Images of Rape
The book revolves around the images of the rape of black women. The protagonist of the novel is also a mixed-race child whose mother Najeeba was raped by a Nuru man. Najeeba was considered as an outcast by the people of her own tribe and the community humiliated her owing to her rape. She raised her child in an isolated place just because she wanted to save her child from the mental anguish. The author has also employed the explicit scenes of sexual assault and the mutilation of female genital in the novel. The author has portrayed how the women are raped and sexual violence is committed during wartime in African nations. Gang rapes and individual assaults are a way of controlling the native women and of exploiting them both mentally and physically. The Nuru tribe attacked Okeke tribe’s women and Onyesonwu was a product of the exploitation. She was different from her mother in many ways as she was much stronger and courageous along with a difference in ethnicity which was the target of the invaders.
Imagery of Struggle
Through the life of Onyesonwu, from her birth till her death, the author has conveyed the imagery of struggle. Onyesonwu strives to find her identity as she was the product of a sexual assault by a white man. She was called Ewu by the society and is treated with disrespect by the community owing to her status as an illegal child, but she resisted this identity and treatment. She made friends and awakened her sensibility regarding politics and society. She tried to assist those who suffered the same fate as her. Her father wanted to enslave the people of her mother’s tribe and he used to think that God has commanded his tribe to enslave Okeke tribe. Onyesonwu strived to halt this enslavement and learnt magic to defeat the Nuru tribe.
Images of Magic
Onyesonwu gets to know that her father was a sorcerer, so she moves towards west in the desert, along with her friends, in search of her father and to take revenge for her mother. She wanted to save Okeke tribe from the slavery which was imposed by the Nuru tribe but the tension and stress of living in desert overcame her friends. On their journey, they met a tribe there, who possessed the magical powers. There are images of people practicing magic for various purposes. The Vah tribe assisted Onyesonwu and the women of the tribe bestowed her with magical powers. They made her stronger through their magic and when Onyesonwu meets Nuru tribe, she is captured by them. Instead of escaping from their persecution, she is transformed into a Kponyungo and moves towards east.
