All Questions Finally Answered

"As soon as his father walked in, that night, Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed, and something seemed to give way inside him, like the snapping of a tightened bow. He did not cry. He just hung limp. He had had the same kind of feeling not long ago, during the last harvest season. Every child loved the harvest season. Those who were big enough to carry even a few yams in a tiny basket went with grown-ups to the farm. And if they could not help in digging up the yams, they could gather firewood together for roasting the ones that would be eaten there on the farm. This roasted yam soaked in red palm-oil and eaten in the open farm was sweeter than any meal at home. It was after such a day at the farm during the last harvest that Nwoye had felt for the first time a snapping inside him like the one he now felt. They were returning home with baskets of yams from a distant farm across the stream when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. A sudden hush had fallen on the women, who had been talking, and they had quickened their steps. Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest, but he had never yet come across them. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell, like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit on the way. Then something had given way inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna." (61-62)

    This passage is one of the first in the novel that gives the reader vivid description of Nwoye's life. Before this, description of him is limited to a few sentences about liking women's stories, being lazy, being feminine, or minor character developments. This passage serves as insight into Nwoye's character, but also foreshadows the evolving of his character later on in the novel.
    Nwoye's feeling of something "snapping inside of him" has only happened twice, and the two events that caused it are very much related: both happen due to cultural practices that Nwoye can't understand. The first is the abandoning of twins in the woods. This practice is linked to religion and the idea that twins are abominations. Hearing the cries of twins from the woods, one can assume that Nwoye was not thinking of them as abominations. He felt as if he had passed "an evil spirit" and a "vague chill" descended upon him. Then, the snapping happened, and it didn't happen again until Nwoye learned that his father had killed Ikemefuna.
    The death of Ikemefuna is due to another cultural norm, as Okonkwo's possession of him was due to an ultimatum made by Umuofia to a neighboring tribe. Though most assumed for a while that the boy would not be killed, the oracle spoke after a long time and ordered the boy's death. Okonkwo, fearing the loss of his masculinity, took part in his murder despite being told not to. When Nwoye learned of this, it seems as if his heart broke.
    Both of these practices are linked to the religion of the people of Umuofia, and perhaps these events have something to do with Nwoye's eventual decampment from Mbanta and his father to join the new religion, Christianity. Later in the novel, it is mentioned that the song of the Christians answered "the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed" (147). It is also mentioned that the Christians rescued twins from the bush. These two events, heart-wrenching for Nwoye, eventually shaped the path of his life, and strongly influenced his decision to leave his father and culture behind him.