Chapter 10: New Year — Final Chapter Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Read the previous chapter summary.
(There is no next chapter summary; this is the final chapter.)
Summary
The chapter opens with the folk story told about Sankofa across many villages, towns, and cities. According to the tale, a living child was born to dead parents. Unable to care for her, the parents left her on Death's doorstep with a note explaining their situation. Death initially ignored the baby, but after six days, curiosity won, and Death took the child in, raising her until she was seven. Death named her Sankofa because she had the ability to send people back to their past, back to The Essence. The story claims that Sankofa is the Adopted Daughter of Death, and that seeing her face means you will soon see no more.
Sankofa has heard many versions of this story. She once listened to a woman tell it to a circle of children, watched a mad man in a market tell it to himself, and even heard two teenage thieves use it to try to scare her. What she hates most is the claim that her parents abandoned her. She knows they never would have left her; she had the best parents in the world. She reflects that stories are soothsayers, truth-tellers, and liars.
As New Year approaches, Sankofa moves faster and more directly toward Wulugu. She stops in towns and villages for rest, accepts gifts, and only twice eases people into soft deaths. She kills once in defense on Christmas night—a gateman whose mind was poisoned by rumors. Her fox, Movenpick, finally trusts her fully, sleeping beside her at night and following her during the day.
On New Year's morning, Sankofa arrives at the border of Wulugu. She wears a long yellow skirt, a matching top with expensive lace, and a purple and yellow headband—saving this outfit for her arrival. The road is now black and busy with autonomous vehicles. She sees the mosque in the distance and says, “We're back,” to Movenpick.
As she walks into town, she feels the ghosts of Wulugu—reminders that everything that happened truly happened. She passes a market area, a closed restaurant, and a paved road. She stops at a shea tree in the town square, carved with “#AfricansAreNotLabRats.” She passes the hotel, now twice its size, with a new pharmacy advertising LifeGen nasal spray. Two American women with dreadlocks greet her and take a photo of Movenpick.
She reaches her old home. The door swings open, and the smell of dust and abandonment wafts out. The house has been gutted—no furniture, no rugs, no photos. But for Sankofa, it is full of memories: her mother listening to audiobooks, her brother working on school assignments, her father making shea fruit piles. In the backyard, the family shea tree is taller and wider. She remembers the seed that fell on her “sky words” and the box that was pushed through the soil. She wonders if her drawings brought the alien seed, but decides it doesn't matter right now.
She kneels and digs beneath the tree. The red soil is soft and moist. She feels something solid but moving—a root that grasps her hand. With her free hand, she takes the box from her pocket. She asks the root if it is a devil or demon, then realizes it is an alien. She speaks her name: “Fatima,” and then “Fatima Okwan,” but she knows she is also Sankofa. She casts the box into the hole, spits on it, and says, “Stay there. I don't want you. You weren't a gift, you were a curse.” The roots wrap around the box, crushing it and the seed inside. Sankofa feels something leave her. She sits for an hour, remembering her father, and then falls asleep on the bare floor.
That night, she wakes to an empty stomach and goes outside. She climbs the tree and looks over the shea farm. She sees an eerie sight: glowing green seeds at the base of nearly every tree, except hers, because her seed was crushed. She wonders what they will grow into and whether LifeGen will harvest them. She mutters, “That would be bad.” Then she deliberately brings forth her light, and the seeds brighten. She pushes her light brighter, and the seeds glow even more. This time, she does it on purpose.
Key Events
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The folk story of Sankofa's origin is told, including her abandonment by dead parents and her raising by Death.
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Sankofa reflects on the many versions of the story and resents the claim that her parents left her.
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She travels directly to Wulugu as New Year approaches, easing two people into soft deaths and killing once in defense on Christmas night.
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She arrives at the border on New Year's morning and enters the town, observing its changes: a paved road, an expanded hotel, a pharmacy advertising LifeGen nasal spray, and American visitors.
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She reaches her old home, which is gutted and abandoned.
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In the backyard, she digs beneath the family shea tree, and a root grasps her hand.
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She buries the box containing the seed, crushes it, and declares it a curse.
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That night, she sees glowing green seeds at the base of nearly every shea tree in the farm except hers.
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She deliberately brightens her light, intensifying the seeds' glow.
Character Development
Sankofa's identity is central in this chapter. She has long been known as the Adopted Daughter of Death, but here she reclaims her birth name, Fatima Okwan, even as she acknowledges that she is also Sankofa. This dual identity is not a conflict but a synthesis—she is both the girl from Wulugu and the being shaped by Death.
Her decision to bury and crush the seed marks a significant act of letting go. She rejects the seed as a curse, not a gift, and physically removes it from her life. This is a deliberate choice to sever the connection to the alien force that changed her. The act is both personal and symbolic: she is reclaiming her agency over her own story.
The chapter also shows her growing trust in Movenpick, who finally sleeps beside her and follows her closely. This trust is a quiet but meaningful development, suggesting that Sankofa is allowing herself to form bonds again.
Finally, her deliberate brightening of the seeds at the end is a proactive move. Instead of passively observing the glowing seeds, she chooses to intensify them, hinting that she is ready to take control of the situation—perhaps to counter LifeGen's exploitation or to understand the seeds' purpose.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
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Origin myth and storytelling: The chapter opens with the folk story, which is both a truth-teller and a liar. Sankofa's resentment of the abandonment claim shows how stories can distort reality, yet she also acknowledges that stories carry truth.
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Homecoming and memory: Sankofa returns to Wulugu, her childhood home, and confronts the ghosts of her past. The gutted house is empty, but her memories fill it, showing that memory can preserve what physical spaces cannot.
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Corporate exploitation (LifeGen): The pharmacy advertising LifeGen nasal spray and the presence of American visitors signal the intrusion of corporate interests into Wulugu. The carved slogan “#AfricansAreNotLabRats” underscores the theme of exploitation.
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Nature and the shea trees: The shea tree is a symbol of family and continuity. The glowing seeds at the base of the trees suggest a transformation of nature, possibly linked to the alien seed. Sankofa's tree is the exception because she crushed her seed, implying a choice to resist.
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Letting go and renewal: The New Year setting reinforces the idea of new beginnings. Sankofa buries the seed, letting go of the curse, and then takes a new, deliberate action with the glowing seeds.
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Remote control: The concept of remote control appears both in the folk story's exaggeration and in the corporate-level control that LifeGen might exert over the seeds. Sankofa's own light becomes a form of control, as she deliberately brightens the seeds.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is a turning point in the novel. Sankofa returns to her origin, confronts the story that defines her, and makes a decisive break from the alien seed that has haunted her. By burying and crushing the seed, she rejects the idea that it was a gift and reclaims her own narrative. The final image of her deliberately brightening the seeds suggests that she is no longer a passive victim of circumstance but an active agent, ready to face whatever comes next—whether that means confronting LifeGen or understanding the seeds' true nature. The chapter also deepens the novel's exploration of identity, memory, and the power of stories, setting the stage for a resolution that is both personal and cosmic.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Sankofa resent the claim that her parents abandoned her?
Sankofa resents this claim because she knows it is false. She had the best parents in the world, and they never would have left her. The story's version of abandonment contradicts her own memory and love for her family, making it the one part of the shifting tale she hates.
2. What does Sankofa do with the seed, and what does this action signify?
Sankofa buries the box containing the seed beneath the family shea tree and crushes it, declaring it a curse. This action signifies her rejection of the alien force that changed her life. She is letting go of the past and choosing not to carry the seed's burden any longer. It is an act of agency and self-definition.
3. What is the significance of the glowing seeds, and why does Sankofa deliberately brighten them?
The glowing seeds appear at the base of nearly every shea tree in the farm, except hers, because her seed was crushed. They are an eerie, alien phenomenon that Sankofa suspects LifeGen might harvest. By deliberately brightening her light and intensifying the seeds' glow, she takes an active role in controlling or influencing them, possibly to prevent corporate exploitation or to understand their purpose. This action marks a shift from passive observation to proactive engagement.
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