Arrow of God

While Winterbottom visits Clarke, Ezeulu visits Akuebue. Akuebue is sick, and he has trouble standing up to draw chalk lines in greeting. When Akuebue’s son brings a kolanut, the two men argue over who will break it. When they hear gunshots, which Akuebue explains are for another man in the village, Ogbuefi Amalu, they discuss whether or not it is “the sickness of the Spirits” (112) for which there is no medicine.

Men in the village shoot guns as part of “a foolish groping about” (113) to scare off the spirits causing the illness. When Ezeulu goes to visit him, it is clear that “he could not pass the twelve days which the Spirits [give] a man stricken with this disease” (114). He discovers, on his visit, that the medicine man has been shooting the gun as part of his healing process.

The medicine man gives the sick man his ofo, or staff, and instructs the sick man to hold it and “say no” (114) to the spirits. However, the sick man cannot hold the staff. Ezeulu leaves.

He returns home to Obika’s wedding ceremony. Obika starts to admire a “new image of himself as an upholder of custom” (115), for he has followed ancient rules of leaving his bride, Okuata, untouched since her last visit. Many women come, carrying her dowry, but “the bride [stands] out among them” for her “striking” (115) looks. She is part of “a race of giants” with a face “finely cut” (116).

The group feasts on food brought by the women. At the end of the night, Okuata’s family and accompanying villagers leave. She feels “like an orphan child” (117) and begins to cry. Her mother-in-law takes her to her own hut, where she stays “until the Sacrifice at the crossroads” (117). When the medicine man, Aniegboka, and a diviner arrives, Obika, Okuata, Edogo, and Obika’s mother go to the highway for the sacrifice.

Internally, Okuata struggles with “the struggle of happiness and fear in her thoughts” (118). Obika is also anxious, worrying that his wife will not prove to be a virgin. When the sacrifice is complete, the diviner predicts to Obika that his wife “will bear [him] nine sons” (120). They thank him for his work.

Before Obika and Okuata return to their compound, they visit Ezeulu. They discuss the diviner’s uncustomary decision to take home the hen reserved for the ceremony. Ezeulu advises Obika that he should “not allow this to trouble” (121) the pair, for the diviner will be the one punished, not them.

Ezeulu is pleased to see “so much care” (121) on Obika’s face. As he had hoped, a woman in Obika’s life seems to change him.

Okuata is “awkward and bashful” in a new outfit that connotes her woman hood, but she is proud to “go without shame” (122) to Obika’s parents because she has been found a virgin. She had been nervous that some play had taken her virginity.

All the children in Ezeulu’s compound went to the river that morning to see the young bride. Even his wives make the journey. In their absence, Obiageli cares for Amoge’s sick child, which angers Ezeulu. When he finds that even his sons when to the river, he chooses “not to speak any more” (125).

Akuebue visits Ezeulu, both to congratulate him for Obika’s marriage and to discuss other matters. He is still worried about Oduche, who Ezeulu “had sent to learn the secrets of the white man’s magic” (125). Now, Ezeulu’s enemies use Obika’s scandal “to harm his name” (125). Edogo is among them. He had asked Akuebue to speak to his father, for he fears that “the reason why Ezeulu sent Oduche to the new religion was to leave the way clear for Nwafo to become Chief Priest” (126).

Akuebue believes that Ezeulu wants to be Chief Priest and wonders why he hides this desire in complaints about his brothers. He feels some sadness for the oldest son who has been “pushed back so that the younger ones might come forward to receive favour” (127).

Okuata is curious about Oduche’s new religion, and Ojiugo, jealous of Obika’s new wife, feeds her curiosity. Oduche overhears the conversation and rushes at Ojiugo, who attacks him back. Women look on and argue over which party they support in the fight.

When Matefi sees the welts left on Ojiugo, her daughter, by Oduche’s hitting, she raises “her voice in protest and lamentation” (128). Ezeulu, wanting her to quiet down, begins to argue with the woman. He asks Oduche to explain, and he, too, retorts. This defiance angers Ezeulu, who proclaims: “Let one of you open his mouth and make fim again and I will teach him that a man does not talk when masked spirits speak” (129).

When Akuebue arrives to visit, then, Ezeulu is already angry. Ezeulu is patient with his friend, for he has “said nothing that a man could be blamed for saying to his friend” (130). Still, he explains that despite the conflict, “these things are not new and they will follow where the others have gone” (130).

When Akuebue explains that the village blames Ezeulu for betraying them to white men, Ezeulu explains that “we went to war against Okperi,” and “when two brothers fight a stranger reaps the harvest” (131). To get rid of the white man, they “must either wait until he is tired of his visit or [they] must drive him away” (132). He expresses that blaming “him” will not help.

Ezeulu alludes to his grandfather and father’s work to remind his friend that he is half-spirit, and that his lineage shows that the conflict will resolve. Akuebue reminds him that “what happened in their time and what is happening today are not the same” (132).

During their dispute, Nwafo enters the hut. He is confused by the conflict but unsurprised when it ends peacefully. The men and Nwafo eat together in silence, then eventually begin to speak “about less weighty things” (134). As they eat, a Court Messenger arrives with a message from Wintabota.

They are astonished that the man does not follow their customs but behaves like a white man. Obika grows aggressive with him, even though Ezeulu angrily forbids “anyone to abuse him” (137). The messenger says that Ezeulu must go to the white man’s compound, but Ezeulu replies that he must “tell [the] white man that Ezeulu does not leave his hut” (139). Out of respect, Ezeulu and Akuebue decide that they will send Edogo to receive the message.