Okonkwo follows too.
Ezeudu, a great man of the clan had died. During his funeral, Okonkwo's gun exploded killing a boy. According to Umuofian law, Okonkwo has done a crime against the earth goddess and must flee from the clan. He is to be exiled with his family for seven years.
Okonkwo bears the exile bitterly. He believes that a man can take hold of his own destiny. The accident with the gun and his being exiled are proof that at times, a man cannot control his own fate. Okonkwo had to start from scratch again, worse now because he is already old. He and his family seek refuge in his motherland of Mbanta. His mother's family who treated them well received them. Uchendu, Okonkwo's uncle, heads his mother's family. Uchendu was described as a generous and wise man. .
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During Okonkwo's exile, the white man came. The missionaries came bringing with them a new religion. This new religion seems weird and crazy for the Ibo people. Even though he missionaries win converts, they were the laughing stock of the clan because their converts were either men of low ranks or outcasts. In time, the new religion became established. Nwoye became a convert and joined the missionaries. Upon knowing this, Okonkwo was enraged and beat his son up. Nwoye, bitter and hating his father, ran away.
After seven years of being exiled, Okonkwo returns home to Umuofia. He was saddened to see that the clan he grew up in has now changed drastically, all because of the white men. The church has won many converts and some of them had no respect for the traditions and the rules of the clan. Worse than that, the white man's government has also came to Umuofia. The clan is no longer free to judged its own, but instead, a District Commissioner judges cases in his ignorance of clan commandments. The clan has no choice but to follow this man because he is backed by armed power.
One night, during a religious gathering, a convert named Enoch unmasked one of the egwugwu, or clan spirit.
