The missionaries approached the elders of Mbanta to ask for a plot of land to build a church. The elders provided them with a space in the Evil Forest expecting that the forest would finish them off. The people of Mbanta waited for the gods to exact their vengeance against the missionaries, but time passed and nothing happened to the church in the forest -- with the exception of an increasing congregation. The white man who had come to Mbanta with the missionaries went back to Umuofia where he had built a school to educate the natives and left Mr. Kiaga in charge of the Mbanta church. Although Nwoye was curious about Christianity, he was careful not to make it too obvious because he knew Okonkwo would be furious. But one of Okonkwo's kinsmen noticed Nwoye near the church and reported it to the boy's father.
When Nwoye came home that evening, Okonkwo began beating him until Uchende interrupted him. Nwoye left that night and joined the Christians. He went to work at the school in Umuofia and his father disowned him. Okonkwo could not understand how a man as strong and influential as himself could have had such a womanly son for an heir -- a boy so much like Unoka, his lazy and title-less grandfather. He believed his chi, or personal god, was turned against him. First the exile and now the betrayal of his eldest son -- he was cursed. Looking into the fire, Okonkwo realized that "Living fire begets cold, impotent ash." Part 2: Chapter 17, Pg. 134
