Summary

Chapter Thirteen

In Chapter Thirteen the news is spread that Ezeudu, the man who warned Okonkwo not to get involved in Ikemefuna’s death, is dead. This chapter describes the rituals associated with a warrior’s funeral. The funeral is violent and tumultuous with evil ghosts and banging drums. Guns are fired as spirits appear. Near the end of the funeral, after the last gun salute, the crowd falls silent because Okonkwo’s gun has exploded, accidentally killing Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son.

Although the death was an accident, Okonkwo and his family are forced to run from their village. He and his wives seek refuge in Okonkwo’s mother land for the required seven years. Although the men of the village do not think badly of Okonkwo, they destroy his home and kill his livestock because it is part of the requirements of...