52 pages • 1 hour read
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Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination and sexual content.
Beatrice, now narrating in first person, receives an unexpected invitation from His Excellency for a private dinner and informs Chris, who encourages her to accept. On Saturday, a soldier escorts her to the lavish Presidential Retreat at Abichi Lake rather than the Palace. During the journey, Beatrice recalls past debates between Chris and Ikem regarding the Retreat’s extravagance. At the dinner party, she meets several guests, including Lou Cranford, an American journalist, and General Lango, a military commander. Lou dominates the conversation with a lecture on foreign debt while His Excellency shows deferential support.
After dinner, His Excellency summons Beatrice to sit beside him and Lou. She reflects on what she once heard an English woman describe as the “Desdemona complex,” finding His Excellency’s interest in Lou degrading. Beatrice deliberately leads His Excellency to a balcony, where she confronts him about his deference to Lou. He responds with anger and storms away, leaving her in tears. Major Ossai then informs her that a car is waiting to take her home, effectively dismissing her.
Narrating from an unspecified amount of time in the future, Beatrice struggles to begin writing an account of recent “tragic” events. Her maid, Agatha, senses that something is wrong and breaks her usual Sabbath routine to do chores around the house, which allows Beatrice to begin her account.
By Chinua Achebe
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