'You should not think of him as a person,' said Mr Brown. 'It is because you do so that you imagine He must need helpers. An d the worst thing about it is that you give all the worship to the false gods you have created.'
'That is not so. We make sacrifices to the little gods, but when they fail and there is no one else to turn to we go to Chukwu. It is right to do so. We approach a great man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last source of hope. We appear to pay greater attention to the little gods but that is not so. We worry them more because we are afraid to worry their Master. Ou r fathers knew that Chukw u was the Overlord and that is why many of them gave their children the name Chukwuka?'Chukwu is Supreme'.'
'You said one interesting thing,' said Mr Brown. 'You are afraid of Chukwu.
In my religion Chukwu is a loving Father and need not be feared by those who
do His will.'
'But we must fear Hi m when we are not doing His will,' said Akunna. 'And
who is to tell His will? It is too great to be known.'
In this way Mr Brown learnt a good deal about the religion of the clan and
he came to the conclusion that a frontal attack on it would not succeed. An d
so he built a school and a little hospital in Umuofia. He went from family to
family begging people to send their children to his school. But at first they
only sent their slaves or sometimes their lazy children. Mr Brown begged and
argued and prophesied. He said that the leaders of the land in the future would
be men and women who had learnt to read and write. If Umuofia failed to
send her children to the school, strangers would come from other places to
rule them. They could already see that happening in the Native Court, where
6. A carved wooden figure with the horns of a ram that symbolized the strength of a man's right hand. Every aduit male kept an Ikengu in his personal shrine.
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269 8 / CHINUA ACHEBE
the D.C. was surrounded by strangers who spoke his tongue. iMost of these strangers came from the distant town of Umuru on the bank of the Great River where the white ma n first went.
In the end Mr Brown's arguments began to have an effect. More people came to learn in his school, and he encouraged them with gifts of singlets7 and towels. They were not all young, these people who came to learn. Some of them were thirty years old or more. They worked on their farms in the morning and went to school in the afternoon. An d it was not long before the people began to say that the white man's medicine was quick in working. Mr Brown's school produced quick results. A few months in it were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk. Those who stayed longer became teachers; and from Umuofia labourers went forth into the Lord's vineyard. Ne w churches were established in the surrounding villages and a few schools with them. From the very beginning religion and education went hand in hand.
Mr Brown's mission grew from strength to strength, and because of its link with the new administration it earned a new social prestige. But Mr Brown himself was breaking down in health. At first he ignored the warning signs. But in the end he had to leave his flock, sad and broken.
It was in the first rainy season after Okonkwo's return to Umuofia that Mr Brown left for home. As soon as he had learnt of Okonkwo's return five months earlier, the missionary had immediately paid him a visit. He had just sent Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, who was now called Isaac,8 to the new training college for teachers in Umuru. And he had hoped that Okonkwo would be happy to hear ol it. But Okonkwo had driven him away with the threat that if he came into his compound again, he would be carried out of it.
Okonkwo's return to his native land was not as memorable as he had wished.
It was true his two beautiful daughters aroused great interest among suitors
and marriage negotiations were soon in progress, but, beyond that, Umuofia
did not appear to have taken any special notice of the warrior's return. Th e
clan had undergone such profound change during his exile that it was barely
recognisable. The new religion and government and the trading stores were
very much in the people's eyes and minds. There were still many who saw
these new institutions as evil, but even they talked and thought about little
else, and certainly not about Okonkwo's return.
And it was the wrong year too. If Okonkwo had immediately initiated his
two sons into the ozo society as he had planned he would have caused a stir.
But the initiation rite was performed once in three years in Umuofia, and he
had to wait for nearly two years for the next round of ceremonies.
Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He
mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he
mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become
soft like women.
