In this classic story which concerns the generational
conflict between a father clinging to his tribal ways and his son, who by choosing to
marry outside of his tribe rejects the customs and beliefs of his father, Amalile and
Mrs. Ochuba are mentioned by the father's friends and members of the tribe by talking
about the way that Okeke should seek some kind of traditional medical cure to solve his
son's stubborn determination to select who he wants as his future wife. Note what
Madubogwu suggests:
The boy's mind is diseased and only a good
herbalist can bring him back to his right senses. The medicine he requires is
Amalile, the same that women apply with success to recapture their
husbands' straying
affection.
Amalile
is thus the name given of the medicine that was used in this tribe to regain
the affection of unfaithful husbands. However, Okeke refuses to adopt such an approach,
citing the case of Mrs. Ochuba, who followed this scheme but ended up unwittingly
poisoning the herbalist in "trying it out" because she did not go to an "honest
herbalist." Okeke determines to let his son follow his own path and to let him face the
consequences of being isolated and rejected.
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