Soon after his arrival, Mr. Smith had to suspend a young woman from the church. This women had let her husband mutilate her dead child, and Mr. Smith was angry when he heard this. Even when the most faithful of his group confirmed the story, he could not believe that evil children would be born again unless they were mutilated. He then told those in his group that such stories were made by the Devil, and that those who believed them were not allowed to sit at the Lord’s table (185). The story now describes Enoch to a greater extent. It says that he was “short and slight of build” and always seemed to be in some kind of a hurry. He had so much energy bottled up that he always ended up in fights. Enoch thought that on Sundays, the sermon was meant for his enemies purpose. If he happened to be sitting near one of them, he would give them a look that said “I told you so” (185-186). Enoch is said to be the one that started the fight between the church and the clan (186). This fight happened during the ceremony that was held to honor the earth deity. During this celebration, egwugwu would walk around, and the greatest crime that a person could commit was to unmask an egwugwu (186).
Unfortunately for everyone, the celebration landed on the same day that sermon was held at church: Sunday. The Christian women who had gone to church could not go home because the egwugwu were walking around, so their husbands begged the egwugwu to retire for a short while so that their wives can go home (186).The egwugwu agreed and they were on their way to leave when Enoch started talking about how they wouldn’t dare touch a Christian. One of the egwugwu came back and hit Enoch with the cane, and Enoch fell on him, pulling his mask off while falling (186).The other egwugwu immediately crowded around the fallen egwugwu to make sure that none of the women and children saw his face. Enoch had just killed one of the ancestral spirits, and no one knew what to do (186).That same night the Mother of the Spirits walked around all of Umuofia crying and weeping for her son’s death. No one had ever heard such a terrible sound, and it was never to be heard again (187).The next day, all of the masked egwugwu came together in the marketplace. Not only those from Umuofia, but also those from neighboring villages. Together, they all headed towards Enoch’s compound with machetes and weapons in hand (187).The reader finds out that on the previous night, the leaders of the Christian group had met in Mr. Smith’s parsonage. Mr. Smith showed fear at the sound of the weeping coming from the Mother of Spirits. He asked his converts what the clan was going to do, but no one knew because such a crime had never been committed before (187).Mr. Smith and his group talked about what they should do, and they decided that they were going to hide Enoch in the parsonage for a few days. When Enoch heard this, he was disappointed because he want a full fledged war to break out (188).
Chapter 22 continued The egwugwu and men that had gathered reached Enoch’s compound and burned it to the ground. From there, they walked towards that church, intent on destruction (188).Mr. Smith had heard the wailing of the spirits and came stood outside his church compound. However, when he saw the first few spirits, he almost ran away. Instead, he walked down the Church steps and approached the spirits (188).The egwugwu and the group with them tore down the wall the surrounded the Church and were soon nearing where Mr. Smith was standing. Behind Mr. Smith stood Okeke, his interpreter. Okeke and Mr. Smith had not been on good terms lately, but the sight of him pleased Mr. Smith (188-189).Everyone was screaming until Ajofia started to speak. He was the leader of the egwugwu in Umuofia. He addressed Mr. Smith and spoke to him like he would speak to the people of Umuofia. Mr. Smith did not understand what was happening and since Okeke was from Umuru, he too was confused (189-190).Ajofia laughed at the ignorance of Mr. Smith and Okeke. He saluted his members and then planted his spear into the ground and turned again to Mr. Smith to speak (190).Ajofia tells Okeke to tell Mr. Smith that they will not harm him, and to go back to his house and leave Umuofia alone. He says that they liked Mr. Brown better even though he was foolish, and for his sake he will not hurt Mr. Smith. He also said, however, that the Church must be destroyed because “it has bred untold abominations” (190).Ajofia once again saluted his comrades and then turned to speak to Mr. Smith once again. He tells him that he can stay if he likes the Umuofian ways, and that it is good for a man to worship the spirits and the gods of his father. He also tells him to go back home so that he won’t get hurt, and that the anger of the Umuofians is great, but they have controlled it in order to be able to talk to Mr. Smith (190).Mr. Smith then told Okeke to tell the men to go away from there because the church is the house of God and he will not live to see it be destroyed (190).
Chapter 22 continued Okeke twisted Mr. Smith’s words and told the men that Mr. Smith said that he is happy the men came to him like friends, and that he will be happy if you leave the situation in his hands (191).Ajofia fights back saying that they cannot leave the matter in Mr. Smith’s hands because he does not understand the customs of Umuofia, just as they do not understand Mr. Smith’s customs. “We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his. Let him go away” (191).
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