Arrow of God

Edogo’s jealousy toward his little brothers, who gain more of their father’s attention, is only part of a long line of brothers competing for talent, reward, and authority in Umuaro. When Okeke Onenyi, Ezeulu’s half-brother, offers to travel with him to Okperi, Arrow of God reveals that Ezeulu had retained some “resentment at the splitting of powers between” (147) himself and his brother. Because powerful fathers transfer their connections to deities to their sons, men like Ezeulu and Edogo fear the favor of their fathers.

When Obika dies, his father’s favor is clear. Nwaka seems to be the most natural successor as the high priest of Ulu, yet Obika’s strength and attractiveness compels his father. When Obika’s marriage seems to make him a “changed person” (121), his father is full of pride. Obika’s temper gets him into trouble, and he acts rashly, in this way a reflection of his father’s pride. That pride is common to each of the grown sons in the novel; one of the greatest challenges of masculinity, in Arrow of God, is to control one’s pride.

Akuebue is concerned for Edogo because he knows “how a man’s first son must feel to be pushed back so that the younger ones might come forward to receive favour” (127).