Chapters 22-25 Summary

The professors return from their conference, and Haras announces their decision to return the stinger. He apologizes for the theft and promises to expel and exile the people involved. Haras then introduces Okpala, a mathematics professor who wishes to study the edan with Binti. Haras says they would like Okwu to stay and study, too, as a gesture of goodwill and peace. The chief asks for time to confer with its advisers. Binti realizes her hair has somehow transformed into okuoko, tentacles like those of the Meduse. Okwu explains that when Binti was stung, the Meduse transformed her so she could truly become their ambassador.

Rumors calling Binti a “human tribal female” spread around the university. Binti points out that “tribal” is the word they use to refer to “humans from ethnic groups too remote and ‘uncivilized’ to regularly send students to… Oomza Uni.” The chief allows Okwu to stay and attend Oomza Uni, and Binti accompanies the chief and the “head professor of Weapons City“ to retrieve the chief’s stinger.

Weeks later, Binti runs out of otjize, but she finds a similar-smelling oil at the market and clay in a nearby forest to make more. The next day, she washes off the last of her old otjize and feels a sense of loss for her home. She reapplies the new otjize. It seems comparable to the original. Okwu presents her with a burned tentacle, and the new otjize passes the test by healing the burn. Binti returns to her room and calls her family for the first time.

Chapters 22-25 Analysis

The transformation of Binti’s hair into okuoko is an external symbol of her internal change. She left her home only to become an oddity in a new place, found an unexpected ally in Okwu, and risked alienation from her family in exchange for the opportunity to study at Oomza Uni. With the transformation of her hair she is now literally part Meduse. A reluctant hero, Binti is no longer the person she was when she left her family. The new otjize Binti makes signals that she will be able to adapt to her new status.

Though Binti is transformed and she also transforms the relationship between the Meduse and humans, the rest of the world is much the same as it ever was. Okorafor contrasts Binti’s understanding with the ignorant attitude of Binti’s new fellow students. With this contrast Okorafor illuminates the profound importance of individual growth and how slow and difficult the process of overcoming bias and ignorance can be. The people of Oomza Uni are intelligent and learned but still susceptible to the same judgmental behavior as the Meduse and the rest of humanity. Bias and ignorance are problems that all societies face, and emotional growth—in Binti’s case, to the extent of literally becoming a new kind of person—is required to overcome them.