Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Akata Witch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Identity and Belonging
The Individual vs. the Collective
Friendship and Teamwork
Education, Power, and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
Mud and trees fall from the sky, the storm stops, and chittim rains down around Sunny. Sunny’s fear turns into pain—she’s very sore. Chichi calls for Sunny and then sends her to check on Orlu, who’s still with the toddlers. When Sunny finds them, the toddlers are alive and clinging to Orlu, who’s unconscious. They beg Sunny to not hurt him. Sunny shakes Orlu and his eyes fly open. He explains that he brought the toddlers back to life and points to a huge pile of chittim. As Sunny leads Orlu and the toddlers back to the obi, she explains that Black Hat killed himself and brought Ekwensu through. Sunny explains that she somehow sent Ekwensu back—and Orlu says that the elders sent the four of them for a reason.
In all ways, Sunny and her friends were successful: Ekwensu and Black Hat are gone, and the toddlers are alive and ready to be returned to their families. Though the danger has passed, the four continue to work together to care for each other and for the toddlers. Orlu, true to form, accepts that the scholars knew exactly what they were doing when they sent the four to deal with Black Hat. One of the scholars, at least, seems to know what Sunny is capable of and that she just needs a push to reach her full potential.
Themes
Sasha is awake when Sunny, Orlu, and the toddlers enter the obi. They figure a council vehicle is going to show up soon, so they set about gathering all the chittim they earned. Sure enough, a van arrives 30 minutes later. On the drive, Chichi explains to Sunny that Chichi’s mother knew Sunny’s grandmother, and in a dream recently, Ozoemena taught her the juju that Chichi used. It’s called a “bring back,” and powerful scholars can give it to someone when they die to bring back a person’s worst sins. Sasha and Orlu join the conversation; they realize that the Oha covens that didn’t survive probably took the place of the kidnapped children they saved. The driver stops at the police station, and he and Orlu take the toddlers inside.
Though there’s no indication Chichi and Sunny are related, they’re nevertheless connected because of their older family members. Ozoemena, the novel implies, is still around in spirit and able to influence what’s happening in the here and now—so though she’s dead, she’s not really gone. This offers some hope that in the future, Sunny may have more of an opportunity to get to know her grandmother. As the four discuss the other Oha covens’ sacrifice, they essentially thank and acknowledge those sacrifices—they allowed these four to survive.
Themes
Once the toddlers have been delivered, the driver turns the van onto a bumpy road that he says leads to Leopard Knocks. As the van reaches a bridge, everyone closes their eyes except Sunny. She feels her spirit face come forward as the wheels hit the bridge, and she looks around at her friends’ spirit faces. Orlu’s face is square, green, and decorated with tiny Nsibidi symbols. Sasha’s spirit face is that of a fierce parrot, and Chichi’s face is long and made of marble. She can’t see the driver’s face. At the end of the bridge, Sunny closes her eyes and pretends to open them with everyone else. She feels a bit guilty for looking at everyone’s faces, but she’s glad she looked.
Having been raised in the Lamb world, Sunny has next to no experience with spirit faces (she’s only seen Chichi’s and her own at this point). Essentially seeing her friends naked and vulnerable—and seeing their true natures—helps Sunny feel more secure and at home in her relationships, and in the Leopard world more broadly. The Nsibidi symbols on Orlu’s spirit face could signify that there’s perhaps more to their relationship, since Sunny is the only one of the group who can read the symbols.
Themes
The van stops at the Obi Library just as the sun comes out. The driver explains that he’s taking all the chittim to Sunny, Sasha, Orlu, and Chichi’s homes and drives away, leaving the four to enter the library alone. The atmosphere in the library is excited now, and Samya shouts happily when she sees the kids walk in. She leads them to Sugar Cream’s office, where they tell Sugar Cream everything. Sugar Cream praises them, Sunny in particular. But she warns that it'll be easier for Ekwensu to return now that she’s come through once, so they’ll need to start preparing in the physical world. Then, Sugar Cream hugs each kid in turn—and tells Sunny “Okay.” Sunny has a mentor.
In the Leopard world, everything is well. Disaster has been averted, and though Sugar Cream makes it clear that things can’t just go back to normal, they no longer need to live in such fear as they have been. Things also start to look up for Sunny specifically, as Sugar Cream agrees to take her on as a mentee. Now that Sunny has proven that she’s responsible, generous, and not just selfish, she’ll be able to further her education and reach her full potential.
Themes
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