The Native Doctor Symbol Analysis

In the story, the native doctor, an African herbalist who specializes in indigenous healing remedies for a host of medical and spiritual conditions, symbolizes the community’s loyalty to tradition and perhaps superstition. Members of Okeke’s community urge him to consult a native doctor because Nnaemeka’s actions—going against the grain of tradition and choosing his own wife, who isn’t even from his same tribe—suggest that he is sick and in need of healing. Madubogwu believes that Nnaemeka’s “mind is diseased,” and that the native doctor’s medicine is the only effective remedy for this illness. Although Mrs. Ochuba's son, another young man from the village, died from these natural remedies, the community is still adamant that Nnaemeka must undergo the same treatment. The native doctor, then, represents just how grave a threat nonconformity and the outside world pose to the Okeke and Nnaemeka’s village, as the community is willing to put Nnaemeka’s life at risk in order to rid him of his desire to defy his father and thereby thwart their traditions.