Quite Ominous Silence: Chapter 15, "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe

As we move further into the second part of the book, folktales within the Igbo tribe become more frequent. Just as Okonkwo’s second wife, Ekwefi, tells the story of the tortoise who betrayed the birds, the story of Mother Kite (an eagle) is presented by Uchendu. Him, being Okwonko’s mother youngest brother, currently an elder, has proved to perceive acts and life in a different way. Maybe, this is due to his age and the sorrow he bears deep inside him.

When Uchendu is saying how wonderful relationships between villages used to be before, he mentions the Abame clan. Obierika (Okonkwo’s friend) arrives to Mbanto, and announces them that Abame no longer exists, explaining how, suddenly, a white man arrived riding on a horse. Not knowing what to do, they assisted the Oracle and decided to kill him. Time later, while people were in the market, a group of white men arrived and killed them all, vanishing every trace of the village.

As Uchendu meditates this information, he offers a story to illustrate how foolish the Abame were to act in that way, which goes like this: When Mother Kite sends her daughter for food, she returns with a duckling. Mother Kite questions her about the duckling’s mother’s reaction, to which the daughter responded that it hadn’t said anything. Mother Kite, makes her return the food, saying that “there is something ominous behind silence”. When the young kite returns, she carries a chick with herself and this time, when questioned about the chick’s mother, she says that the mother “cried and raved and cursed”. Finally, Mother Kite allows themselves to eat the chick, stating that “there is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.”

Uchendu, more than trying to show how the Igbo hadn’t acted properly, teaches all of us readers a very valuable lesson: how important is to not underestimate people just by their physical nor by the aspect they offer to us. Just as Mother Kite’s daughter, and as the Abame people did, every single human, goes through life judging, anticipating and outlining people’s potential and personality based on what we see as outsiders. Thinking that if someone is inhibited, reserved and silent that they’re probably incompetent, inexperienced and even clumsy, may lead us to a terrible mistake. Interpreting things in life by their appearance isn’t only a major reason of personal problems, but of major historical events too, such as wars.

Just as Achebe writes how Mother Kite didn’t allow her daughter to eat the food due to lack of expression from the duckling’s mother, he advices us the same, to not torment the silent ones, because you will never know how big of an enemy he could turn to be. As Mother Kite said, “There is something ominous behind silence.” 

Achebe, Ch. (1994), Things Fall Apart, 1st edition, Anchor Books, New York.

This is an image of an Igbo tribe gathered in a circle, telling folk tales to each other. (Obtained from: http://clareowensthingsfallapart.wordpress.com)