Elechi Amadi: The Concubine
ELECHI AMADI: THE CONCUBINE
Elechi Amadi was born on May, 12, 1934 in Aluu near
Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. He attended Government College, Umuahia,
for his secondary education, and proceeded to the then University College,
Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) where he took a BSc. in Physics and
Mathematics. He was a land surveyor and a teacher before he joined the Nigerian
Army. He was commissioned and attached to the Military school, Zaira, where he
became a Captain in 1966. During the Nigerian civil war. Amadi was a captain in
the Federal Army in Port Harcourt.
Amadi left the service of the Nigerian Army to serve
in the government of his home state – Rivers State – where he subsequently
became the Head, Ministry of Information, and later the Head, Ministry of
Education. In addition to being a novelist (from where he derives his fame),
Amadi is also a playwright having written plays, two of which have been published:
Isiburu (1973),Pepper Soup and Ibadan (1977). He has also published a book of critical
essays, Ethics in Nigerian Culture (1982). Apart from his first novel, The
Concubine (1966), which is our concern in this study, Amadi’s other novels are
The Great Ponds (1969), The Slave (1978), and Sunset in Biafra (1973).
Amadi’s early novel is set in his traditional African
world; and he has always been concerned with the representation and
interpretation of its ‘tradition, propriety, and decorum’. Amadi’s powers of
characterization have been highly and widely acknowledged; but his English
style is said to be stilted and not relished with proverbs and idioms as that
of Achebe.
Elechi Amadi, married with children, lives in Nigeria.
TEXTUAL BACKGROUND
The Concubine (1966) is Amadi’s first novel. The
setting of this novel is the traditional African village society where people
live in ‘close relationship and familiar attachment’; where the values and virtues
of African cultural life are held in great reverence. It tells the story of a
woman, Ihuoma, whose first husband died and whose subsequent love relationships
brought suffering and death to her lovers. The fate of Ihuoma, is like the fate
of a protagonist in classical tragedy. She is ‘doomed by her link with the
divine to be denied human life and love.
PLOT
The Concubine narrates a story which revolves around
Ihuoma, a charming, well-mannered and good-natured village beauty. Ihuoma’s unparalled
beauty makes her the desire of every man, but she is particularly unlucky with
the difficulty of sustaining her marriage or any love relationship for a long
time. Unknown to her, Ihuoma is a sea goddess who is specially loved by her
sea-king husband. Against the instruction of her jealous sea-king husband,
Ihuoma has incarnated to enjoy the company and warmth of human beings; but her
supernatural sea husband is poised to bring destruction and death to any man
who dares to engage in love affairs with her. The Concubine tells a
pathetically tragic story of the sudden death of three able-bodied young men
that overtly express their love for Ihuoma. She marries one, the second courts
her, and the third is a day away from being her husband.
Many men within outside Omigwe, Ihuoma’s own village,
have wanted Ihuoma’s hand in marriage; but Emenike, a handsome; energetic young
man from Omokachi village is the lucky one who gets married to Ihuoma. Emenike
himself is a dream, a desire of every lady. It is states that:
Her husband (Emenike) was a ladies’ man and many women
Adore
him. Before Nnenda had married Owkoji she had been
a
keen admirer of Emenike . (p. 11)
Therefore, we can assert that both Emenike and Ihuoma
have outstanding qualifies in terms of physical build and beauty which make suitors
adore and admire them on the one hand, and which make them a good match for
each other. And, indeed, their happiness knows no bounds as a couple until tragedy
strikes. They have no delay in child bearing, they are comfortable by the
traditional African standard, they are loving, caring, dependable and faithful
to each other.
However, Emenike goes to the forest on his usual
business one fateful day, and he is challenged to a fight by Madume, fellow
villager. The two men have quarreled over a piece of land the previous day and
many of the villagers had spoken in favour of Emenike. For this, and probably
other grudges against Emenike which Madume may have been nursing. Madume dares
Emenike to a fight, his last fight that curses him sorrow, poor health, and
consequently his mysterious death. Apparently, Emenike has had an upper hand in
the fight in spite of his ‘slight of build but well proportioned’ frame as
against Madume’s ‘iroko trunk’, be he becomes overconfident all too soon. With
‘elephantine fury’. Madume carries and throw Emenike to the ground and leaves
him wriggling weakly on the ground. Emenike’s side has been badly hurt.
Emenike’s condition gradually deteriorates and Madume
is almost accused of murder. Anyika, the great medicine man, is invited to cure
Emenike of his sickness and Emenike is nursed back to his normal health. In
fact, he offers a thanksgiving sacrifice on one Great Eke day at the shrine of
Amadioha, the god of thunder and of the skies. When nobody dares to look at the
face of Nwokekoro while performing the ritual, Emenike gazes intently at him,
the consequence of which is death. This shows that the ‘too many evil spirits’
involved with his sickness never really want him to live. he eventual dies of
severe side aches which cause him to cough and spit blood.
Emenike’s death spells doom for Ihuoma in particular, and
for the entire Omokachi village and beyond. It transcends a particular person’s
personal tragedy; it is a communal tragedy because Emenike is a friend to and
is admired by many people. This explains why his burial and other rites and ceremonies
associated with it are fully performed in a grand style. Because of Emenike’s standing
among his relates and friends, and in the community people are prepared to
ensure that Ihuoma lacks nothing in her widowhood.
After the death of Emenike, both Ekwueme and Madume
are eager to have Ihuoma for a wife. Though she has had three children for her
late husband, Ihuoma remains good looking and irresistible. Ekwueme is slow and
steady but gradually worms his way into Ihuoma’s heart. On the other hand,
Madume wants to force his love on Ihuoma, who politely declines. Madume had
from the beginning wanted to marry Ihuoma ever before Emenike married her but
Ihuoma’s parents did not approve of it. This is why Madume has always seen Emenike as a rival. Now that
Emenike is dead, Madume tries to reintroduce the topic, but Ihuoma sees not
interested. For daring to make such a gesture towards Ihuoma, Madume has
incurred the wrath of the sea-king husband of Ihuoma; and for daring to
challenge Ihuoma over the piece of land that has already been decided in favour
of the deceased, Emenike, Madume has further made his already bad situation
worse. The combined armies of water spirits and land spirits are determined to
take vengeance on Madume.
First, in a desperate chasse after Ihuoma, Madume’s right
foot hits the protruding corner of an old hoe half buried in the ground and he
loses his big toe in the process. In fact, Madume consults Anyika, the medicine
man, who tells him that the accident is caused by supernatural forces. Anyika
prescribes various items which Madume procures for the sacrifice to the angry
gods. He gets well and begins to fish in troubled waters again. He goes to the land
where he has had a dispute with Emenike and meets Ihuoma who is also there to cut
a bunch of plantain. He asks Ihuoma to drop the bunch she has cut and she obeys
without any resistance, in order to avert violence. But Nnedi, her
brother-in-law, notices Ihuoma shedding tears, rushes to the scene to fight it out
with Madume; but the other neighbours do not allow them to engage in physical
combat. While Madume attempts to cut another plantain trunk, a cobra lurking,
in the crown of the plantain trunk spits into his two eyes and he consequently
becomes blind.
Madume’s blindness aggravates his bad temper and he
becomes intolerable to his wife who has to desert him, taking her four daughters
along with her. Madume becomes miserable and frustrated, and decides to end his
misery by committing, suicide. He hangs himself. Anyika who has been away to
Chiolu returns later that afternoon to cut down Madume’s hanging corpse.
However, he cannot be buried the way people who dies naturally are buried
because the earth rejects such bodies; he is taken to Minita, the forest into
which bodies rejected by the earth are throw.
Ekwueme and Ihuoma have all along been in good terms,
and they get closer by the day. It is no longer a secret to anyone that the two
are genuine lovers. However, Ekwueme has a childhood fiancée Ahurole, whom he
does not particularly love, Ahurole has been engaged to him’ since she was only
an eight- day old baby; he was about five years then. Their custom allows it.
In an attempt to forestall the likelihood of marriage between Ihuoma and
Ekwueme, Adaku and Wigwe, the mother and father of Ekwueme respectively, begin
the negotiations to marry Ahurole, with her parents. Even though Ekwueme
objects vehemently initially, the negotiations are soon concluded and Ahurole
is escorted to her husband’s house at Omochachi. Ahurole is from Omgwe village.
Ekwueme has never had any strong attachment to any
woman apart from his mother and Ihuoma. Therefore, it is pretty difficult for
him to quickly accept Ahurole who has been somewhat imposed on him. He hardly
eats the food prepared by her and barely stays at home with her. It is being
rumoured that Ekwueme keeps a close contact with Ihuoma and Ahurole is aware of
it. Unfortunately for Ekwueme, as he is coming out of Ihuoma’s house, where he
has gone to look for Ahuorle’s missing ‘big brown she-goat’, Ahurole sees him.
She proclaims:
Ekwe, you can’t deny it.
In any case, people have told me a great
deal that about your goings-on with this woman. You
even pester her in her farm. Now, thank God, the story have been confirmed
before
my own eyes. (p. 155).
This
incident leads Ahurole going to her parent to report Ihuoma as a husband
snatcher. Then, her mother, who is terribly shocked by the news, prepares love
portion for her to be used on Ekwueme so as to save Ahurole’s marriage from
total collapse. Unfortunately, the effect of the love portion is contrary to
their desire.
Ekwueme develops mental problem which deteriorates
gradually into complete madness and he runs away from home. The whole community
is involved in this search for Ekwueme, and the process of restoring himto
sanity. Anyika produces curative herbs which bring Ekwueme back to sanity.
Ihuoma also plays a significant role in this situation because Ekwueme refuses
to take his medicine and food until Ihuoma sits by his side and nurse him.
Ahurole desert Ekwueme when he becomes insane, and she leaves Omokachi for
Omigwe, her native village. The marriage of Ekwueme and Ahurole has collapse.
The collapse of the marriage gives Ekwueme more urge
to want to marry his heart desire – Ihuoma. The two have some unexplainable
mutual and natural love for each other. No doubt they will be a good match.
However, Anyika has divined that the sea-king and water spirits are not in
favour of Ihuoma’s marriage, but that they can be appeased to allow her have a
Concubine, nothing more than that. Agwoturumbe, another medicine man, says that
he can appease the gods to allow the marriage between Ekwueme and Ihuoma. Every
item for the sacrifice has been found, but a male lizard. Though a boy has
killed one needed for the sacrifice; Nwonna, Ihuoma’s son, is interested in
killing is own because of the reward promised every killer. Unfortunately, the
barbed arrow he aims at a lizard hits Ekwueme’s upper belly and he falls down with
a cry. Another great tragedy has struck; Ekwueme never recovers from the
injuries of the barbed arrow. He dies on the eve of the marriage to Ihuoma of
great beauty, good nature, but of bad fate.
THEME
Among
the identifiable themes in this novel, The Concubine, are:
(i)
The Inevitability of Fate
It has been sufficiently demonstrated in this novel
that no matter how hard a person tries, there is very little or nothing he can
do to change his destiny. using the story of love affairs between Emenike,
Madume and Ekwueme, on the other hand and Ihuoma on the other, the novel tries
to argue that supernatural forces are more potent than any ordinary man, and
that they will always have their way when they need to. Emenike, Madume and
Ekwueme are warned of the imminent calamity in respect of their different actions.
Emenike does the abominable by gazing at Nwokekoro, the priest of Amadioha,
while he performs a ritual; he dies mysteriously afterwards. Madume is warned
not to go near Ihuoma the first time he seeks divination regarding his accident
but he goes to meet Ihuoma and tries to force his love on her on the farmland
where she has gone to fetch a bunch of plantain; he has offended the water
spirits: a cobra spits into his two eyes, he becomes blind and eventually
commits suicide. In spite of parental objections to the initial love
relationships between Ekwueme and Ihuoma; and Anyika’s warnings against
incurring the wrath of the sea-king, Ekwueme is prepared to go ahead with
marrying Ihuoma and to dare the consequence. He dies on the eve of his marriage
to Ihuoma. This all happens in order to
show that the fate of every man will inevitably come to pass.
(ii)
Love and Jealousy
The theme of love in this novel operates at both
natural and supernatural loves. The natural love that exists between two
genuine lovers is well articulated in the relationships between Emenike and
Ihuoma, between Ekwueme and Ihuoma, and the filial love of Ekwueme for his
mother. At the supernatural level, the sea-king dearly loves Ihuoma, a
sea-goddess, and he is extremely possessive of her. However, the love between
Emenike and Ihuoma which results in their marriage causes Madume to be jealous
of Emenike and he sees him as his arch-rival. Madume hates Emenike to his death.
In the same vein, the sea-king consumes all those who have love relationships
with Ihuoma.
(iii)
Beauty and Death
In this novel it is clearly shown that a thing or
person of an exceptional beauty brings sorrows, destruction and death. It
literally can be seen or understood as: whatever is too sweet is not only not
good for a person’s heath, it does kill. Ihuoma lovely, sweet woman and
everyone who tastes or attempts to taste her sweetness meet his untimely tragic
death.
CHARACTERIZATION
Ihuoma
Ihuoma is actually the heroine of the novel, The
Concubine. She is fascinatingly and irresistibly beautiful. She causes all the
sorrows in the in the novel, even though, she is not the real or direct cause,
she is the helpless instrument used by the sea-king and water spirits to seek
vengeance. By her nature, she does not want trouble and violence. This is why
she does not want to have Ekwueme come to her house after his marriage to
Ahurole because she does not want to be branded a husband snatcher. She eschews
violence by not arguing with Madume when she is asked to drop the bunch of plantain
she has cut on the land in dispute. She has three children for Emenike, her
first and only husband. She Unknown to her has been married to the sea-king in
the spirit world. And because of that she needs the company of human beings she
incarnates into a beautiful woman. She suffers the terrible fate of losing her husband
and suitors too soon.
Emenike
Emenike is Ihuoma first and only husband. He is an
energetic young man who because of his handsomeness is a ladies’ man. He is
loved and admired by many people in Omokachi community; hence, his death is
regarded as a communal tragedy. He is challenged to a fight by his arch-enemy –
Madume – who throws him with elephantine fury and renders him writhing
painfully on the ground with injured side. The aftermath of the fight is that
Emenike became terribly sick. He gets over the sickness and as it is customary
to give a thanksgiving sacrifice to Amadioha, Emenike does this. But he incurs
the anger of the god of thunder by staring at Nwokekoro, the priest of Amadioha
while performing the ritual. He has stared at death and consequently dies
mysteriously not too long after. He has three children by Ihuoma.
Madume
Madume is Wolu’s husband from whom he has four
children – all daughters. He is a successful young who is somehow lazy in
roof-thatching, hence he has only two houses in his compound. In fact, the two roofs,
he has, always leak during rainy season. He has a bad temper and he is always
finding an avenue to quarrel with people, even his own wife.
He is Emenike’s arch-rival because they have a dispute
over a piece of land which the community decides in favour of Emenike. He
always sees Emenike as a woman snatcher because he had also registered his
intention to marry Ihuoma. He dares Emenike to a fight on a lonely forest track
and hurts Emenike’s side by hurling him against the jagged stump of a tree. The
injury sustained from this fight is partly responsible for Emenike’s death.
After the death of Emenike, Madume tries to woo Ihuoma again; in doing so, he
woo his death. His big toe is cut off from an accident he sustained while
trying to be nice to Ihuoma. He has his eyes blinded by a spit from a cobra that
lurks at the crown of a plantain trunk that he cuts on the land in dispute
between him and Emenike. His wife and daughters desert him when he becomes
intolerable after his blindness. He consequently becomes frustrated and hangs himself.
A body that dies by suicide is unclean and is not fit to be buried like a body
that dies of a natural cause, hence, Madume’s corpse is thrown into the evil
forest.
Ekwueme
Ekwueme is the third and final victim of those who
dies mysteriously because of their love relationships with Ihuoma a sea-goddess
in the spiritual realm. Ekwueme, being the only child of his parents for many
years before they gave birth to others, is greatly pampered by his mother. This
explains why he has so much attachment to Adaku, his mother. The only woman he
has ever loved apart from his mother is Ihuoma. Though he has a childhood
fiancée, Ahurole, Ekwueme has not much love for her, if he has any at all. Ahurole’s attempt to win his love through a
love potion results in Ekwueme’s madness. Ahurole leaves him, and their
marriage naturally collapse.
No doubt, Ekwueme and Ihuoma are very close, admire and love each other, willing and ready
to be husband and wife; but on the eve of their wedding, Ekwueme falls to a
barbed arrow of Nwonna and does not recover from the injury sustained. He dies
shortly after that midnight.
Ahurole
Ahurole has been betrothed to Ekwueme since she was
eight days old. When they finally get married, their marriage knows no true
happiness because Ekwueme does not really want it. Ahurole tries to please
Ekwueme in always but because Ekwueme is strongly attached to Adaku, his
mother, and Ihuoma, his dream woman, he has no time for Ahurole. By her nature,
Ahurole is easily moved to tears, and her ‘childish’ cries irritate Ekwueme who
has to beat her one day. This beating sets a great gulf between them and marks
the collapse of their marriage. One fateful day, Ahurole catches Ekwueme coming
out of Ihuoma’s house, and she uses this incident to confirm the rumour that
Ihuoma is trying to snatch her husband. Ahurole goes to her parents at Omigwe
and collects a love portion which works adversely to make Ekwueme mad. She
abandons the mad fellow and flees to Omigwe, putting a final end to the
marriage between Ekwueme and herself.
Anyika
Anyika is the great medicine man who lives at Omokachi
village. Though he is not a native of Omokachi. It is indeed a great blessing
to that community of people that he lives among them. Anyika is kind, caring,
and he stands for the truth at all times. He is a true diviner because there is
no cause to doubt his divinations throughout the novel. Everything he says
comes to pass. He warns Madume and Ekwueme against Ihuoma, but because they are
already doomed, they do not yield to his warnings and they die mysteriously. He
is always consulted for herbal curative therapy and his medicine’s potency
cannot be doubted. He helps to bring Emenike back to life from the deadly
sickness that follows his fight with Medume. He helps to heal up Medume’s toe, and
he cures Ekwueme of his mental sickness among others. He is also the one who
has the power to bring the hanging body of a suicide victim; hence, Madume’s
body has to wait for him to return from his journey. He is a custodian of
knowledge of the past and the future.
Wodu Wakiri
Wodu Wakiri has been particularly favoured by nature,
he, is knock-kneed, he has large eyes; and he suffers retarded growth. He is on
active member of Omokachi community and he participates in all the major events
that are narrated in the novel. He provides comic relief whenever tension is
mounting up, and he is popular with people of the community as a jester.
LANGUAGE AND NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE
The language of this novel follows the style of a
narrative prose – simple and clear. Because the story told concerns the
traditional African people, in their natural traditional setting, the language of
the novel reflects, quite appropriately, the simplicity of the people’s way of
life. It is devoid of all sophistication. Proverbs and axiomatic expressions are
highly cherished in traditional African communities and they are frequently
used at all times, at every occasion, especially by elderly one. The proverbs
and axiomatic expressions are a communal property and they reflect the experiences
of the people, their natural environment, and their ways of life. There are
many instances of their use in the novel.
The narrative technique of this novel is the
chronological type in which the plot unravels according to the order of
occurrence of the incidents. However, there is a prominent use of the flashback
technique in chapter twenty which gives information on Ekwueme’s childhood
days. The narrator, or storyteller, is omniscient in nature because he has
access to all information and feelings even when they are not verbally
expressed. The novel is written from the perspective of a know-all, see-all,
third person narrator.
SYMBOLISM
In
this novel, Ihuoma is used to symbolize death. Ihuoma is said to mean
‘beautiful face’ and indeed, everything about her is beautiful and sweet. But
whatever is sweet kills gradually. So, in this novel, everyone that attempts to
enjoy the sweetness of meets with their mysterious death.
REVISION QUESTIONS
1.
The Concubine is about jealousy and vengeance.
Discuss.
2.
To what specific
incident can the death of Emenike traced?
3.
Write short notes
on the contributions of each of the following to the story told in The
Concubine.
(i)
Wodu Wakiri
(ii)
Ahurole
(iii)
Nwonna
4.
Ihuoma symbolizes
death. Discuss this with references to three specific incidents in the novel.
5.
Ihuoma is a victim
of a terrible fate. Discuss.
Eguriase S. M. Okaka.
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