onto them. FOLLOWING ARE MY NOTES FOR THE GRAD SCHOOL COURSE IN WHICH WE READ THIS NOVEL. More notes are available on my blog For Unofficial Use Only. Arrow of God Notes: -Humor that the English think they understand the people, but they still don't despite prolonged presence...parallels to our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan - Advantages of living near the infrastructure - In direct rule seeks lighter hand by default...goal is more to maintain a status quo of peace - Comments on missionary role by Capt W? - Influence of infrastructure on Igbo...shifting from a language group to an identity - with regards to religion, subtleties in the region...a priest chief is not necessarily a medicine man. Religion is the same as the society...there's no delineation as in Western culture. Ezeulu- Chief Priest of Ulu Matefi- Ezeulu's senior wife Ugoye- Ezeulu's younger wife Okuata- Ezeulu's wife that is dead Edogo- Eldest son of Ezeulu, and Okuata Obika- son of Ezeulu (drunk and troublesome and handsome) and Ugoye Nwafo- youngest son of Ezeulu (his favorite) and Ugoye Obiageli- daughter of Ezeulu (sister of Nwafo) and Ugoye Ojiugo- daughter of Ezeulu and Matefi Akueke- daughter of Ezeulu and Okuata Oduche- Ezeulu's son CHAPTER 1 Ezeulu (Chief Priest of Ulu) introduction as he looks to the sky for the new moon (which he must announce). Ezeulu's announcements control the harvest seasons, most importantly the New Yam Feast. Edogo carves ancestral masks. Ezeulu is bitter about division among the six villages because he spoke the truth to the white man and testified against his people about land dispute with Okperi. Obika beats up and humiliates Akueke husband who had been beating her. Oduche is training with the whites per Ezeulu's instructions. CHAPTER 2 6 Villages come together and call for war against the Okperi (led by Nwaka). Akukalia is killed when Umuaro messengers lose their temper. War ensues with retaliatory killings. Then the whiteman intervenes and judges the land to belong to Okperi. He also breaks all their guns. CHAPTER 3 Captain Winterbottom is introduced and Tony Clark as his assistant. He recounts their version of the Umuaro-Okperi wars which are different from reality. Captain Winterbottom believe in the value of native institutions but is forced to enforce indirect rule. Ibos never developed a system of central authority. CHAPTER 4 Enmity of Nwaka and Ezeulu is revealed. Oduche was given to learn the ways of the whiteman's church. Oduche put a python in a box, which Ezeulu finds and frees; scandal ensues. Ezidemelli (Nwaka's friend and python priest) asks what he will do to purify his home. CHAPTER 5 Winterbottom doesn't believe indirect rule is effective but most obey his superiors. "Great tragedy of British colonial administration was that the man on the spot (who knew his African) and knew what he was talking about found himself being constantly overruled by starry-eyed fellows at headquarters. Ibos detest kings, but Ikedi makes himself one as a puppet of the administration--he's very corrupt. CHAPTER 6 Akueke's inlaws come for her and promise not to let husband beat her--Ezeulu agrees to this. CHAPTER 7 Purification day for the six villages. Ugoye has the most ivory of Ezeulu's wives. Nwaka's wives has most ivory. Ezeulu does the purification dance. Women gossip. CHAPTER 8 Mr. Wright needs unpaid labor to finish his road and gets it from the Umuaro. Obika is late (because he was drunk) to the road work party and gets whipped. In the ensuing controversy Moses acts as an intermediary. Ezeulu tries to get to the bottom of what happens and his sons show no remorse. The death that will kill a man begins as an appetite. CHAPTER 9 Akuebe visits Ezeulu to talk about Obika and the lack of respect of the youth in general. Pride of Umuaro that they never see one party as right and the other as wrong. CHAPTER 10 Background on Capt W (including his soldiering in Cameroon) and how his wife ran off with someone else. Capt W expresses disgruntlement at the bureaucracy and their flawed administrative appointments. Capt W and Clarke dine. Clarke and Wright are friends and no one ever investigates whipping. Capt W intends to make Ezeulu paramount chief. Idea of institutions vs. Infrastructures is addressed with administration spending all the money on native courts but not enough on roads. Most Africans aren't using the courts either (or at least willingly). CHAPTER 11 Ezeulu visits Akuebe where a man is sick. Ezeulu asks him what the man did to deserve the sickness. Obika and Okuata wed. The medicine man keeps the chicken from the ceremony (which he isn't supposed to do). Ezeulu hopes Obika is a changed man. CHAPTER 12 Edogo talks to Akuebe and feigns disinterest in being chosen to succeed his father. Oduche gets in fight with Obija about the python. Ezeulu says that Oduche is a sacrifice from the people to Akuebe. Capt W sends messengers to tell Ezeulu to come see him. Ezeulu says no, I will send my son Edogo. No one however great can win judgment against a clan. CHAPTER 13 Ezeulu calls all the village leaders to talk about being summoned. Nwaka jabs at him over his `friendship' with the whiteman. Ezeulu is unaffected (at least outwardly) by it. Capt W sends for Ezeulu to be arrested and falls ill. Guards come to arrest Ezeulu but they miss him because he already left to come in. The eat, take a bribe and leave. Ezeulu arrives at headquarters and everyone things he cast a spell to make Capt W sick. He likes this. CHAPTER 14 Obika returns home and Ezeulu has a vision in prison. He starts to plot his revenge. Ezeulu's family comes to visit him. He's offered the position of Chief and refuses it. The advantages of getting in with the whiteman early are discussed. Clarkes calls him a `witch doctor" highlighting the levels of misunderstanding culturally. CHAPTER 15 Ezeulu is in prison 32 days and his reputation soars as he still refuses the offer. He's then released. Capt W and Clarke get a message from the administration stating that they reserved the adverse report on indirect rule but any change in policy will have to come from the governor. They are directed to maintain the status quo but not appoint any new chiefs. CHAPTER 16 Ezeulu returns home, enjoying the suffering and plotting his revenge. He reconsiders his revenge due to all the nice people coming to visit him. Ezeulu is told by Ulu that he can't reconsider, he's an arrow of god against Idemelli and the python god. Ezeulu remarks that he is half man and half spirit. He wonders if his boy is also an arrow. CHAPTER 17 Life returns to normal in the village. A new ancestral mask is introduced. Obika slaughters the ram in the ceremony and Edogo carvest he mask. CHAPTER 18 Feast of New Yam approaches and Ezeulu plots his revenge. He's questioned by lots of people for delaying the announcement. He rebukes them. The elders come and ask him to ask Ulu how they can appease him so that they can have their yam harvest. Ulu says no. Ezeulu is despised by his people Goodcountry says if they give church a yam they can harvest their fields and he will protect them from Ulu. The best way to deal with whiteman is to know him (so they send their kids to his school). CHAPTER 19 People are starving. Ezeulu is shunned and lonely. Obika has a fever but goes to dance in a burial ceremony and dies. Ezeulu is ruined. People go to Goodcountry so they can harvest.

With limited African literature, and writers to boot, I always relish coming across a good book with African narrative. I believe there are many stories that remain untold from our past since we had limited means to pass on these stories. Chinua Achebe's book has touched on the culture, customs, beliefs of native Nigerian people and how their stories were intertwined with the arrival of "white men" in early 20th century. On hindsight, some of the customs would appear as utter foolishness in the times that we live in. But I found most of the wisdom exercised in the village communities still holding today. For example: "A toad doesn't run in the day unless something is after it". Chinua's storytelling was also great on two fronts. He offered two different perspectives as he was telling his story, that of the native people and of the white men. There's always a danger in telling a single story, and he seemed to manage it well. Secondly, his story telling consisted of a long period of dull moments and ending with a bang! I find this always leaves a better memory. My favorite takeaway quotes: "When suffering knocks at your door and you say there's no seat left for him, he tells you not to worry because he brought his own stool". "As daylight chases away darkness so will the white man drive away all our customs." "When brothers fight to death a stranger inherits their father's estate"

The intricate interwinings of the plot with a cultural backdrop, gives insight to the colonial era, in a playful and humorous narrative.

This is a complex book with several levels of meaning. On the surface, it seems to be a story of a traditional Nigerian priest dealing with the introduction of Christianity to his community and the tragic consequences. This is a story most of us are familiar with. On another level, the priest is Everyman, struggling to know what God wants of him. This book should be on the reading list of every college philosophy and religion class. It raises many questions about who decides what entity to worship, what our relationship is with God, how we view other religions. Then on another level, one suspects that the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe is having a good time messing with our minds! It helps to read the Book of Ezekiel while reading Arrow of God. Only someone like Achebe, who was brought up a Christian amidst traditional Nigerian gods, standing with one foot in Africa and one in the West, could paint the big picture for us. Arrow of God is like American Jazz--it weaves many themes together. Of course American Jazz is based on traditional African music.

The book was interesting because it talked about Nigerian tribal customs and also showed the Nigerian perspective as well as an English colonial perspective.

I have loved Things Fall Apart for years. Picked this up as second in trilogy. I found it less “emjoyable” but it’s a more complex & troubling tale so…