In Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God, tragedy is the driving force behind the plot and the development of Ezeulu's character. Contrary to the popular saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", the successive and increasingly personal tragedies that befall Ezeulu fuel his descent from the wise and highly respected high priest of his people to a petty and wicked man, perfectly willing to starve his people for a perceived slight. Ezeulu is corrupted by power, and as his family and village heed his advice less and less, he wields more and more power to influence them until he almost leads his people to disaster. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay At first, Ezeulu is truly a wise man, and his advice on the conflict between Umuaro and Okperi is part of the bit of wise leadership of 'Ezeulu appears throughout the novel. Not only does Ezeulu demonstrate integrity in his advice not to go to war over land that rightfully belongs to Okperi (Achebe 26), but Ezeulu also rightly predicts that Akukalia is too impetuous to be sent as a diplomat into the land conflict. When Akukalia and the other diplomats arrive at Okperi, they refuse any friendly rituals and simply request an audience with the elders. Their hosts are understandably offended by this and an insult to Akukalia's manhood sets Akukalia on a rampage, ending with the destruction of an Okperi idol and Akukalia's death. This first tragedy precipitates the chain that will lead to Ezeulu's eventual downfall. For this tragedy triggers war between Umuaro and Okperi, and Ezeulu and Nwaka's differing opinions on the war put their villages (Umuachala and Umunneora respectively) at odds. It is this conflict between Nwaka and Ezeulu, and Umuneora and Umuachala, that sets the scene for Ezeulu's eventual downfall. Before this point in history, Ezeulu was truly a servant of his people. The book describes Ezeulu observing the night sky for days to ensure he saw the new moon and performed the necessary ceremonies (Achebe 1). This conflict is the first time that Umuaro has not obeyed Ezeulu's word and the first time that Ezeulu has been brought into conflict with part of the village. At this point, the seeds of resentment are sown. Ezeulu now distrusts at least part of his village and thinks less of the rest for having followed Nwaka and not his own advice. By the time Ezeulu leaves for Okperi to meet Winterbottom, his distrust of his village has crystallized. When Winterterbottom falls ill and Clarke keeps Ezeulu waiting, Ezeulu is already hoping that he will stay longer so that he can plan his revenge against the village. On page 161 he says to himself: “Let the white man detain him not for a day but for a year so that his divinity, seeing him out of place, may ask questions of Umuaro. " This thought, combined with his earlier belief not to seek the new moon in Okperi (Achebe 159), demonstrates that even before his imprisonment, Ezeulu went astray and turned against his people. Ezeulu was imprisoned by the British for the “crime” of not accepting the title of chief adjutant for thirty-two days. Including the four days it took before Clarke met Ezeulu, Ezeulu was absent from Umuaro for 36 days and two new moons and therefore was unable to eat the sacred yams. In this way, the tragedy of Ezeulu's imprisonment allows Ezeulu to take revenge by providing an excuse to delay the harvest and cause famine. Although he realizes that his close friends and family are not against him or Ulu, Ezeulu carries out his plan and refuses to allow a harvest andinsists that the village wait two extra lunar cycles to harvest to account for the two new moons they missed in Okperi. Here Ezeulu's arrogance and wickedness begins the final downfall of Ulu, of tradition, and of course his own final downfall. The death of Ezeulu's son Obika is a final insult before Ezeulu fades into obscurity. Ezeulu's plan for revenge succeeds and Umuaro starves for a time, until the villagers slowly convert to Christianity. The local church promises immunity from Ulu's wrath, and the people choose to eat as Christians rather than die following Ulu and Ezeulu. Ezeulu's fears that the entire village will turn against him and Ulu have materialized, and the great tragic irony of it all is that Ezeulu's revenge plans to punish the people for disobeying him and Ulu are precisely which pushed them to convert. In the end, even the book does not remember Ezeulu's death, as his importance had diminished. Ezeulu, and Ulu with him, simply sink into darkness. Ezeulu's authority as leader was replaced by the British and Ulu's religion replaced by Christianity. Both British politicians of similar rank, Clarke and Winterbottom naturally have similar views on the natives and both have a dedication to their work and a desire. for the British to plan to succeed in Nigeria, even if they did not always agree with the directives of their superiors. The main difference between Clarke and Winterbottom is that while Clarke believes that not all Aboriginal institutions are bad, Winterbottom only sees the worst in Aboriginal people. The first indication of this ideological difference appears early in the book, when Clarke and Winterbottom discuss The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger, which Winterbottom had previously lent to Clarke. On page 35, Clarke indicates that although he enjoyed the book, he felt that the author did not give enough credit to indigenous institutions. Winterbottom immediately responds that Clarke is simply inexperienced and will end up thinking like the author of the book and himself. He punctuates this with an anecdote about the discovery of a man buried alive up to his neck, baited with yams and abandoned to vultures. At this point, Winterbottom credits the French with developing a better approach. While the English granted autonomy to the natives, the French simply took what they wanted by force. Although Clarke quickly changes the subject, he later expresses similar admiration for the French and their more direct methods of colonization (Achebe 106). Despite their shared admiration for the French, they have different underlying reasons for preferring the French franchise. In Winterbottom's case, Winterbottom admires the French for their disinterest in the natives. Winterbottom also admires the fact that the French simply take by force what they want from the natives, whom Winterbottom considers savages. However, Clarke admires the French because they managed to eliminate bureaucracy, even if the methods they employed were problematic. On page 106, Clarke muses: “The French decided what they wanted to do and did it. The British, on the other hand, never did anything without first sending a commission of inquiry to find out all the facts. » Unlike the ideologically and politically motivated officers, Wright is a crude man who enjoys his earthly pleasures. Wright is known to enjoy the company of native women. Even if Clarke is interested, Wright is the only European in the neighborhood who responds openly to these.