2. Characters
New
•Mr. Brown
o
White missionary
o
“peacekeeper” - keeps members of his group in line
o
Missionary
o
son of the priest of snake cult - “cursed”
o
hardest to control for Mr. Brown
o
1 of the “great men” of the village
o
gave one of his sons to learn at Mr. Brown’s school
•Enoch
•Akunna
Old
•Okonkwo
o
personal grief for the fact that his home had changed so much while he was gone
3. Events
● White men bring new religion and a flow of money into Umuofia through
a trading store
● Brown and Akunna talk about their separate religions and gain
understanding for one another
● Mr. Brown builds a school and a hospital in Umuofia - still trying to
assimilate the Ibo people to the white European culture
● Mr. Brown visits Okonkwo to tell good news about Nwoye (“Isaac”) but
Okonkwo threatens to throw him out
4. Conflicts
• Mr. Brown vs Okonkwo
o
news about Nwoye
o
groups “hot head”
o
changes to his village and clan since his exile
• Mr. Brown vs Enoch
• Okonkwo vs himself
6. Cultural Norms
• Mr. Brown given the tusk -sign of dignity and respect
• daughters attract attention from suitors
*Mr. Brown is seeing the Ibo people fulfill cultural norms
of the white culture - getting jobs, being more open to
the religion, becoming educated
7. Connections to Today
• Okonkwo realizing how much has changed in a short
time - like going to college and seeing your hometown
has changed
• people in different religions respect their god but also
share some sort of fear that comes from respecting the
power of their god
8. Questions
• What do you think Mr. Brown is referring to when he
•
says, “Everything was possible… but everything was
not expedient”? hat does this mean?
Would Okonkwo ever leave Umuofia again because he
disliked the way it had changed; or would his loyalty to
the clan overpower that?
