Journal Pages

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Page: 139

Quote: "He said something, only they did not understand him," said Obierika. "He seemed to speak through his nose."

When a white man on a metal horse visited the clan, he spoke a few words then was killed. He was thought to be cursed in some way, so they killed the man and strapped his metal horse to a tree. They did not understand the white man, for he seemed to speak through his nose in a different language. They shouldn't have killed the man on the spot as they did. They could have studied him, or locked him up. They didn't have the right to kill him for being of different color and of different language. He had tried to speak to them, but they didn't understand and they didn't try to either.

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008

Page: 144

Quote: "I don't know. He is not my father," said Nwoye, unhappily.

Okonkwo abandoned his rights as a father to Nwoye when Nwoye joined Christianity. Nwoye had felt odd when he knew his friend was being killed, and when the twins were being killed. He knew in the bottom of his heart that all of it was wrong, in some manner. He didn't speak up, but he discovered Christ. God showed him the way to eternal happiness, and Nwoye left his idols and gods behind in a trail of dust. He left them in a heartbeat. Okonkwo had rejected Nwoye because if he did not believe in Okonkwo's gods, then he was not his son. Obierika had asked Nwoye how his father had been and he replied, "I don't know. He is not my father."