Nnaemeka's father,
Okeke, is completely opposed to his son's marriage to a woman who does not come from their
people and who is not an Ibo. The father's friends recommend that the son be administered a
medicine called Amalile, which apparently allows straying husbands to be attracted to their
wives again. Mrs. Ochuba intended to give this medicine to her husband for this purpose, but it
was given to the herbalist instead, who died as a result. Some of the men around Nnaemeka's
father refer to Mrs. Ochuba as a murderess.
Okeke refuses to administer this
medicine to his son. At the end of the story, Okeke regrets having distanced himself from his
son's family when he learns that his son and his wife have two sons who want to meet him. It is
then that he begins to relent, and it is the sons who are truly the Amalile, or the medicine
that will bring Okeke to reconcile with his son and his son's family.
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