By
Andrew Ibeawuchi Nwagbara
PhD.
Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty
of Arts,
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
Corresponding author’s email: ai.nwagbara@unizik.edu.ng
Introduction
This research aims
at addressing a tripod; the physical manifestation of the umbilical cord of a male child; the place it
is subsumed in the soil, and the broader implication of these in the worldwide
of the Igbo people of South East, Nigeria as exemplified in the novels of
Celestine Iyeh, The Lost Generation and Son of the Soil. In this
intellectual journey, the cultural and philosophical interpretations that
surround the umbilical cord--(the implications of according it or not according
it a traditional privilege of being buried underneath the soil as if it has a
supernatural existence) will be unraveled. The novelist in these two novels
dwells significantly on the metaphysical, spiritual and mystical roles accorded
to this flesh.
These novels are the writer’s attempt at reinforcing his belief in the
traditional importance of the burial location of the umbilical cord of a new
born male child in Igbo land of Nigeria. This piece of flesh so called is the
lifeline that connects every unborn child to his or her mother during the period
of pregnancy. This tube-line apparatus feeds the unborn child with nutrients
and oxygen from the mother during the pre-natal period. It also assists in expelling
waste materials from the baby through the mother. At birth, the umbilical cord
is cut off, thereby giving the new born a separate life from the mother. This
results in the belly button that is present in the lower abdomen of most human
beings.
Elizabeth Ezenweke
in her article title “Rites and Rituals in African Ontology” posits that at
child birth in Igboland.
… the mother is immediately detached from the child by
the cutting of umbilical cord. When the umbilical cord, the symbol of the
attachment between the mother and the child falls out, it is handled with care.
Some bury it at the back of the house and plant an economic tree like paw-paw,
orange or coconut tree. Some even use it to prepare (a) charm for the
protection of the child. In some places too, the umbilical cord is buried or
thrown into a river. In each case, the cutting of the umbilical cord from the
mother and the disposal of the same symbolizes detachment from the mother as
the sole owner of the child and the integration into the community as the child
of all the members of the community (130 – 131).
For the Igbo people, this flesh assumes both physical
and spiritual significances. Both are what Iyeh has consistently drawn
attention to in his two novels. Where it is buried is believed to play a
crucial role in the earthly trajectory of his fictional major protagonists. The
scope of this research therefore covers the novels The Lost Generation and Son of the Soil by Celestine Iyeh, a
contemporary Nigerian novelist. It also encompasses other academic disciplines
like: religion, philosophy and Igbo cultural studies.
Mysticism plays a very crucial role
in the Igbo cultural milieu. For instance, amongst the people, there is an
unexplained connectivity between the living and the ancestors represented by
the dead relations. The ancestors are a collegiate of the dead relations of an
individual and this runs for several generations. Within the concept of this
study, it is the cultural mysticism that is relevant in unraveling the nexus
between the burial site of the cord of a male Igbo child and his sojourn in the
universe. However, cultural mysticism encompasses much more than the above.
Within the context of a broader view of this concept, it represents a mixture
of the spiritual activities and the cultural traditions of a given society. The
spirit is intertwined with the supernatural which the umbilical cord
symbolizes, while the cultural implications relate to its importance in the life
of a male child in Igbo land. This combination is not limited to the Igbo
society alone. The peoples of other African countries do have mystical entitles
that combine the spiritual with cultural practices. For instance, the Yoruba
people of Nigeria have ‘Orishas’ whose practitioners blend culture with
spirituality. The Igbo culture has a plethora of esoteric elements like the
concept of ‘chi’ which the novelist Chigozie Obioma exemplifies in his award
winning novel The Fisherman. There
are others like: ancestor veneration, divination, amongst others that are common
amongst the people. It is the belief of the people on the influences of these
enigmatic super naturals on the lives of the Igbo people that Iyeh has
reinforced using the fictional characters in the two selected novels.
Within the supernatural domain of
the Igbo culture, the umbilical cord of a new born male child is seen as a
symbolic link to his destiny. Some hold the view that it should be buried
within the periphery of a cash crop, like a palm tree, so that the child can
achieve prosperity in life. For a cash crop possess the ability to make its owner
prosperous. T.N.O. Quarcoopome opines that “Great care is taken to bury the
umbilical cord since it is believed that enemies may use it to harm the baby”
(Quarcoopome, III) So, the choice of the burial of the cord goes beyond the
physical, and embodies positive virtues of success, good fortune and courage. Jonathan
Okeke holds the view that “in Igbo world view, reality falls into two
demarcations, the physical and the spiritual forces” (Okeke, 42). He further
cites Chinua Achebe whose view is “that the Igbo world view is an arena for the
interplay of forces” (Okeke, 42). These opinions concur with Iyeh’s narrative
in The Lost Generation where the
physical is represented in the ordinary lives of the major central character
and members of his household. On the other hand, the spiritual essence dictates
the trajectory of his three sons.
In the primary
texts of this study therefore, the novelist uses the above symbolic
representations in fashioning out the personalities of the central
protagonists.
The myth that
surrounds the spiritual essence of the umbilical cord is deeply rooted in some
Igbo traditional societies. According to Elizabeth Isichei “much of our
knowledge of the Igbo past comes from the oral traditions presented in igbo
communities” (Isichei, 39). The same can be said of the writer’s acquisition of
the knowledge about this umbilical cord’s burial location amongst his people.
It is this knowledge that has influenced him greatly in the two fictional
works. For the importance the writer attached to this object is contained in
the repertoire of the oral tradition of some Igbo communities. In the worldview
of the fictional characters in these two fictional works however the burial of
this object in the soil, preferably beside a cash crop, is a ritual which is
rooted in the myth that the prosperity of the newly born male child is
connected to that of the economic tree. In the opinion of Elizabeth Ezenweke in
her article titled”, Rites and Rituals in African Ontology”, there are
two types of rituals – religious and non – religious classification is defined
“as behaviours and beliefs with the aim of mobilizing supernatural powers to
accomplish human ends” (142)
Uzodinma Nwala
while giving a philosophical backup to this discuss, posits that the Igbo
people are not fatalists. He posits that in the igbo cosmology depicted in The
Lost generation there is an emphasis on “the power and efficacy of the
human will” (Nwala, 223). For him this leads to the Igbo dictum; “onyekwe, chi
ya ekwe – if a amn wills, so will his chi will” (223). It is in tandem with
this philosophical conjecture that Kepu the major protagonist In The
Lost Generation returns the umbilical cord of his third son Onochie to his
fatherland for burial in the soil.
Can Iyeh’s
expose of the Igbo mysticism in these novels be a realistic or illusionary
representation of the entire Igbo land? Despite being works of fiction, the
views of the novelist through the major characters reflect his many persons from
different parts of the Igbo tribe share in his opinion on this subject matter.
This belief system remains a myth in the Igbo culture, tradition and religion.
What the
novelist has done in these works of fiction tallies with the opinion of
Ezenweke. This is believing that the burial site of the piece of human flesh in
question can help the individual accomplish prosperity in his life time.
Ezenweke also thinks that the connectivity of the human (as represented by the
benefits attributed to its subsuming in the soil helps “to vitalize the human
link with the spiritual world” (142).
This research will benefit from a
textual analysis of the two novels written by Iyeh. In doing this, the focus is
on the pre-eminent status of the umbilical cord in the lives of the major male characters
in the prose fictions. Therefore, an in-depth inquiry of each major character
in each novel is undertaken to unravel the influence(s) that this supernatural
human flesh plays in their lives. Due to the mystical existence of this object
of interest, a literary theory that encapsulates both the spiritual and the
physical is most ideal in interrogating the multiple engagements of the major
protagonists in the literary texts under study. The Magical Realism literary
theory is the most appropriate instrument in doing this. This theoretical
construct provides a critical evaluation of these novels.
Theoretical Framework
It is A. B.
Chanady who in her book Magical Realism and
Fantastic: Resolved versus Unresolved
Antimony that makes a profound
statement on the various dimensions of the theory. Her posits amongst many
issues is “--- the acceptance of the supernatural as a part of everyday
reality” (18). The concept of the umbilical cord within the ambit of this
literary discourse is in tandem with this view – that the supernatural is a
part of the human existence. J. A. Cuddon views this theory as being very
useful in the discussion of any genre of literature where there is “the
mingling and juxtaposition of the realistic and the fantastic or bizarre the
horrific and the inexplicable” (417).
In the study
titled “Magic Realism: Defining the Indefinite” Jeffrey Wechsler does a
historical inquest into the different perspectives of the imaginative art which
embraces the concept of magical realism. He posits that imaginative realism has
occurred in many places and time; that it has taken many forms; that it has
been called surrealist, magical realist, fantastic, symbolist, visionary,
eccentric etc. For him, the term “Magical Realism has been used with some
regularity since the 1930s and gained in currency with the organization of the
exhibition American Realists and Magical
Realists at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943”. He subsequently provides the
definition of Magical Realism by H.H. Arnason as it is contained in the
encyclopedic textbook titled History of
Modern Art – “In general, the magic realists deriving directly from de
Chirico, create mystery and the marvelous through juxtapositions that are
disturbing even when it is difficult to see why”. Eugene Arva observes that
“the thematic core of the magical realist writing mode at any of its stages
concerns representation; the writing of the real. Magical realist authors turn
to illusion and magic as a matter of survival in a civilization priding itself
on scientific accomplishments, positivist thinking and the metaphysical
banishment of death”. Roman de la Campa in his view recognizes the major
proponents of the Magical Realism theory as the following; Jorge Louis Borges,
Miguel Asturias, Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In his article
titled: “Magical Realism and World Literature: A Genre for the Times”, he
reviews the various propositions of the aforementioned scholars on the subject.
He also analyses the views of postmodernist scholars like: Theo L. D’haem,
Wendy B. Faris etc. as related to the concept of magical realism.
The literary
theory is suitable in the synthesis of The
Lost Generation and Son of the Soil because it helps to unearth the
cultural mysteries that surround this object’s importance. The narrative
pattern adopted in these prose fictions present unbelievable scenarios that the
protagonists are involved in, which explore the deeper theme of culture and
spirituality. The novelist achieves this through a combination of real life
situations and fantasy.
The Significance of the Umbilical Cord in the Two
Narratives
The novelist in
the Lost Generation recognizes this
human flesh as a major requirement for a male citizen’s success in the
fictional domain of the prose fiction. The first and second sons of Kepu, the
major male protagonist, have their wayward lifestyles in the United States of
America attributed to their umbilical cords buried in the soil abroad. For when
a man’s behavior is not in tune with the traditional expectations of his people
of his people questions are asked of his umbilical cords burial site. It is the
information from this inquest that determines the birth rights of the male
children in the fictional domain of the novel and perhaps in some parts of Igbo
Land. This is the singular thematic interest of the novelist in this novel.
In Son of the Soil, the novelist discusses
the same issue in conjunction with other subject matters. In determining who
becomes the next king of Obiagu after the late Ezeagu, Iyeh delves into the
matter without much ado. The choice is naturally narrowed down to the two sons
of the late King – Akunta and Ikenna from different wives of the late Ezeagu.
In the choice between the two, the red cap chiefs must take into consideration
the burial location of the mysterious human flesh of the two princes in the
Obiagu community or outside of it. Prince Akunta being the elder of the two
sons holds the ‘ofor’ of their late father. He is also the Warrant Chief
installed by the colonial government and more importantly; his umbilical cord
is buried in the soil of their homestead. The last consideration is the most
decisive.
What Iyeh has done
in the two novels is to commence a conversation around the mystical influence
of the umbilical cord (especially the location of its burial in the soil) first
in an imaginary space in the Lost
Generation. He continues with its metamorphosis into a divine authority
that is an arbiter in a kingship tussle in the novel Son of the Soil. In the earlier novel, the novelist’s interest is
in identifying the first and second sons of the major male central character as
belonging to a “lost generation” because
their umbilical cords have not been buried in their father’s home community.
Therefore, they remain lost to the American society where they have adopted the
cultural nuances of their new found home. Their younger brother, Onochie, whose
umbilical cord finds its way to Okpoko (their father’s community) is not lost
because he is expected to return home someday. What has changed in the
novelist’s narrative trajectory in Son of
the Soil is his use of the same thematic interest in determining who a true
son of the fictional Obiagu is. It is this phenomenal human flesh that confers
citizenship on a man in the imaginary domain of this novel. For a prince to be
a King, he must have his umbilical cord buried in the community that he wishes
to govern.
The title and
narrative of the Lost Generation by
Iyeh shares commonalities with the “Lost Generation” of the post first world war (1914 – 1918) writers in the United
States of America. The title of the novel is the same with that of a group of
American writers who became matured during the period of this war and became
renowned writers in the 1920s; during the presidency of President Warren G.
Harding of the United States. The writers classified under this umbrella
include: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passo, E.E. Cummings,
Archibald Macleish, Hart Crane. The theatre of their artistic activities was
Paris, France. It was Gertrude Stein who first used the term “Lost Generation”, while Hemingway,
popularized it. These writers believed that their generation was lost because
their cherished and inherited values were no longer relevant during the post
first world war period (https://www.britannia.com).
The title and narrative of the Lost
Generation by Iyeh share some similarities with the literary works of the “Lost Generation” writers. The first two
sons of Kepu (Oboli and Chika) who are citizens of America by birth are
considered to belong to the “Lost
Generation” according to the Okpoko tradition because of their desires not
to return to their father’s homeland. According to the novelist, the major male
protagonist’s admonition to these two sons that “… fast or west, home is the
best…” (The Lost Generation, 151) makes no meaning to them.
The title of the
novel Son of the Soil is derived from
the novelist’s idea that the burial site of a man’s umbilical cord in his home
community confers a citizenship right on him. This is the situation with the
two princes of Obiagu (Akunta and Ikenna). They are both bonafide indigenes of
the community where they desire to govern because they enjoy the privileged
status of having their umbilical cords buried in their common homeland. What
then gives Akunta the upper hand in the kingship tussle? He is the elder of the
two princes and the custodian of their late father’s “ofor”. It is the possession of this symbol of
traditional authority that makes him the right choice for the position of
Warrant Chief of Obiagu. Being the custodian of the “ofor” title and also a
Warrant Chief are not enough for Akunta to govern his people. The burial of his
umbilical cord in the soil of his homeland is the crucial third leg of the
tripod that qualifies him for the position. It is this that connects him
spiritually with his ancestors and makes him a “Son of the Soil”.
Analysis of the duo Novels
In The Lost Generation mysticism is found
in a mundane situation like humans having “mystic powers of understanding”: the
language of birds and animals at night “(Iyeh, 3). There also exists “the
mysticism associated with the gun salvo fired during the burial of an important
person in Igbo land to indicate that the spirit world was now placed on the
alert to receive a new member” (The Lost
Generation 81). From the onset and in the subsequent chapters of the novel, the mysticism that surrounds the
umbilical cord is made manifest; “when a son is born, his umbilical cord, when
it falls away, is taken and buried at the foot of an economic tree, like the
palm tree. When the child grows to manhood he’ll own and harvest it. Nobody
takes it away from him” (5). Its burial in the homestead of the male owner is
for the purpose of ensuring “that where ever he goes, even if it’s to a strange
land, he would have the desire to return to his fatherland. And if he dies, his
remains would be brought to his fatherland to rest” (The Lost Generation 5-6).
This novel is set in the “post-civil
war years” (The Lost Generation 17)
of Okpoko fictional community in the Igbo speaking part of Nigeria. The writer
portrays the esotericism surrounding this object as one that is entrenched in
the Ngor-Okpala community where he comes from. After all, literary works serve
as mirrors of the writers environments. The protagonist, Kepu, on whose
shoulders rest the intrigues associated with this cord, is an only son of Amara
and Jane. He is a brilliant boy who as a student of Government College loves
“the sciences-physics, chemistry and Biology” (4). It is therefore, not a
surprise that he is offered a scholarship “to study engineering in America”
(67). Success is mingled with sadness in his life. Kepu becomes an orphan at
the dawn of his academic achievement in Okpoko. He becomes an “only son in this
unbelievable drama” (75) that unfolds in this novel.
The spirituality attached to the
umbilical cord in this fictional Okpoko community is embedded in the value
attached to the spot where it is subsumed at the community of origin of its
owner. The main protagonist’s umbilical cord is buried on a piece of land known
as “Ugwu-ma-aga-laba (the land of chameleon)” (84). It is this same piece of
land that is sold to the rich woman, Otugo, to raise enough money for the burial
of Amara, Kepu’s father. It is believed amongst the people of this community
that this woman can dig up the soil of this piece of land, exhume the umbilical
cord and “with demonic powers tie down the progress of Kepu” (85). The novelist
fails to provide an evidence to show that Otugo’s choice of that piece of land
is to humiliate the major protagonist knowing fully well that his umbilical
cord is buried there. The fictional persons in this domain hold the view that
the fate of every man is subject to human manipulation. This same human
spiritual object can also fight back if trampled upon by human pride. On the
day Otugo attempts farming on this piece of land, she encounters tragedy. While
standing “at the foot of a palm tree which perchance was the one where Kepu’s
umbilical cord was buried” (10), Otugo is bitten by a mysterious snake. She
dies as a result and her death “centered around the umbilical cord. Some said
that she should have not bought that piece of land where Kepu’s umbilical cord
was buried. She should have taken it on a pledge” (107). The writer makes a
categorical statement that “… It was the
umbilical cord on the land that brought Otugo’s misfortune” (108). This
tragedy, the death of the prosperous Otugo, smacks of a spiritual vengeance of
this simple human flesh.
The novelist
does not relent in pointing out the crucial role of this cord. In his view, the
role that it plays in the life of the male child in the Igbo cosmic world is
enormous. According to him “… but I do know that our ancestors did it. They
never threw away the umbilical cord just like that. It was carefully buried.
And whenever anybody acted foolishly or perhaps went on a journey to other
lands and refused to return, people would ask him whether his umbilical cord
was ever buried in the land” (The Lost
Generation 108). Its burial or non-burial on
the soil influences the behaviour of the individual in this domain. When a
minor male character, Odumodu, misbehaves due to drunkenness, he is chided by
another fringe protagonist, Uta; “your umbilical cord was not buried in the
ground, I’m sure. That is why you behave behave like this” (The Lost Generation 109).
Kepu
returns from the United States of America to Okpoko with his wife and sons,
Oboli and Chika, to alien relations. These sons and their mother Olivia are not
abreast with the culture of their home land. According to Obonna, Kepu’s
sister, “They belong to another place. They were born in America and that is
where their umbilical cord was buried” (The
Lost Generation
123.) Because of this action, they wayward behaviours
of these lads are attributable to the aforementioned. For, in the choices of
career of Kepu’s two sons, it becomes obvious that they are lost to the
American Dream. While one becomes a musician, the other plays baseball as a
profession. Their father blames these choices of vocations by his sons on the burial of their
umbilical cords in the United States of America. He thus decides to make
amends. His third son, Onochie’s umbilical cord must be taken to Okpoko for its
burial in the soil. “He believed that there was some natural connection between
the behaviour of the individual and where his umbilical cord was buried” (The Lost Generation 147)
The novelist further introduces a deeper mysterious
dimension to the role of this cord in the spiritual alignment of the dead and
the living. The major male protagonist begins to have dreams where he
constantly interacts with his late father, Amara. In all of these, Kepu’s
refusal to bury his first and second sons’ umbilical cord in Okpoko becomes the
reason for his ill health. For on two
occasions, he collapses at his work place. His summary of these of these
incidents is that “it was now clear to him that the umbilical cord was valued
by his ancestors as another silver cord that tied a person’s life to his
home…….” (The Lost Generation 150)
However,
Iyeh concludes this prose fiction by linking the burial site of the umbilical
cord to the narrative surrounding the lost generation which the major
protagonist’s two sons belong to. He surmises that Oboli and Chika belong to
this generation because of their birth in the United State and the burial of this
human flesh outside their homeland has led to their disconnections with their
cultural and traditional roots. However, the novelist keeps the reader in suspense
as to the fate of Onochie whose umbilical cord is ‘transported’ to Okpoko for
burial in the soil. Kepu’s conviction is that “where there is a will, there is
a way. Even if I do not go home again, Onochie will surely do so” (The Lost Generation 156).
From the beginning of Son of the Soil, mysticism emerges. In Obiagu the fictional society
of this novel the presence of some creatures at night portend evil. According
to Obinna a red- cap Chief of this fictional space “Not yet daybreak or near it
when noctual birds and animals usher in the day, yet the atmosphere is noisy as
if it is already dawn” (Iyeh, 3-4.) Why is this scenario abnormal? According to
him, the presence of some ominous animals at odd hours of the night “……. Are
not right. It smells of bad omen. There’s something wrong in the kingdom” (4).
Also “…..black cat has been hooting and the black cat has been mewing
restlessly" (15). These events open the flood gate of supernatural
activities that unfold subsequently in the novel. Therefore, the news from Okeke
the leader of the red cap Chiefs that
“after supper, before midnight sleep, Ezeagu our king has travelled on a
journey of no return” (9) is not a surprise. This announcement at the gathering
of the red – cap chiefs of Obiagu creates an intractable conflict that server
as a precursor to the subsequent ones in the fiction.
With the death
of the monarch, the novelist introduces
some cultural cum traditional imbroglios. The recurrent issue of reincarnation amongst
the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria resurfaces. The Elders agree in line with
the custom of the people that “the traditional morticians (should) brand (the
late king) on the palm with hot iron so that those who will be around when he
comes back will know that he is one “(10). The major female personality in the
novel, Obiara the Tobacco woman is a beneficiary of the reincarnation
experience “In Nkwelle, the village Obiara was born, the story was firmly
making the rounds that in her first journey to this mundane world, she killed
her husband with a pestle. A few aged people in the village confirmed this
because of the both mantle on her left palm. The traditional mystic who first
identified her was not allowed to do the rebirth purification which would have
removed inherited evil forces” (101) from her. Also, the late Ezeagu will not be
buried alone. For “a man, a woman, boy or a girl (13) will accompany him to the
great beyond. This has remained a sore ancient and primitive traditional practice
of some African communities.
The
replacement of the late king during the second burial, a year later, opens new
vistas that exposes the traditional intrigues involved in the choosing of a new
monarch amongst his two sons- Akunta and Ikenna. Their dates of birth and the
burial of their umbilical cords in their homestead are parts of the cornerstone
that will assist in the traditional resolution of this conflict. Ikenna is
informed by his mother prophetically that “Among the Igbo, he who buries
inherits. If you want your share in this kingdom to be given to you, you must
contribute to the burial of your father…… you should take part in all the
burial rites as directed by the red- cap chiefs, particularly the second burial
after one year” (108).
Arriving
at the decision of who of the duo princes becomes the next king is protracted. On
the specified date that the choice is to be made, no agreement is reached
amongst the red- cap chiefs. “….. It has been postponed to the next market day.
By that time, all issues would have been resolved by my cabinet” (17),
according to Okeke the Regent. He, as the head of the thirty man cabinet has a
full knowledge of the requirements that the next monarch must possess; “By our
tradition, the first son succeeds his father. What is at stake now is who among
the two sons will succeed Ezeagu since (the two sons) were born the same year”
(19). As it is customary in Igbo land, reverence is usually accorded to the
oldest man in any community. Udunna, the oldest male in Obiagu kingdom has the
duty to untie this traditional knot. At the meeting of the red cap chiefs, he
recounts the mysterious story of a strange woman called the Tobacco Woman
(Obiara) from Aba and how she begets Akunta, the first son of the late Ezeagu.
He gives the crucial detail of how “He (Akunta) was circumcised and the
umbilical cord was buried in the foot of a palm tree….” (34). For Udunna the
sage; “Any son whose umbilical cord is buried in this land is a son of the
soil. And Akunta is one. He should hold the ofor and wear the crown” (35). From his informed experience, the burial of
the umbilical cord in the community qualifies the same person to take possession
of the ofor, the symbol of authority. Subsequently, any male who has under his
kitty these two very important mystical certifications certainly qualifies to
be the next traditional ruler of this fictional domain. He concludes that
Akunta is qualified to step into the shoes of his late father. Another elder,
Ihemedu offers his own perspective on the subject matter. For him, “The first
son to see the sky if they were born twins, succeeds his father. We cannot
therefore deny the first son the privilege of inheritance. It is only just and
fair. That is the ofor in Igbo land” (21-22). His submission is that an ofor is
tantamount to justice and fairness. He fails to attach any importance to the
umbilical cord and its burial site. The Tobacco Woman on her part, while
encouraging her son Akunta to aspire to the throne of his late father educates
him of what the ofor represents amongst the Igbo people. “Ofor is just the
symbol of authority and righteousness…. Every individual has his own ofor
within him. It is a mental construct with the individual to do the right thing,
to do justice, to do unto others as you would like them to do to you. That is
the ofor in Igbo land”(74) it is the novelist Celestine Iyeh who has voiced his
opinion on the concept of the ofor myth using these fictional characters as his
mouthpiece.
Of significance is the fact that this mystical ofor
assumes an amorphous existence metaphysical and physical. In its abstract
nature, it is a moral compass that shapes the actions of every man in the Igbo cosmic
landscape. In its physical nature,”…..”it is symbolized by a carved wood” (74)
that can be found in the (Obiagu) kingdom “(74) or in any other home. For
emphasis, the late Ezeagu in his old age acknowledges the extreme importance of
this mysterious object--- “The throne would be impractical and a sham without
the ofor…… the ofor of the land is a symbol for the king to dispense justice in
the land. It is handed over from one generational king to the other …..” (107).
With this submission; the late king while alive lays bare the vital role this existential object (ofor)
plays in the act of governance in the traditional Igbo society.
Iyeh
introduces through an elder of the community the traditional impasse of
legitimacy between the son of a concubine and that of a truly married woman in
the Igbo society. This timeless conflict has placed any son from a concubine at
a disadvantage in the scheme of things. This issue as expected comes to play in
the choice of which of the two sons becomes the next king of Obiagu. For
Omalugo, one of the community elders, “The Tobacco Woman…… was never married to
Ezeagu according to our custom as we know it. Even though she gave birth to
Akunta as the first son in the palace, she was only a concubine. Her son cannot
hold the ofor, how much more succeed to the throne…..” (36). It is appropriate
to put in a proper perspective the relationship that exists between the Tobacco
Woman (Obiara) and the late king. This woman has a mysterious background. She
is an indigene of Nkwelle who commits the murder of killing her sister. To
avoid the punishment that is appropriate for her crime, she escpaes to Aba
where she begins an enterprising trade in tobacco. It is this business that
brings her in contact with the late Ezeagu, in his palace where she
subsequently bears a son for him. Bcause she is not properly married to the late
king, she returns to Aba with her son. She dies during a riot organised by the
women against the colonial administrations order that “Women were to pay taxes”
(82).
In
the build up towards the resolution of the conflict, the novelist continues to
show bias towards the preponderance of the supremacy of burial location of the
umbilical cord over any other consideration. As Akunta visits the kingdom
before the demise of Ezeagu (his father), and is introduced to him as “Akunta…..
The son of the Tobacco Woman” (98), the monarch out of excitement remarks;
“this was where your umbilical cord was buried, a son of the soil, you did not
forget and you will never forget” (98). As the crescendo of the resolution of
all conflicts approaches the mysticism surrounding the fleshy umbilical cord occurs
during the second burial rite of the late king. For a new traditional leader
must emerge on this occation. Here all chicken must come to roost. To be
qualified for selection, each of the sons should provide a cow for this
ceremony. More importantly, the cow is not the most important thing for the
coronation. It is the ofor “…… the coronation will never be complete without
the ofor” (112).
Due
to the preference of the narrator for Akunta, who despite being the son of a
concubine, is the first son of the late monarch and most importantly has his
umbilical cord buried in his father’s compound, is advised by an elder, Ihemedu
to “Move very fast…. To remove the ofor” (112) from the palace before the
celebration at the market square comes to an end. Also, with the collaboration “of
his brother in-law Adeibe, a boy of ten……” (114), who is a domestic servant at
the palace, Akunta removes the ofor statue from the palace to stop his brother
Ikenna being crowned as the king. The novelist provides these accomplices for
Akunta to enable him become the king.
On the path to the conclusion, the novelist brings in
the colonial system of government that existed in the Southern Region of
Nigeria before independence; The concept of the Warrant Chief. During the
period, Nigeria had three regions; East, West and North. In the northern
region, the Emirate system of government existed with the Emir as the spiritual
and political leader. The Western region had an Obaship system where the Oba
(traditional ruler) held both the political and cultural leadership positions
alone. However, in the Eastern region, the setting of this novel, there was a
collegiate system of leadership; the eldest male in every family was a member
of the “College of Elders”. It was the
collective decision of the members of this elite group that administered the
affairs of every community. The eldest male child of this ruling class was
elected as the head. It was therefore, the inability of having one person
exercising all authorities in the Eastern Region that necessitated the
appointment of a Warrant Chief by the colonial administration of that era. In
this novel therefore, the novelist borrows a leaf from the above by introducing
the concept of a Warrant Chief in Obiagu “to collect taxes per adult head,
disburse bicycle licences and settle land disputes in the customary court”
(140). Mr Orchard the District Commissioner arrives Obiagu and appoints Akunta
as Warrant Chief. On the date of his appointment, Akunta displays “the ofor,
the symbol of authority, justice and peace” (147). The District Commissioner is
informed of the symbolic importance of the ofor in the possession of Akunta;
“it is only the son of the soil that can hold the ofor on behalf of others”
(147)
After
achieving the above, it is the physical occupation of the palace and Akunta’s
enthronement as the king that remain. Ikenna is not letting go of the throne.
Out of vengeance, he creates an ugly scene aimed at harming his brother Akunta.
On the day of crowning either of them as the king by the red cap chiefs, a
tragedy strikes; Adaora dies and a riot erupts in the community. To quell this uprising,
Akunta, the Warrant Chief carries out his first official assignment as a
Warrant Chief by inviting the men of the colonial police to maintain law and
order in his domain. His concluding statement serves as the novelist’s way of
ending the narrative;
The race for life
is for the chicken, to the aggressor belongs the fall. I have been saved not by
my strength, or might, not even by my wisdom, but by truth and righteousness
which my people call ofor na ogu……..For the one whom the gods did not destroy
no one else can (164).
It is this fatalistic assumption and the death of
Adaora that the novelist uses to resolve the conflict of who becomes the ruler
of Obiagu.
Conclusion
Celestine Iyeh in these two novels discusses prominent
cultural and traditional controversies amongst the people of his homeland and
other parts of the Igbo land. In doing this, he employs major male
protagonists, settings and diverse narrative styles to drive home the
uniqueness of the umbilical cord in shaping the destiny of the two prominent
male central characters, Kepu and Akunta in The
Lost Generation and Son of the Soil
respectively. In The Lost Generation,
the novelist deploys a simple and captivating expository pattern and arrives at
a conclusion that is almost discernable. Having made “a mistake” in not burying
the umbilical cords of his first and second sons in his homeland of Okpoko,
Kepu remedies this calamity by ‘exporting’ that of Onochie his third son to
Okpoko for burial in the soil as a way of guaranteeing his return to his father
land at adulthood. In the second novel Son of the Soil, the writer makes more
complex, the scope of the narration by introducing other sub plots. Some of
these minor plots include; the importance of the ofor instrument in the Igbo
cosmology; the inheritance right of the son of a concubine; finally the
intrigues and politicking that are involved in the choice of a ruler in the
Igbo community. By so doing, he displays more maturity in his creative
imagination.
In all of these, what remains central in the two prose
fictions is Iyeh’s deliberate attempt at expanding the conversation around the
importance of the umbilical cord as a spiritual, cultural and traditional
construct in Igbo land. He does this by using some major characters to voice
out his views on various subject matters. The flow of the narrative which is
back and forth like a pendulum, contributes towards the complexity of the prose
fiction. In this novel that is socialised, the novelist adopts the flashback
technique of literary craftsmanship to discuss the importance of the location
of a simple human flesh as preponderance in settling an intriguing, and
protracted kingship tussle in the fictional Obiagu kingdom between the major
male protagonist Akunta and his half-brother.
Works Cited
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Versus, Unresolved Antinomy, Garland
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………………………. Son
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This article is published in ALQALAM: A Journal of Language and Literary Studies, FUGUS, Volume 1, Issue 2 - June 2026
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