How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
In recent weeks the [Umuofia Progressive] Union had met several times over Obi Okonkwo's case. At the first meeting, a handful of people had expressed the view that there was no reason why the Union should worry itself over the troubles of a prodigal son who had shown great disrespect to it only a little while ago…
This view, although accepted as largely true, was not taken very seriously. For, as the President pointed out, a kinsman in trouble had to be saved, not blamed; anger against a brother was felt in the flesh, not in the bone. And so the Union decided to pay for the services of a lawyer from their funds. (1.29; 31)
Despite the bad blood between Obi Okonkwo and his union of fellow expatriates from Umuofia, the men support him because he is family. These Africans, who are less educated than Obi, had a stronger sense of ethnic ties than Obi.
Quote #2
"The guests then said their farewells to Obi, many of them repeating all the advice that he had already been given. They shook hands with him and as they did so they pressed their presents into his palm, to buy a pencil with, or an exercise book or a loaf of bread for the journey, a shilling there and a penny there—substantial presents in a village where money was so rare, where men and women toiled from year to year to wrest a meager living from an unwilling and exhausted soil. (1.51)
The men and women of Umuofia are generous with their gifts when Obi departs for England. Part of the reason for this generosity is that because they are investing in Obi, whom they see as their collective child.
Quote #3
"Yes," said Obi. "Many black men who got the white man's country marry their women."
"You hear?" asked Matthew. "I tell you I have seen it with my own two eyes in Onitsha. The woman even had two children. But what happened in the end? She left those children and went back to her country. That is why I say a black man who marries a white woman wastes his time. Her stay with him is like the stay of the moon in the sky. When the time comes, she will go."
"Very true," said another man who had also traveled. "It is not her going away that matters. It is her turning the man's face away from his kinsmen while she stays."
"I am happy that you returned home safe," said Matthew to Obi.
"He is a son of Iguedo," said old Odogwu. "There are nine villages in Umuofia, but Iguedo is Iguedo. We have our faults, but we are not empty men who become white when they see white, and black when they see black." (5.96-101)
Obi feels the pride of familial connection and kinship, not realizing that his own engagement to Clare will cause the same (or worse) consternation as marrying a white woman.
Quote #4
Obi felt better and more confident in his decision now that there was an opponent, the first of hundreds to come, no doubt. Perhaps it was not a decision really; for him there could be only one choice. It was scandalous that in the middle of the twentieth century a man could be barred from marrying a girl simply because her great-great-great-great-grandfather had been dedicated to serve a god, thereby setting himself apart and turning his descendents into a forbidden caste to the end of Time. Quite unbelievable. And here was an educated man telling Obi he did not understand. "Not even my mother can stop me," he said as he lay down beside Joseph. (7.73)
Obi finds his sudden defensive position exhilarating and decides to override any objections to marrying Clara, even if his mother disapproves. Unfortunately, he won't be able to sustain this decision.
Quote #5
Obi knew better than anyone else that his family would violently oppose the idea of marrying an osu. Who wouldn't? But for him it was either Clara or nobody. Family ties were all very well as long as they did not interfere with Clara. "If I could convince my mother," he thought, "all would be well." (7.108)
Obi plans to forsake his family for Clara. While there may be a biblical principle that he can quote to his Christian father down the line, it is not an Igbo custom at all. He hopes that he can get his mother on his side.
Quote #6
"Let joking pass," said the old man who had earlier on greeted Umuofia in a warlike salute. "Joshua is now without a job. We have given him ten pounds. But ten pounds does not talk. If you stand a hundred pounds here where I stand now, it will not talk. That is why we say that he who has people is richer than he who has money. Everyone of us here should look out for openings in his department and put in a word for Joshua. This was greeted with approval. (8.24)
Though Joshua needs money for a bribe in order to get a job, he also needs connections. The old man speaking here demonstrates one of the principles operating throughout Africa: kinship ties. Kinship ties dictate your obligations to people from your clan or village. In this case, kinship ties will allow Joshua to find a job. This principle, called nepotism, is one of the operating principles in modern Nigerian politics and business, as presented in this novel.
Quote #7
Clara begged him not to misunderstand her. She said she was taking her present step because she did not want to ruin his life. "I have thought about the whole matter very carefully. There are two reasons why we should not get married."
"What are they?"
"Well, the first is that your family will be against it. I don't want to come between you and your family."
"Bunk! Anyway, what is the second reason?" She could not remember what it was. It didn't matter, anyway. The first reason was quite enough. (13. 7-10)
In African cultures, the family is intimately involved in the selection of the spouse and in the continuation of the marriage.
Quote #8
He that has a brother must hold him to his heart,
For a kinsman cannot be bought in the market,
Neither is a brother bought with money. (13. 36)
Obi hears the lyrics of this song sung when he is waiting to hear what his ill mother has to say to him about his engagement to Clara, an osu. The song suggests two significant things: 1) that family is the most important thing; and 2) that no matter what you do for you're your family, you cannot make them obligated to you through material items. Though Obi has in the past suggested that if he can just convince his mother to accept Clara, it will be OK, this song suggests that can never be obligated to support his desire to marry a woman whom he is forbidden to marry.
Quote #9
"How were all our people in Lagos when you left them?" he asked. He sat on his wooden bed while Obi sat on a low stool facing him, drawing lines with his finger on the dusty top of the Harvest table.
"Lagos is a very big place. You can travel the distance from here to Abame and still be in Lagos."
"So they said. But you have a meeting of Umuofia people?" It was half-question, half-statement.
"Yes. We have a meeting. But it is only once a month." And he added: "It is not always that one finds time to attend." The fact was he had not attended since November.
"True," said his father. "But in a strange land one should always move near one's kinsmen." (14. 8-12)
Obi's father Isaac gently reminds him that not only is it a duty to associate with one's fellow citizens and relatives when one lives a long distance away from home, but it is a necessity. Family is what gives an individual their identity, their security, their community away from home.
Quote #10
Obi had done his best to make the whole thing sound unimportant. Just a temporary setback and no more. Everything would work out nicely in the end. His mothers' mind had been affected by her long illness but she would soon get over it. AS for his father, he was as good as won over. "All we need do is lie quiet for a little while," he said.
Clara had listened in silence, rubbing her engagement ring with her right fingers. When he stopped talking, she looked up at him and asked if he had finished.
…
"What are you talking about, Clara?...Oh, don't be silly," he said as she pulled off her ring and held it out to him.
"If you don't take it, I shall throw it out of the window." (15.12-13;19-20)
Though he would like to believe otherwise, Obi is not ready to forsake his family for the woman he loves. He tries to make it sound like he is not breaking up with Clara, but she knows the truth.