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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Akata Witch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Belonging
The Individual vs. the Collective
Friendship and Teamwork
Education, Power, and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
It’s the middle of the dry season now, but it’s been raining for six days straight—so hard that schools are closed. Sunny wakes up on the seventh day of rain, praises Della (the wasp artist), and checks her Leopard newspaper. The front-page story is about the rain, which makes Sunny laugh. But Sunny stops in her tracks when she goes downstairs for breakfast and discovers Anatov at the kitchen table with her mother. Sunny’s mother sounds ready to cry as she introduces Sunny to Anatov as a friend of Sunny’s grandmother. She kisses Sunny and runs away. Anatov tells Sunny to gather her things; they’re going to Leopard Knocks. She does as she’s told and follows Anatov to an official Obi Library car. Sunny waves at her mother standing on the step.
The ominous start to the chapter makes it clear that the rain is unusual and should be treated with caution. It is, perhaps, not something to laugh about. Things take a turn for the worse when Sunny finds her Leopard world and her family life colliding, with her mother and Anatov in the kitchen together. However, this does give Sunny one good thing: finally, her mother is willing to mention Sunny’s grandmother. It is presumably time for Sunny and her friends to take on Black Hat, but if Sunny is successful, she may have better luck getting her mother to divulge more information.
Themes
The car has no trouble navigating the mud. As they drive, Anatov praises Sunny’s progress—but he suggests she think about who she is. Only when she learns who she is will she learn what she’s capable of. In a whisper, Sunny says she doesn’t know who she is. She asks Anatov to tell her about her grandmother, but he insists Sunny must ask her mother. He suggests she rest until they get to Leopard Knocks.
Anatov links Sunny’s academic progress essentially to figuring out more about who she is. This entails learning some seemingly fraught family history. It’s interesting, though, that Anatov insists Sunny asks her mother about her grandmother, since Sunny’s mother likely doesn’t know the extent of Ozoemena’s Leopard abilities. Whatever Sunny needs to know is, perhaps, not connected to her grandmother’s powers.
Themes
Sunny wakes up when the car stops outside of the Obi Library. Anatov leaves Sunny outside with Sasha and Orlu, and Chichi’s mother drops Chichi off and heads for the markets soon after. The mood is somber, but Chichi notes that kids are being maimed and murdered. Sasha says they’re lucky to get to prove themselves—but Orlu grumbles that he’s worried about the rain. Just then, Sugar Cream appears behind them and ushers them into the library. There are buckets all over the library to catch water, which shocks Sunny. When they reach a big door on the third floor, Sugar Cream tells the kids to be quiet until they’re spoken to.
Sunny and her friends are trying to internalize the message that Leopard society promotes: that it’s noble and worthwhile to sacrifice a few lives for the good of many more lives. Chichi is reminding them all that they have a goal here: to hopefully save innocent children who have no hope of defending themselves. That the rain is soaking the library is odd, as one would expect a magical building like the library to keep the elements out just fine.
Themes
The inside of the room is another interior jungle, but it’s more controlled. There are seven people sitting around a table; Sunny only recognizes Taiwo, Kehinde, Anatov, and Sugar Cream. The adults argue in several languages, and Sugar Cream says politely, in English, that Sasha is American and doesn’t speak enough Igbo. A toucan flies from a vine to the table, transforms into a man, and then the man harumphs that Americans expect everyone to understand them. Sasha gets up, enraged, but Anatov and Kehinde tell him firmly to sit down.
Over the last few months, Sunny has been taught that scholars like these adults are generous, kind, and extremely well-educated. So it’s a bit of a shock that the toucan man is so callous about Sasha’s language deficiencies. This anti-American sentiment, the novel suggests, isn’t just something that affects Lambs or lower-level Leopard People. It's a prejudice that many in the Leopard world deal with.
Themes
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Sugar Cream introduces Sunny, Sasha, Chichi, and Orlu to the adults as the Oha coven that will handle Black Hat Otokoto. The adults study the kids and point out the qualities they notice, like Sasha’s rage and the fact that there’s love and lust between the four. A blind woman, Abok, notes that Sunny looks nothing like Ozoemena, and a man says that Chichi’s royal blood will make things dangerous. Abok then addresses Sunny and asks if she’s “seen it.” She says this is why they’re here today: Black Hat is just “one leg of the centipede.” Sasha asks if someone can explain what’s going on and how four kids are supposed to take on Black Hat. Orlu stands and respectfully greets each adult. He says they’re confused and need guidance.
The adults notice what the novel has urged readers to notice since the beginning: that the four friends balance each other out and support one another’s strengths and weaknesses. So where Sasha is angry and rash, Orlu is right there to calm him down and appeal to the scholars. Abok is being purposefully cryptic, but she implies that Black Hat is just a small part of bad things that will happen—if he’s not stopped, that is. But Sunny and her friends struggle to piece together what else they must learn until the adults agree to tell them all they know.
Themes
Abok says that what Sunny saw in the candle is a nuclear holocaust—but that’s just the beginning. She says that Sunny has always been a Leopard Person and she was an important person in the spirit world before her birth, which is why someone—friend or enemy—showed her the vision in the candle. Abok asks the kids to imagine what will happen when people know the end is coming, and then someone emerges with a blueprint. Many people, she says, will follow that person. She believes they’ll see more people like Black Hat as the end gets closer, and she believes Black Hat isn’t the real leader.
It’s unclear whether what Sunny saw in the candle is definitely going to happen, or just one of many possibilities and can be avoided. Either way, Abok suggests, the goal should be to preserve life on Earth for as long as possible, for as many people as possible. As it becomes increasingly likely that the world will experience a nuclear holocaust, she suggests that more people will begin acting selfishly to try to gain power in a potential new world order.
Themes
Abok explains that Otokoto passed the fourth levels, but he’s corrupt. He was an oil dealer who worked with Americans, and he’s always sought chittim, Lamb money, and power. Because he wants power, he’s been working on a forbidden juju—which will bring “the head of the centipede” from the spirit world. The “head,” she says, is Ekwensu. At this, Chichi and Orlu gasp and look ready to cry. Abok continues that Ekwensu will build an empire once she’s here, just as she did last time; it was only luck that she was sent back before.
Like Madame Koto and Ibrahim Ahmed, Otokoto is active in the oil industry—though while they remain part of mainstream Leopard society, Otokoto has left it and is now an enemy due to his selfish, corrupt actions. Readers at this point don’t know who Ekwensu is, but Chichi and Orlu’s reaction is telling—as is the fact that she’s in league with Otokoto. Like him, she’s likely corrupt and selfish.
Themes
Then, Abok says Sunny, Orlu, Sasha, and Chichi’s task is simple: they have to bring two kidnapped children who were just taken back to their parents. The rain, she explains, is Ekwensu’s doing; it’s cleansing the air and readying it for her arrival. Black Hat will perform a ceremony on the two children in about six hours, kill them, and then he’ll bring Ekwensu through. Nervously, Sunny asks if Black Hat will recognize her. Abok says it’s possible.
The rain isn’t just cleansing the air for Ekwensu. It’s trapping people in their homes (recall that workplaces and schools are closed) and the unseasonable weather is something many people are finding disturbing. The bigger problem for Sunny, though, is that she’s unsure how visible her relationship with her grandmother is to outsiders. Essentially, she’s concerned that her relationship to Ozoemena puts her in more danger than even her friends.
Themes
Taiwo says to find Black Hat, the kids should head for a gas station near Aba. Black Hat, she says, is arrogant and will think the four are harmless. Sunny asks why nobody tried to save the other kidnapped children. Abok and the other adults imply that they sent other Oha covens, but while several saved a few kidnapped children, none of the covens survived.
Black Hat is so selfish and corrupt that essentially, Taiwo insists he doesn’t know how to value teamwork or friendship. If Sunny and her friends are successful, it will presumably be because of their ability to work well together—a skill Anatov has been helping them hone for months now.
Themes
Sunny, Sasha, Orlu, and Chichi board a funky train and Sunny calls her mother on her cellphone. Sunny’s mother can barely speak, but she tells Sunny to come home. Once she hangs up, Sunny wipes her tears and asks who Ekwensu is. Chichi explains she’s like Satan, but she’s real and not just a metaphor. She’s a powerful masquerade, and if she comes through, what Sunny saw in the candle will come true—and an unstoppable “super-monster” will be controlling it.
Even as Sunny wades deeper into Leopard society, she remains emotionally attached to her mother and to her family. Chichi’s description of Ekwensu suggests that the kids are preparing to take on the epitome of evil—and because Ekwensu is a masquerade, she has powers beyond what humans have.
Themes
