Chapter Five opens with the Feast of the New Yam. It is
held each year before the harvest to honour Ani, the most important deity, as she is the
source of fertility. She also is important with regards to standards of morality and
conduct. Okonkwo is shown to be on edge because as his family prepare for this big feast
he wants to be working on the farm. He finds an outlet for his mood in beating his
second wife for having killed a banana tree. He then is goaded to shoot a gun at his
second wife but misses. Spirits remain undampened by his anger and the relatives of
Okonkwo's wives arrive for the feast. On the second day of the feast, wrestling matches
are held. Ekwefi, Okonkwo's second wife, loves wrestling, and we are told that it was
watching Okonkwo wrestling that made her leave her husband and become Okonkwo's wife.
Since then, however, she has suffered a lot and only has one daughter who is called
Ezinma.
Okonkwo's daughter with his first wife pretends to
be like one of the women, placing a pot on her head and walking like she was much older.
The pot breaks, and although she pretends to be unaffected, she cries. Ikemefuna tells
the other children not to tell of her.
The drums signal the
start of the wrestling matches. Ezinma takes her father food and we are told that
Okonkwo is very fond of Ezinma because of her beauty, but only shows his love for her on
special occasions. Finally, the daughter of Okonkwo's third wife brings in his final
dish of food.
In Chapter Six, we are shown the wrestling
match. There are seven drums that are beaten very fast. The younger boys wrestle first,
and the crowd shows its appreciation by roaring when the winner throws his opponent.
Ekwefi tells Chielo about what happened when Okonkwo tried to shoot her. Chielo, apart
from being an ordinary woman, is the priestess of Agbala and is great friends with
Ekwefi and cares for Ezinma. Two teams of twelve men each wrestle. The final match is
between the leaders of these teams who are the best wrestlers. These two men wrestle
until the muscles on their body stand out. Although it seems that it is going to be a
draw, suddenly one of the men uses a cunning move to throw his opponent. As the chapter
ends, the victor is lifted up high by his team and carried home as everyone talks about
his prowess.
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