" At that point there was a sudden stir in the crowd and every eye was turned in one direction. There was a sharp bend in the road that led from the marketplace to the white man's court, and to the stream beyond it. And so no one had seen the approach of the five court messengers until they had come round the bend, a few paces from the edge of the crowd. Okonkwo was sitting at the edge. .
He sprang to his feet as soon as he saw who it was. He confronted the head messenger, trembling with hate, unable to utter a word. The man was fearless and stood his ground, his four men lined up behind him. .
In that brief moment the world seemed to stand still, waiting. Ther was utter silence. The men of Umofia were merged into the mute backcloth of trees and giant creepers, waiting. .
The spell was broken by the head messenger. "Let me pass!" he ordered.
"What do you want here?".
"The white man whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop.".
In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo's machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body. .
The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultuous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action. He discerned fright into that tumult. He heard voices asking" "Why did he do it?".
He wiped his machete on the sand and went away.".
2. Okonkwo's battle between the forces of his superego and the forces of his id aren't really illustrated in this novel. They are things that the reader must conjure up on their own because the men of Umofia are supposed to be manly and masculine; and weakness or allowing the forces of the superego to come out would be considered cowardly, even in thought.