Who Fears Death

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

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Part 2, Chapters 18-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 18 Summary: “A Welcome Visit to Aro’s Hut”

Following her father’s funeral and Aro’s visit, things are tense for Onye. She struggles to sleep at night, convinced someone is watching her, and everyone—including her friends—keeps their distance from her, “like someone with a highly contagious disease” (116). When she finally returns to school and confronts her friends, they are filled with questions and remorse, and it is clear to Onye that they have been forbidden from seeing her by their parents. However, they make up and move on.

Four weeks after Aro’s visit, Onye returns to begin her training. Mwita greets her at the gate; he, too, had kept his distance, but Onye had known that this was because he was waiting for her at Aro’s hut. Aro chastises them for hugging, then reiterates that their connection is why Onye cannot live at the hut, as apprentices normally would.

When Aro and Onye sit together, Aro shocks her by apologizing for his arrogance and insecurity. Onye initially chides him for not teaching Mwita, but Aro reveals that he couldn’t because Mwita didn’t pass initiation; Onye distrusts him but accepts it for the time being.

Aro explains to her that she, too, must pass initiation first, and that her test will be the next day. He gives her a set of instructions and tells her to return at five in the morning.

When she leaves, she visits Mwita and asks him about his initiation. He is initially reluctant to tell her anything, but then explains that “The closer you come to completing the initiation, the closer you come to death. To be initiated is to die” (121). Mwita tells her that he came very close. Further, he tells her that it’s different for everyone, but will not elaborate beyond that.

Chapter 19 Summary: “The Man in Black”

When she arrives the next morning, Aro gives her a cup of tea to drink, then tells her to walk into the desert. As she walks, she becomes hyperaware of her surroundings—her heartbeat, grains of sand, etc. Before she realizes, she is in the middle of an oncoming sandstorm. Onye tries to return to Aro’s hut, but she is unable to figure out which direction she needs to go. She sees a tent with a small fire burning inside and realizes the wind is pushing her toward it.

Inside the tent is “the whitest man [she’d] ever seen” dressed in a black robe (124). He greets her and questions her; sensing that she is close to her period, he also chastises her, telling her that she is in a sacred place. Then, angrier, he yells at her for being circumcised; however, as Onye tries to explain, he tells her to shut up and says to himself that “Maybe that can be helped” (125). Then, he informs her that she may die during initiation, and that her body won’t be found if she does. Onye tries to push the image of her mother out of her mind.

The man throws tiny bones which land on the ground before her. She stares at the bones for a while; shocked at her muted reaction, the man tells her that this is where the pain normally begins. He tells her he must have her killed, then reaches out and snaps her neck.

When Onye opens her eyes, she knows instantly that she isn’t herself, but rather “a passenger in someone’s head,” able to feel everything about the person (126). She notices the woman’s skin, slightly darker than hers, and the tribal markings covering the woman’s hands and arms.

The woman is suddenly grabbed, but she doesn’t fight. She is dragged into a hole and buried up to her neck, surrounded by a crowd that keeps its distance. The crowd begins throwing stones at her; as she feels the stones strike her, she calls for her father, who holds her close, then releases her. She is lying in the “wilderness,” still half buried in the sand, while Njeri, Fadil’s first wife, the camel rider, stands over her. Njeri tells her to walk her own path, then departs; Onye feels the weight of her own mortality, then drifts “into a restless, helpless sleep” (128).

When Onye awakens again two days later, Mwita is caring for her. She realizes that she senses jealousy in Mwita because she passed and he had not; she recognizes that she needs to address it, but Mwita defers. They embrace, and she realizes that for the first time, she doesn’t feel pain, that her Rite juju had been broken. They begin to make love; as they do, though, she begins to feel pain again and slows down. Mwita reminds her she is Eshu; she regrows her clitoris and they continue. “That tiny piece of flesh made all the difference. Growing it back hadn’t been hard and it pleased me that for once in my life obtaining something of importance was easy” (130).

Chapters 18-19 Analysis

These chapters represent yet another rite of passage, and in fact the two tracks of Onye’s life intersect with one another. Initiation is a more formal rite of passage in the world of magic, and would more properly be called a test—unlike the Eleventh Rite, which serves as a way of gaining acceptance, initiation serves to prevent those who are unworthy from joining the ranks of other sorcerers. In multiple ways, it undoes the Eleventh Rite. First, the Eleventh Rite is the only reason Onye’s biological father finds her; once she passes initiation, though, Onye is safe from her father once again. Second, Onye is able to regrow her clitoris as a result of passing initiation, though she doesn’t yet understand how; as a result, the Eleventh Rite juju no longer applies to her, and she and Mwita are finally able to have intercourse (though, for a different reason, they are still not supposed to).

Initiation itself—or more accurately, those who run it—reinforces the misogynistic tendencies of those in power. Like Aro, Sola looks down upon Onye because of her gender and even chastises her for being in a sacred place so close to her period, as if the very existence of a routine, biological feature of womanhood is somehow offensive to him. (Strangely, we find out later that Sola has encountered at least one other female sorcerer in initiation prior to Onye, suggesting that his beliefs are extremely stubborn.)

Further, the method of death Onye experiences has its roots in the oppression of women, as well. While death by stoning has a long history, in modern times, it is most frequently used in Muslim countries as a punishment for adultery and disproportionately applied to women. We will come to find out that this particular woman is not stoned to death for adultery, and it is not clear that Nuru or Okeke society in Who Fears Death use stoning for that purpose; nevertheless, as a symbol, it reinforces the theme of female oppression running throughout the novel.

Sola is something of a mysterious figure. It is not clear why he is white, but given the lack of white people in the novel, a better guess than that Sola is of European descent would be that he is albino. Of course, that is if Sola is even human—Onye raises this question several times, both to herself and others, but never receives clarification. Regardless, Sola is very old and very powerful; like Aro, his surface mannerisms and deficiencies are rather more complicated than they initially appear. His specific role remains unclear even by the end of the novel—he guides things but does not control them; he seems to be in charge, though he generally stands back from the action. Regardless, like Aro, despite his problems, the novel suggests that he is on the side of good—although, as we’ll see, he still has the ability to bring evil into the world, even if accidentally.