Much has been said of Obi's (and thus Nigeria's) plight and tragedy in this work, notwithstanding the obtuse and thereby abusive ideologies of the Mr. Greens of the country. That Achebe tightly crafts these into a series of seemingly unavoidable steel teeth around his protagonist as a narrator both humble and unsympathetic is also his much-earned reputation.

I was intrigued, this reading, in the parallels and variations to his grandfather Okonkwo. Obi as namesake clearly shares some of his ancestor's flaws, a stubbornness and pride of character. However, whereas Okonkwo's pride is extreme and devastating from the viewpoint of both cultures (and with some justification), the similar judgments against Obi are nearly all misreadings of him, part of the distancing of modernity. One might reason that some of the teeth which close on Obi could have been avoided (foresight, greater care in security, more humility is requesting support), but these read to me as strategies that merely mumble a protest to the broader forces at work on Nigeria: British policies authored in ignorance of tradition, racism ironically rationalized, and antiquated traditions which fail to move to the new rhythms of its people. Obi is cursed by an education and reason which sees these conflicts clearly, but his position of one foot in each culture curses him to an impotency to affect either. No matter the choices he ultimately makes or even their motivation--the ruination of his reason, his principles, is inevitable.