“During the last planting season, when a white man appeared on an iron horse, sipping his wine, the people ran away in fear while he he called them. Then, when the elders asked the Oracle for help, he told them that the strange man would destroy their clan and spread destruction among them. So the people decided to kill him. The Oracle also warned the people of the other white men who appeared along the path and that they were locusts, meaning that the white man was a mere harbinger of the destruction to come. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In Chapter 7, the appearance of locusts was seen as both a sign of destruction and happiness by Nigerians, as the locusts destroyed their crops, but they tolerated its actions so that they could enjoy the pleasure of eating it later . This means that locusts always came bringing harsh consequences. Now the appearance of the white man is symbolized by the descent of the locusts, which prefigures the previous reference and its meaning. The white man before the natives of Abame killed him did not utter a single word and the silence was an ominous signal as later, paying for their actions, other white men emerged along with a large number of others, surrounded the large market of Abame and started shooting. All were killed except a few who fled to Umuofia as a band of fugitives. Abame was no more, a peaceful village completely wiped out. However, looking from another perspective one could say, the Abame had a reason to kill the white man who had visited them before the visit of the large group of white men because, at that time the natives of Abame believed that the action killing was the safest thing to do to protect themselves and they were afraid of the settler's appearance and did not feel comfortable, welcoming or trusting towards him and/or any other white man. And after hearing the Oracle's words that the man was an omen/sign that destruction was coming with more men of his kind coming to take over the clan, the people of Abame became more anxious and out of precaution they decided to kill the man. However, they did not know that other men in their path would unexpectedly gather and attack in a large market and that the natives of Abame had no choice but to flee or die. Then, coming back again to why the decision to kill the stranger was wrong, it is because if we remember a fact mentioned in chapter 2 which said that Oracle never allowed the people to wage war without first making peace, then here Oracle gave a warning but never gave the people the order to kill, but the people of Abame killed the white man due to their fear without obeying the traditional rules, it could have led to the consequences, the ruin of the people and their suffering as the cause of the disaster. Disaster struck when fearful and ruthless white men and their band of slaves suddenly attacked with weapons without giving time to The people of Abame defend themselves and mobilize by gathering their artillery. Uchendu thought that the people of Abame were foolish to kill the white man who said nothing. Okonkwo thought the people were stupid because they might bring their machetes and guns to kill the white men who would later pass by, after the first man who came to scout the land as a messenger's visit. And finally to support Abame's actions to be righteous is because Uchendu and Okonkwo might see the people of Abame as godsfoolish for killing the strange man and facing the consequences of the rest of the white man's race coming to take revenge, but at that time people had no choice but to be wary and take the decision and matter into their own hands, based on the listening to the warning given by the Oracle. In other words, through Abame's story we understand multiple perspectives: Abame faced consequences because they followed the Oracle's misinterpreted warning by disobeying traditions and waging an unjust fight and they got what came to them as punishment, where the people of Abame killed a white man so the man kind got angry and gathered to destroy Abame as revenge. A foreshadowing of the symbolism of the locusts in the previous chapter, and the locusts are a symbol of disaster as coined in the Bible, and Achebe ironically comparing the white men to the locusts shows that the tragedy of this village will result in everyone being destined to die in the end, and that the fugitives who fled to Umuofia may be lucky now, but it only means that sooner or later they will suffer too. So, on the bright side, the people of Abame may have been seen as foolish in the eyes of Okonkwo, Uchendu and Obierika heard the story, but the people's decision to kill the first white man who set foot in Abame could have been considered the right choice, because the natives had no other choice and could not risk their lives by letting a stranger enter their village and, out of fear and for their safety, the decision to kill the man could be proven correct. What I mean is that the people of Abame may have killed one white man, but the retaliation of a large group of white men coming to kill the whole of Abame later is a disproportionate crime and is too much for one revenge. Describing this excessive action of revenge, Achebe introduces white men and their character of how they go to drastic levels in agonizing and persecuting people with a callous attitude. It also demonstrates from this point on in the novel that the white men and the Africans oppose each other as rivals with the high possibility of an inevitable conflict to arise between the two clans. Colonization begins and we get a hint of its meaning, the characteristics of white men, and even real life incidents relate to what is happening in the novel. The sad story suggests that the white men were scary and few Umuofians like Obierika felt that the people of Abame paid for their folly by killing the sent white man in the first place. thought Obierika, the white man who didn't speak even when he was about to be killed shows the dark silence as a sign of terror and danger, so the people of Abame should have taken the hint and let the man go but despite not having uttered a word they killed him stupidly. So the greatest disaster occurred when more white men gathered and came and killed them all in Abame. This means that the white men represent the locusts who will be gathered, will cause chaos, and may symbolize that the tragedy of Abame was almost nothing compared to a catastrophic destruction yet to come. Readers understand a glimpse of colonization where Oracle's words came true when Abame was undoubtedly destroyed and readers understand the struggles of imperialism from the stories of white men that Okonkwo has already heard: “The white men were ferocious, they made weapons potent and strong drinks. They took slaves away across the seas.” So, mentioning slaves in the novel means that white men conquered mostly African lands, took control of most of the.)