The novel is a demonstration of the exploitation of women in African nations. The author has depicted how the women are raped and then mentally and physically tortured by men and their society. Although women are not responsible for incest or sexual assaults but still, they are blamed for the actions over which they had no control or power. During wartime, rape is used as a strategy to grapple with the native women and to control them.
Onyesonwu is an Ewu child, which is the child of violence or the result of rape, but she is mistreated by the society despite of knowing that the child is innocent. Her mother is also cast out by her tribe owing to her rape by a Nuru man. The Nuru tribe intends to remove the Okeke tribe from the face of earth and Onyesonwu’s mother was the last woman who was raped. She escaped her persecution and reared her child in an isolated place. Nnedi Okorafor has presented how the women sacrifice everything for their children despite of knowing that they would be tormented by the society because of them.
Along with the representation of the rape victims, the author has shown how the men treat women as mere objects which are created to serve them. The novel is replete with feministic stance as the author has promulgated that the women raise their men to the pedestal of God, but the men manipulate them to fulfil their own desires. They do not care about catering their needs or wishes and put their sole focus on their own selves. The author has urged to women to know their own value and to become strong individuals with their own choices. She contends that if you do not recognize yourself then who else will recognize you.
Nnedi Okorafor has also criticized the society for alleging the women and for mistreating them. The protagonist of the novel takes stand for her mother and for all those people who suffered the humiliation just because of their contested identities and their victimization by the men of Nuru tribe. She embarks on a journey of searching her father in order to take revenge for her mother and her tribe. Initially, she was not strong enough but the support and motivation from her friends encourage her and makes her capable of realizing her powers. It shows the need of friends in an individual’s life and the importance of encouragement. Onyesonwu copes with past, destiny, supernatural powers, her true love and eventually her death during her journey.
