Part 2: Chapter Fourteen Summary

Okonkwo received a warm welcome from his maternal uncle Uchendu at Mbanta. He was given a plot of land for his huts and some land for farming. He was also generously helped with seed-yams by his mother’s family, for the upcoming planting season.

Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to set up a new life but he had lost his vigor and vitality. He had always wanted to become one of the lords of the clan and just when he had almost achieved it, fate had thrown him a curve ball, which brought him to his knees. All his diligence and determination had amounted to nothing—swept away in an instant.

Uchendu recognized Okonkwo’s despair and asked him a pertinent question. The Igbo people commonly named their children “Nneka” which means “Mother is supreme.” He asked Okonkwo that in their patriarchal world, why was Nneka so common? Okonkwo had no answer. He also asked Okonkwo why women were brought back to their own villages for burial and not buried in their husband’s village. He now explained that a man belonged to his fatherland in good times but always returned to his motherland in times of sorrow. Mothers always protect their children, even in calamity, which is why “Mother is supreme.”

Chapter Fourteen Analysis

The Igbo society may be harsh in its rules but is also extremely well-planned and generous. Okonkwo is given land, seed-yams, and immense community support for his period of exile in his motherland. His uncle spews words of wisdom, recognizing despair in his nephew.

Most importantly, although Igbo society places men as leaders, it respects and understands the value and importance of women. There is beauty and wisdom in the word Nneka and it helps us understand that tribal culture and ways are not at all regressive as the modern world assumes them to be.