Speak Up

p. 140

"'Never kill a man who says nothing. Those men of Abame were fools. What did they know about the man?'  He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. 'Mother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. She went, and brought back a duckling.  'You have done very well,' said Mother Kite to her daughter, 'but tell me, what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away?'  'It said nothing,' replied the young kite. 'It just walked away.'  'You must return the duckling,' said Mother Kite.  'There is something ominous behind the silence.'  And so Daughter Kite returned the duckling and took a chick instead.  'What did the mother of this chick do?' asked the old kite.  'It cried and raved and cursed me,' said the young kite.  'Then we can eat the chick,' said her mother.  'There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.'  Those men of Abame were fools.'"

Right before this passage, Okonkwo and his uncle Uchendu listened to Obierika recount how white men arrived at a neighboring tribe.  This tribe, the Abame, killed the first white missionary because he was different, rode an "iron horse" (p. 139), and could not communicate in their tongue.  Due to this new person's otherness, the tribe assumed he was a threat and made an example out of him before they knew the whole story.  We all must be aware of this situation to make sure we do not make the same type of mistake- forming a full judgement of someone before we've heard their side of the story.  If you don't know why someone is there or how they became the person they are at the moment, it is best not to react out of fear instantaneously and act in a manner that you may regret.

In the tradition of these tribes, most important life lessons come in the form of stories.  As Okonkwo once put it, there are two types of stories: male and female.  It all depends on who is telling the story; the content may be similar, but the way it is received will differ based on the gender of the speaker.  Okonkwo listens to Uchendu's stories because they're male stories, told by a male authority figure; if the same story came from a female, he would write it off as silly and frivolous.  The scene described in this passage is one of a mother guiding her daughter to figure out the difference between right and wrong.  The mother of the duckling "said nothing" and "just walked away", leading Mother Kite to say "there is something ominous about silence".  If someone remains quiet while something assumedly precious to them gets taken away, there's usually a darker reason lurking behind the allowance.

On the flip side, those that speak up for themselves can say they did that they could to save what they love.  In Uchendu's story, the hen "cried and raved and cursed" at Daughter Kite when she took the chick; the mother was fighting for the object of her love, not just letting it slip away.  Mother Kite allows the consumption of the chick, saying "there is nothing to fear from someone who shouts", meaning that we know the chick was important to its mother, intoning that it received love in its lifetime.  Those who at least attempt to communicate their dissent are more highly regarded than those who just allow injustice to occur without speaking up.

This scenario has occurred time and again throughout history.  Slaves in the South took the backbreaking labor of their white owners with stoicism because they no longer felt the drive to live.  During Holocaust, many victims stayed silent when beaten because they felt out of control of their own lives and feared repercussions if they dared to speak up.  Sometimes, it may feel like staying silent is the better way to go, the road with less hurt and heartbreak.  However, speaking up for whatever is closest to your heart is never wrong.  Never stop fighting for what you want.  Also, in Okonkwo's case especially, don't judge people so harshly and completely.