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Contents
Chief priest of Ulu and the novel's central figure. He is intelligent, proud, and genuinely devoted to his god, but he cannot tell the difference between divine will and personal stubbornness. His refusal to adjust the harvest calendar destroys his community and his mind.
The British District Officer who wants to use Ezeulu as a colonial administrator. He respects Ezeulu more than most colonial officers respect African leaders, but he still has him detained when Ezeulu refuses the appointment. His illness keeps him from managing the fallout.
Ezeulu's son, physically impressive and well-liked in the community. His death during the harvest crisis is the blow that finally breaks Ezeulu. He functions as the human cost of his father's rigidity.
A wealthy and influential man in Umuaro who resents Ezeulu's authority. He works with Ezidemili to undermine the chief priest. His opposition shows that Ezeulu's problems are not only colonial but also internal to his own society.
The Christian missionary who offers to bless the harvest when Ezeulu will not. He does not win converts through argument. He wins them by solving a practical problem. His success shows how colonialism advances through need as much as ideology.
The priest of Idemili, a rival deity. He and Nwaka form a faction against Ezeulu. His presence shows that Umuaro was already politically divided before the British arrived, and that colonialism exploits existing fractures.
A Christian convert and carpenter who works with the missionaries. He is a former slave who found status through the new religion. He represents the Igbo people who saw Christianity as a path to something the old order denied them.
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