Abstract
Applying the literary apparatuses of Caruth (1996) and Etim (2008) to both texts, this paper finds that trauma is the driving force behind the misdeeds of Okonkwo and Eugene. As a child, Okonkwo is subjected to sustained periods of deprivation and verbal abuse, while Eugene is maltreated, misoriented and eventually radicalised by the Catholic priests who raise him. Both are hardened by these experiences and consequently demonstrate a form of recycled inhumanity later as adults. The striking parallels between their experiences and their actions therefore undercut the position that they are inherently inhumane, while the forty-five-year gap between both novels highlights childhood trauma as a repetitive index in Nigerian fiction.
Introduction
Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Adichie's Purple Hibiscus occupy distinct places in Nigerian literature. While Things Fall Apart conferred on Achebe the status of “the father of modern African literature” (Alam, 2014, p. 102), Purple Hibiscus established Adichie as “easily the leading and most engaging voice of [the current] era” (Emenyonu, 2017, p. 1). Interestingly, Adichie's debut dialogues with Achebe's on many levels. Purple Hibiscus commences with a striking allusion to Achebe's novel: “Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion…” (Adichie, 2013, p. 3). It then draws parallels to Things Fall Apart through the lives of Okonkwo and Eugene. Both are successful businessmen: just as Okonkwo starts from nothing and becomes one of the lords of the clan, Eugene rises from a humble background to become a successful factory owner and newspaper publisher. Both men hate their fathers: Okonkwo hates Unoka because he is a loafer, while Eugene hates Papa Nnukwu because he is a “heathen.” Both are domestic abusers: Okonkwo beats his wife in the Week of Peace, and Eugene beats his wife until she miscarries. Both also end tragically: Okonkwo hangs himself rather than being hanged by the colonial authorities, whereas Eugene is poisoned by his wife when she can no longer take his abuse. In addition, both are religious fanatics of sorts: whereas Okonkwo seeks to preserve Igbo traditions as Christianity rapidly spreads across the nine villages, Eugene is passionate about the dominance of the Catholic Church. These and other parallels have earned Adichie the designation of “Achebe's unruly literary daughter” (Tunca, 2018, p. 107).
Content
Notably, critics of both novels are most divided on Okonkwo and Eugene. Cobham (2002) alleges, for instance, that Okonkwo uses “physical strength and the ability to inflict one's will” to “[establish] a masculine identity” (p. 23), while Nabutanyi (2017) accuses Eugene of instituting “ritualised abuse” in his home based on his “primitively misogynist hatred for femininity” (pp. 78 – 79). On the other hand, however, Azodo (2004) describes Okonkwo as a “hybrid” who finds himself “up against a whole institution or system” (p. 316), while Etim and Emmanuel (2015) hail Eugene as a “principled protagonist who is murdered for being unwavering in his beliefs” (p. 13). But besides this critical contention, little attention has been paid to the experiences which propel Okonkwo and Eugene's violent streak. This paper addresses the resulting lacuna by reading both characters' belligerence as manifestations of childhood trauma. A re-examination of both novels reveals that Okonkwo is subjected to sustained periods of deprivation and consequent verbal abuse as a child, while Eugene is maltreated, misoriented and eventually radicalised by the Catholic priests who raise him. Both are hardened by these experiences and, therefore, demonstrate a form of recycled inhumanity later as adults. Their violent dispositions thus appear to be helpless reenactments of their individual trauma, rather than a demonstration of inherent misogyny.
Conclusion
Critics of Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Adichie's Purple Hibiscus have been divided on the rationale behind the actions of Okonkwo and Eugene. While a number have dismissed both characters as violent misogynists, others have viewed them as products of their individual societies or even heroes shortchanged by uncontrollable circumstances. This paper has interpreted both as victims of varying degrees of childhood trauma. While Okonkwo's trauma is rooted in acute poverty and verbal abuse, Eugene's trauma stems from his experiences under the tutelage of ruthless Catholic priests. The parallels between their childhood experiences and their actions as adults suggest that their cruelties are reenactments of their individual traumas. Although trauma has been reasonably discussed in Nigerian literature with respect to war, little attention has been paid to childhood trauma, perhaps based on the perception that children's experiences do not constitute “the complexity of national affairs,” as Palmer (1972) very erroneously alleges (p. 10). Nonetheless, the forty-five-year gap between Things Fall Apart and Purple Hibiscus suggests that childhood trauma remains an issue to be explored. This paper therefore hopes to propel conversations on the subject.
References
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