Anthills of the Savannah Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter 8 Summary

This chapter is entitled, 'Daughters: Idemili.' Achebe describes the birth of Idemili, the daughter of the Sun and the festivals that are held in commemoration. The lake, out of which she came, was designated as a shrine to her worship; however, urbanization and development forced the locals to create shrines further and further away from the lake. The narrator laments the fact that the more man tries to capture the divine, the more unobtainable the Divine becomes.

There is a folk tale that tells the story of a handsome man who sought the attention of Idemili. She refused him, and he went away, to perform an ancient rite of seclusion. He lives in an isolated hut, away from his many wives. Rather than sleep in the hut, however, he would travel at the dead of night to gaze into the window of Idemili, only to travel home at dawn. One...
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