ABSTRACT
Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God have tribal systems which enact a lifeworld and a vital relationship configured to a patch of the earth peopled by the living and dead members of the group, with patrilineal descent as the mark of membership. Arrow of God is somewhat more sophisticated, being a confederacy of six previously autonomous tribes set up with a common deity instituted by the group with a priesthood, ceremonial, and traditions. Whereas in Things Fall Apart, the hero Okonkwo’s mind is shaped by the tribal ideology and exercises care within its ambient, but is completely at a loss outside it, the hero of Arrow of God Ezeulu is immersed in a political world where the call of care may sometimes conflict with those of the cult where he presides.
