Things Fall Apart Chapters 13-14: The Blood of a Clansman

"They set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn . . . They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo . . . They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo has polluted with the blood of a clansman" (Achebe 125).

While the entire clan was at the funeral of Ezeudu, Okonkwo's gun exploded and a piece of iron pierced the heart of a young boy, killing him. As a result, Okonkwo was banished from his village for seven years. Before he left, a large group of men dressed in garbs of war set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals, and destroyed his barn. It was not out of hatred for Okonkwo, it was simply the justice of the earth goddess. This is similar to imperialism in that imperialists usually did not destroy villages out of spite, they simply thought it was for the best. Imperialists viewed Africans as savages that needed to be saved, and did so by forcing their own cultures and beliefs onto them. The group of men had nothing against Okonkwo; they acted out worry and did what needed to be done for the benefit of the clan. They destroyed his belongings in order to cleanse the land that Okonkwo had soiled when he accidentally killed a member of his own clan.