INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE CIÊNCIAS DE EDUCAÇÃO ISCED-HUILA DEPARTAMENTO DE LÍNGUAS E CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS SECÇÃO DE INVESTIGAÇÃO E ENSINO DE INGLÊS LITERATURA AFRICANA DE EXPRESSÃO INGLESA The Bride Price (1° Livro) Nome: Emílio Chivanja Guedes Curso: Ensino da Língua Inglesa 2° Ano/ Pós laboral A Docente _________________ Sónia Costa Roque Lubango, 30 de Outubro de 2023 Biography of Buchi Emecheta Buchi Emecheta was born in Lagos in 1944, though her family was from Ibuza in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. She grew up in a mixed Christian-traditional culture and was exposed to the more traditional beliefs particularly when she returned to Ibuza, which she did frequently. Even as a child she felt that she was an outsider, both as an Igbo in Yoruba Lagos and also because Igbo culture places far more value on boys than girls. She married at age sixteen and, two years later, accompanied her husband to London for his studies, with their two children. They had three more children and this contributed to their dire financial situation, requiring Emecheta to seek work. She separated from her husband and was left to bring up her five children, continue her own studies (she got a degree in sociology in 1974) and work. She started writing short stories (collected in In the Ditch) but soon graduated to novels. Most of the novels she has written come from her own experience. She continued to live and write in London. She died in 2017. Character List Aku-nna, Is the first doughter of Ezequiel and Ma Blackie and she is the sister of Nna-nndo. She is small and not at all dark. Her skin is a Light milk-chocolate colour. Her eyes are large and Shinning. When she is happy and excited, her eyes shine like stars. When she is sad, their Light disappeared. Aku-nna’s name means father wealth becouse her father expects her to fetch a good bride price Ma Blackie, Is the Wife of Ezequiel and the mother of Aku-nna and Nna-nndo, she is a huge women, tall and straight as a tree, with extremely black, shiny skin. She was alwys smilling. But behind her smile Ma Blackie had a problem, she seemed unable to have another baby. Ezequiel Odia, Is the husband of Ma Blackie, He is the father of Aku-nna and Nna-nndo. Ezequiel is of normal physical size and he works in the factory building engines railway. Nna-nndo, Is the second child of Ezequiel and Ma Blackie and Aku-nna’s brother. He is eleven years old and he is a tall boy for his age. Nna-nndo is very slow at book work and he loves a joke. He is just starting to write with ink, and he is proud of this. However although he is very clever in other ways. Uche, Aku-nna and Nna-nndo’s uncle, brother of Ma Blackie. Joseph, Aku-nna and Nna-nndo’s uncle, brother of Ma Blackie. Uzo: Aku-nna and Nna-nndo’s aunt, sister of Ezequiel. Mary, Aku-nna and Nna-nndo’s aunt, sister of Ezequiel. Okonkwo Odia, is the elder brother of Ezequiel, Uncle of Aku-nna and Nna-nndo, and second husband of Ma Blackie. Nbeke, Okonkwo’s number one wife. Ogugua, Cousin of Aku-nna and Nna-nndo, doughter of Okonkwo and Nbeke. Chike Ofolue, The school teacher from the slave family whom Aku-nna loves and had children with. Chike loves Aku-nna and runs away with her to leave married with the women he loves. Ofolue, Chike’s father. Okoboshi, The boy who forced a wedding with Aku-nna and Kidnapped her. Ben Adegor, Chike’s friend who helped him when he arrived at ughelli. Brief Summary The story starts with Ezequiel Odia who has His feet Wounded, Because the pain is increasing and the wound sweeling more and more, Ezequiel has to leave for proper treatment to the hospital. He has to say goodbye to his children. Aku-nna and Nna-nndo, who could see the unhappy and down face of their father; they want to ask what is going on, but they can’t and they don’t. Ezequiel’s sadness is affecting the kids very much so that they are becoming sad too. Hurried, Ezequiel walks out the door, he crosses the road and then there comes a lorry; making dust, his childrem are watching all from their house’s door, their father disappears now in the dust with a promisse of being back home for evening meal. The Kids are waiting their father Ezequiel for evening meal, but instead their father it’s their uncle Uche and Joseph coming. They sit and tell the kids that their father is only returning after a while more in the hospital and that they are to take care of Aku-na and Nna-nndo. Something else is going on: thinks Aku-nna, but she doesn’t ask a question for this is not traditionally moral. Three weeks are gone but Ezequiel still doesn’t come home. Aku-nna’s aunt Uzo comes after her and her brother Nna-nndo. Uzo’s face is of pain. From inside Aku-nna’s parents apartment, they hear a loud knock in the door; that is Mary, Mary is holding Nna-nndo’s hand; now wondering why the suden visitors, their red, swollen eyes and unconfortable silences, Aku-nna is thinking that her father is dead. She challenges herself to think that she is in a dream and that her father is returnig home soon. But Nna-nndo breaks the silence: ‘we have no father’. Though it is hard to believe, Ezequiel has truly passed away. Ezequiel Odia is dead, the mourning begins as soon as the family and friends in Lagos hear of Ezequiel’s death. Aku-nna and Nna-nndo are the childrem of the dead father as do are the chief mourners. Everyone is now crying, singing songs of death and mourning. Aku-nna is singing now: ‘the good provider; she sings, the man who attended church while alive, the good husband to Ma Blackie. The buyer of many dresses to me, still sings Aku-nna, the nice father’. So cries and mourns Aku-nna. Nna-nndo is not using many words, but he is screaming and throwing himself about, the men are holding him, so he does not hurt himself. The men begin to dance in a circle, hand in hand round and round they, dance, after and after kicking up clouds of dust, singing loudly and wildly. Each women is holding a gourd with small stones inside. They are dancing and singing: shaking the gourds, sounding like raindrops. Ezequiel’s funeral is full of many people. Ezequiel’s body is being lowered into the grave. Nobody is crying anymore. Akuna is watching Nando pouring a handful of sand into the grave. She does the same, automatically and wordlessly; all mourners are pouring sand, soil, stones anything they can find over Akuna´s Father. After this all, Aku-nna and Nna-nndo walk together out of the graveyard. Several weeks are gone since Ezequiel Odia has died. Ma Blackie returns to Lagos and finds her Husband dead and buried already. Friends and relations are kind to her and her children but life in Lagos is too expensive for a fatherless family. Ma Blackie and her children, retun to Ibuza, their home town where Okonkwo, Ezequiel’s elder brother lives with his family. The bus carrying them is hurrying through many little Yoruba town , the forests are thicker and more misterious. The women are tall and beautifull and carrying themselves proudly. The bus stops at the market place near the river where Ma Blackie and the children are now eating some rice and little hot cakes after washing their faces. They’re waiting for their people to take them to Ibuza; a group of women show up and take them to Ibuza talking cheerfuly along all the way. A mourning hut is made for Ma blackie to mourn for her husband nine months. Ibuza, the town of the western side of the Niger River its inhabitants are Ibos and they follow Ibo traditions. Before a women gets married the bride price must be paid, so that their relationship is approved by their families and that the first born, dies not at birth; Nbeke doesn’t like Akuna, so she spreads lies to her own sons about Aku-nna. Aku-nna and Nna-nndo are each day more falling in love but it seems like tradition matters intends to separate them, for slave family men cannot mary a free family women. In the eyes of his own people Chike still belongs to a family who has once been slave and a free man does not allow a slave to marry his doughter. Chike and Akuna are more and more growing in love, though Chike is from a slave family and Akuna from a free. But becouse Aku-nna is forbiden, Chike desires her more. Chike has a conversation with his father and Chike highlights his feeling for Aku-nna, he says to his father: ‘I want Akuna, father. There’s no other girl in the world for me’. His father warns Chike about the challenges Chike will have in order to be accepted by Aku-nna’s family. But after all Ofolue supports his son with a warn to Chike not to harm Aku-nna. Later on Oguga realizes that Akuna is now a women according to the tradition so she tells the other women, and now Akuna is traditionaly ready to get married. Aku-nna’s arrival to marriage time is now a motive of celebration and joy for her family. In this way Okonkwo; the Aku-nna’s uncle who happens to be her actual father orders a party for her to celebrate. Men are now starting to visit Aku-nna and offering her gifts as the local custos, so that they can impressionate her and have a chance to marry her. Okoboshi, a man interested in Aku-nna beahves Indecently by putting his hands inside Aku-nna’s shirt as he sits down beside her. As expected Aku-nna screams for not liking and as the man she likes is there; Chilke Ofolue, he hits Okoboshi in the face. Aku-nna passes her examination and her closests clap and shout for happines. Aku-nna is now practising the local special tradicional dance in this hut, the oil lamps in the hut all are out and its all dark. Aku-nna feels her waist being catched by strong hands, she tries to scream but rough hands cover her mouth letting her unable to scream. She is being kidnnaped she can’t get away. It is a very dark, moonless night, when Akuna is being kidnapped. The news about the hut dance occurence is spread, it is a terrible noise as a result of reaction to the news, Ma Blackie is crying ‘they have kidnapped my doughter she says’ It is the middle of the night, three men from Obidi’s family are coming towards Okonkwo who sits with a bottle of whisky. ‘Your daughter Aku-nna is sleeping peacefully’ they say; ‘on the bad that we made specially for her and her husband Okoboshi’. There’s nothing Okonkwo can do but to negotiate Aku-nna’s bride price. Aku-nna is now a prisoner in Okoboshi’s mother hut, Aku-nna tell lies to Okoboshi, only to avoid being toutched by him. She lies, saying she is not a virgin, that she has been with a man before. Okoboshi can’t bear to know it, then he hits Aku-nna, wounding her, especially on the face. Okoboshi is out, Na-nndo visits Aku-nna and Okoboshi’s mother let him in to see his sister, he secretely delivers Aku-nna a letter from Chike which says: I will whistle after dark, when you go to the toilet. I love you. Chike. She gives the letter back to Nna-nndo who hides it inside his Shirt, just before Okoboshi marched into the room. Aku-nna is walking into the toilet, she suddenly hears Chike’s whistle, there’s a movement in the long grass, and before she knows what is happning she is now in Chike’s harms. Then she hears his voice, low and urgent. “come on, my love-run’’! She can no longer run, so she walks, it’s only seven miles from Ibuza to Asaba, but it its taking them nearly four hours. At last they reach the house ‘our driver lives here’ says Chike. He is taking us to Ughelli in the morning.’ Chike and Akuna are now away form Ibuza, they are in Ughelli, Ben Adegor a friend of Chike helps Chike by lending him his hold hut and helping him having a job in the local oil company. They buy goods for their new hot and things are all running good. ‘I will alwys love you, in this world and the next world, until the end of times’ so said Chike to Aku-nna,Things away from Ibuza are all going perfect by that Aku-nna is wondering about it all being so perfect ‘Everything has been too good to be true’. Dear God, don’t let anything happen to destroy our Joy.’ Said Aku-nna ‘I love you Chike’ said Aku-nna. It’s a tradition that a man pays the bride price for a loved women so that the firstborn of the women don’t die in birth. Chike’s father was hardly trying to pay Aku-nna’s bride price to Okonkwo. But he was not accepting. Aku-nna legally belongs to Okoboshi as long as Okonkwo does not accept Ofolue’s bride price. ‘as long as Okonkwo does not accept any bride price from Ofolue, the girl still belongs to Okoboshi; Okonkwo is willing Akuna’s death becouse of the troubles she was bringing to his family but Akuna’s mather is doing all to destroy the doll with Aku-nna’s face and a nedlle through its heart. That is a magic people do in tradition so that the enemie dies slowly quietly. Okonkwo still stubborns his heart at Oflue’s offer for Aku-nna bride price. Aku-nna is pregnant and very sick. Her husband patiently takes her to the doctors and praysfor her to be fine. Aku-nna has a baby girl whose name is joy, the same name they have to their bed. Akuna is dead and Chike is alive to take care of the child. People In buza believes that if you want to live long time, you must accept the husband your people choose for you, and your bride price must be paid, if it is not paid, you will never survive the delivery of your first child. Of course a safe birth does not depend on a bride price. Major Themes Death: in Lagos when a person dies, people mourn, singing musics of death. There are people whose jobs is to mourn in the deaths. Women are expected to mourn more than men and they dance and they make lots of noise of mourning. Marriage: the marriage in Ibo tradition is a matter that sometimes does not depend on the choice of the bride. It is the family who take care of the bride price and accepts or not the man of the bride. Love: love is a very powerful feeling that goes beyond culture, tradition or believes. Aku-nna and Chike are a strong prove of how love is strong. And people who love do all for the loved one and feels joy and happiness when close to the loved one. Tradition: tradition is strong, and it influences the way people interact within a comunity, even when some aspects of tradition are nothing but fiction or myth. We have to value our customs and tradition but also is importante to know when something is only myth and when when it is not. For this reason science is importante to clarify. Quotes and analysis ‘I will alwys love you and love you in this world and the next world, until the end of time’ page 69. Chike tells this to Aku-nna as a way of solving her troubled heart about the bride price. (Said by Chike) ‘Alwys remember that you are mine’ page 6. Before Okonkwo goes to the Hospital, he says this to his children, a sentence full of expression and deeply emotional. (said by Ezequiek) ‘A fatherless family is a family without a head, a family withou a home’ page 12 On ancient society men were the responsible for almost every sponsorness of the family, this is what it was in the ancient society of Ezequiel. (said by Akuna)