The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
"The Concubine" by Elechi Amadi is a compelling work of fiction set in Nigeria that explores themes of love, fate, and the intersection of human and divine influences in everyday life. The narrative revolves around Ihuoma, a young widow who commands deep respect from her community despite the misfortunes she faces following the death of her husband, Emenike. The story unfolds against a backdrop of conflict and tragedy, particularly involving the rivalry with Madume, Emenike's adversary, whose greed ultimately leads to his own downfall through a series of retributive events.
The novel delves into complex human emotions and relationships, particularly the unfulfilled desires of Ekwueme, a talented composer who struggles between duty and his attraction to Ihuoma. As the characters navigate their intertwined fates, the story reveals Ihuoma's mysterious identity as a goddess-human, which complicates her relationships and foreshadows the tragic outcomes that befall those who desire her. The blend of folkloric elements with dramatic personal conflicts highlights the cultural richness of the setting while inviting readers to reflect on the broader themes of destiny and the consequences of one's actions.
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The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
First published: 1966
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Tragedy
Time of plot: Precolonial times, mid-nineteenth century
Locale: Eastern Nigeria
Principal characters
Emenike , a fine wrestler and a favorite son of the villageIhuoma , his young, beautiful wife, the village model of ideal womanhoodNwonna , Ihuoma’s sonNnadi , Ihuoma’s brother-in-lawMadume , the “big eyed,” quarrelsome land grabberWolu , his unfortunate wifeEkwueme , an accomplished singer and trapperWigwe andAdaku , his parentsAhurole , Ekwueme’s immature, moody girl brideWodu Wakiri , the village wag, a gifted singer and comicAnyika , village medicine man (dibia ), diviner of OmokachiAgwoturumbe , a rival, powerfuldibia from Aliji village
The Story:
Emenike dies suddenly, after a full recovery from injuries he suffered during a fight with Madume, his neighbor and adversary, over some disputed farmland. Although the villagers are uncertain about the cause of death, and even though they suspect that Madume had a hand in Emenike’s death, they say Emenike died from “lock chest.” Ignoring the arbitration on the land dispute that the village elders and priests made in favor of Emenike, and with Emenike out of the way, Madume decides to stake his claim on the disputed farmland. While at it, he claims Ihuoma, whom he alleges Emenike snatched from him. In a show of power, Madume embarks on assaults on Ihuoma and her brother-in-law, Nnadi, as they try to protect Emenike’s land and crops from Madume’s “big eyes.” A series of misfortunes, brought on by personal ill will, inordinate greed, and insensitivity, befall Madume until excessive cockiness and a final act of brazenness bring him face-to-face with a spitting cobra, which blinds him as he reaches in defiantly to harvest a plantain tree on Emenike’s farm. Blinded and miserable, Madume hangs himself. The villagers agree that his abominable death is retributive justice from the ever-watchful, powerful gods. Though finally rid of Madume, Ihuoma characteristically bemoans the loss of two village men in a two-year span, fearing that there will be “too few left to organize village activities.”
Young, already a mother of three children, and widowed at the tender age of twenty-two, Ihuoma continues to live out her widowhood in her dead husband’s compound, devoted to his memory and care of her children. More attractive than ever even in her misfortune, Ihuoma commands great respect from the village women, especially Madume’s wife, Wolu. Ekwueme, the gifted song composer and singer, although betrothed to Ahurole, is irrepressibly taken by Ihuoma’s exceptional beauty of character and looks. In a bind, aware of his obligation to filial obedience and to the propriety of Omokachi tradition, Ekwueme gives up his personal desires and marries Ahurole, his immature, neurotic child bride, whose unpredictable mood swings and incessant sobbing test their marriage sorely. Although Ekwueme reconciles himself to his marriage to Ahurole, he cannot repress his desire for Ihuoma, his ideal of a wife. As his halfhearted interest in Ahurole wanes, his repressed feelings for Ihuoma emerge stronger. Suspecting this, and upon her mother’s advice, Ahurole seeks the help of a diviner to renew Ekwueme’s diminishing conjugal interest. Unfortunately, Ahurole’s effort to recapture Ekwueme’s love interest, by way of a love potion, succeeds only in bewitching him and temporarily bringing on madness.
After being relieved of Ahurole, Ekwueme openly declares his intentions to marry Ihuoma, who is responsible for curing him of his madness. The diviner-priest Anyika, however, reveals to Ekwueme’s parents the ill-fatedness of an Ihuoma-Ekwueme union because, contrary to physical appearances, Ihuoma is not an ordinary human being but a goddess-human, a mermaid in human form, betrothed to the powerful, malevolent Sea-King. Only the series of bizarre events toward the end of the novel reveal the truth of an identity of which she herself is unaware. Her husband’s sudden death and Madume’s blindness and subsequent suicide after he assaults her are all explained by her secret godlike status.
Unequivocal in his resolve, and secretly hoping that the cause of the ill-fatedness of the proposed marriage to Ihuoma can be mediated, Ekwueme and his parents seek a second opinion from a rival diviner, the renowned Agwoturumbe of Iliji village. Unlike Anyika, Agwoturumbe, perhaps in a bid to outdivine his rival Anyika, assures Ekwueme and his parents that Agwoturumbe has the power to bind the Sea-King and render him powerless through appropriate sacrifice. Preparations for the elaborate and costly sacrificial mediation are well under way when a sudden turn of events during the search for the lizard, the final item called for on the list of items for the sacrifice, hasten the end of Ekwueme’s life. Ekwueme’s bizarre, premonitory dream of being lured away to the land of the dead by Emenike, Ihuoma’s dead husband, comes true tragically and ironically at the hands of Nwonna, Ihuoma’s son. Ekwueme instructs Nwonna in the art of lizard-shooting moments before the young man looses the arrow that, intended for the desired “big coloured male lizard,” fells Ekwueme.
Bibliography
Banyiwa-Horne, Naana. “African Womanhood: The Contrasting Perspectives of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru and Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine.” In Ngambika: Studies of Women in African Literature, edited by Carole Boyce Davies and Anne Adams Graves. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1986. Gives a strictly feminist reading of the writers’ contrasting portrayal of their female protagonists. Concludes that Amadi’s perspective is male oriented and therefore limiting.
Gikandi, Simon. “Myth, Language and Culture in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God and Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine.” In Reading the African Novel. London: Heinemann, 1987. Suggests a reinterpretation of the narrowly held view that, in Achebe’s and Amadi’s novels, myth is simply an expression of a community’s fears, hopes, or expectations.
Nyamndi, George. “Elechi Amadi’s Women.” In Gender, Literature, and Religion in Africa, by Elizabeth Le Roux et al. Dakar, Senegal: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2005. Nyamndi examines Amadi’s female characters in The Concubine and other novels published in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He maintains that Amadi saw women as a force of stability and progress in a male-dominated society.
Obiechina, Emmanuel. Culture, Tradition, and Society in the West African Novel. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Discusses The Concubine as one of ten major West African novels. This classic study gives a comprehensive analysis of many aspects of the novel—characterization, setting, language, and aesthetics.
Osundare, Niyi. “As Grasshoppers to Wanton Boys: The Role of the Gods in the Novels of Elechi Amadi.” African Literature Today 11 (1980): 97-109. An insightful essay on Amadi’s preoccupation with fatalism. It examines how supernatural forces shape human action and control the plots of Amadi’s novels.
Umoren, Tonia. Literature and Society: Social Order in the Novels of Elechi Amadi. Calabar, Nigeria: University of Calabar Press, 2004. Umoren’s study of Amadi’s representation of Nigerian society includes analysis of The Concubine. Includes bibliography and index.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Portrait of Womanhood in African Literary Tradition: Reflections on Elechi Amadi’s Works. Calabar, Nigeria: Clear Lines, 2002. Umoren analyzes the female characters in The Concubine and other works. Includes bibliography and index.