Chapter Two Summary

As Okonkwo prepared for bed, he was alerted by the cries of the ogene (town crier), announcing a message for all the men of Umuofia to gather in the morning. Okonkwo observed a note of tragedy in his voice and wondered what was amiss.

It was a dark and quiet night and the tribe was afraid of the dark—darkness makes everything more sinister and dangerous. Moonlit nights are completely different—children would play in the fields, lovers would be together, and the elderly would remember their youth.

On this silent night though, Okonkwo could hear the ogene of each village and wondered about the nature of an emergency war. He had killed five men in wars so far and would even drink palm wine out of his first human head on important occasions.

The next morning, over ten thousand men gathered in the market. Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator who was chosen to speak on this seemingly grave occasion—the village of Mbaino had killed one of their women. And on behalf of the man whose wife was killed, the whole village was thirsty for revenge and bloodshed.

Umuofia sent an ultimatum to Mbaino to either engage in war or send a young man and a virgin girl as compensation. Umuofia was feared by surrounding villages for its prowess in war and medicines. Hence, Mbaino relented and sacrificed a young girl and a young boy to Umuofia. Okonkwo was sent as the village emissary and treated with great respect. Ikemefuna thereby came under his care and his sad tale is told even in present-day Umuofia.

Okonkwo ruled his household with strict discipline; his youngest wife and children were petrified of him. Deep down, he was not a cruel man but his circumstances had hardened him and he found it difficult to express emotion. He feared failure and weakness above all else—and wanted to be the exact opposite of his father. He had once heard someone call his father a woman with no title. This had left a deep impact on young Okonkwo had who vowed to despise everything his father loved in a bid to be completely different. Hence, he hated gentleness and idleness.

Okonkwo could work all day in his fields and he expected the same from his family, who were physically weaker than him. His oldest son Nwoye was subjected to beatings and scoldings for being lazy.

Okonkwo’s compound had four huts—three huts for his three wives and eight children and one for himself—and a shrine. His barn and fields were heavy with prospering harvest and yams. When he brought Ikemefuna home, he handed him over to his eldest wife. Ikemefuna was understandably afraid of being brought to a new land, with no knowledge of what was happening or why it had happened.

Chapter Two Analysis

In this chapter, the strength of the community and sense of belonging are acute. When a daughter of Umuofia is killed in Mbaino, they send out an ultimatum immediately—either engage in war or compensate with a young man and a virgin girl. The girl is handed over to the man whose wife was killed and the young man awaits his fate, living in Okonkwo’s compound.

Okonkwo’s keen focus on success is explained by his fear of failure and weakness. This stems from his shame as a child, at seeing his father disrespected. Since Unoka lived to indulge in music and alcohol, Okonkwo abhors laziness and idle entertainment. He is not a cruel man but he puts on the persona of one to be able to climb higher in society. He expects his family, especially his oldest son Nwoye, to work as hard as he does and continue to extol the family name—something Okonkwo did not receive as inheritance from his father but had to build from scratch himself.