Time and change have contributed to the gradual extinction of some
beliefs that the African cultures held strongly. But some still hang on
the thread, while others have persisted and stood insurmountable by
foreign cultures, especially the taboos. Two Gone…Still Counting remains
in the latter, because such beliefs and superstitions, as seen in the
novel, have endured to this time. Amani, the heroine of the novel,
struggles with fate far beyond her reach to conquer!
Despite the faith that moves her to conquer her fate, her efforts
ends in futility! And the jinx that troubles her seem to hide on the
horizon of life. Her story throughout the novel can best be captured in
stanza four of Karen Connelly’s poem “The Darkness Above Mandalay,” from
her collection, “THE BORDERS SURROUNDS US,” (2OOO); the first and
second lines of that stanza reads thus: “…She wants to say
love
but the word is spoiled…”
Amani’s journey to get love returns the dark side of falling in
love! ‘Mother is supreme,’ is a fact that Africans do not compromise.
Mrs. Bashorun, Amani’s mother tries to see the end of the curse, by
going to perform the ritual that breaks the jinx, which is going naked
to the market to placate for her mistake. She dies later, and , Amani is
alone to find answers to her own puzzle. But Mrs. Bashorun’s
persistence to see that the curse is broken, shows a mother’s love for
her child. It shows there are mothers who will go anywhere to secure the
future of their children!
Again, the betrayal by uncle Kolade and his wife Mama Ibeji, is an
eye-opener once again to the fact that, we should not give pass-marks to
anyone until they prove they deserve to be trusted. This why it’s so
risky to leave one’s children to others, without confirming the angel or
beast that sits in them. The culture of taking over the properties that
should go to the bereft, is brought to fore by the Writer. And, I
believe this is what literature should correct! It’s in the society, and
this inhumane culture is seen as normal, but this one is left to the
government to debate what is just!
Furthermore, beliefs one holds sternly could happen, since life
itself is spiritual, and man is a spirit person. Mr. Bashorun, Amani’s
father, cautions his wife not to believe the myth and its consequence,
but it’s too late, because Amani begins to have nightmares that suggests
her believe in the myth has taken root.
In the same collection by Karen Connelly, “THE BORDERS SURROUNDS US,”
in the poem titled “The Dancer,” the first two lines on the fourth
stanza reads thus: “…In our becoming
we are broken…”
After the death of their parents, Areef(Amani’s only brother), and
Amani, follows the path life chooses for them. They struggle to exist
and adjust to a life now too strange for them. I almost thought the two
gone were their parents, because those two (Mr. and Mrs. Bashorun) does
not make it into the future of the story! But Areef and Amani are still
counting through broken times, and hoping with long-suffering, and they
adjust to survive.
Conclusively, although the myth and its curse persists, and takes
Amani’s husbands, Oyindamola has weaved a prose that reveals another
part life brings…Especially a mystery that surrounds one’s existence;
and a myth a people may have not compromised, but with this project, she
has given the world a reason to keep counting on her, to bring more
stories that will release memories that will not be gone!
Dike Dyke Williams.
facebook.com/dikedykewilliams.
Note: you can see more on this Novel by visiting the Author’s website(www.oyindamolaaffinnih.com).
