On what kind of note does the novel end?

The DC's intrusion at the end of the novel is a commentary on a certain kind of narrative. In European conceptions of Africa, the DC's attitude is typical. Okonkwo's death, a great tragedy, is worth only one paragraph of entertaining reading. The DC also reflects on the need to cut out any unnecessary detail. The book the DC imagines is in many ways the opposite of Things Fall Apart, with its focus on a great African man, its many beautiful digressions, and its loving and sympathetic portrait of Igbo culture. The novel is in some ways a response to earlier depictions of "savage" Africa. Now that we have reached the end, the digressions pay off. In the course of following Okonkwo's tragedy, we have learned a great deal about Igbo life. Now we know that the culture depicted in the novel is a culture that in many ways no longer exists. Imperialism changed many aspects of life in Africa, and usually not for the better. The destruction of tribal social institutions and traditions led to great social and cultural voids, the negative results of which are still being felt in Africa today.