TFA Chapter 23:

Okonkwo finally has a feeling that is “akin to happiness” when he is again respected as a leader in his society. As an evident leader, Okonkwo is one of the six men invited by the Direct Commissioner to discuss how “Enoch murdered an egwuwu.” The District Commissioner has trapped them, for as he admonishes the six men for their “vulgar” actions (molesting others, burning homes, and destroying places of worship, page 195), he also handcuffs them. The tribe must even pay a fine for the release of the men. Just before exiting, the Commissioner instructs his court messengers “to treat the men with respect because they were the leaders of Umuofia.” (194) How should this line be interpreted? What does this reflect about the intercultural relations? Does this instruction provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark situation or does it in fact enhance the irony? Is the word were significant in that line?