THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND ETERNAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE

TLT 403: WEST AFRICAN PROSE

TASK: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL ‘THE FAMISHED ROAD’ BY BEN OKRI

LECTURER: DR. ALEX WANJALA

DUE DATE: 5 DEC, 2019

NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER

MUNALA BEATRICE GRACE E35/3616/2017

KULEI PATRICK KIPKEMOI E35/3569/2017

MERCY JEPTOO E35/3586/2017

BRINAN JEROP E35/3584/2017

MOKAYA DIANA KWAMBOKA E35/3608/2017

CHEBOI CATHERINE JEPCHUMBA E35/3571/2017

KIBET DICKENS SIGOWO E35/3610/2017

CHESAINI CAROLINE CHUMBBA E35/3570/2017

KATAMU KENNY SAFARI E35/3605/2017

INGOLO ALFAYO ZABLON E35/3596/2017

VJCODY CHEPKORIR E35/3614/2017

ONDIEKI CHRISTINA NYAMOITA E35/3580/2017

ALUKWE CAROLINE NYANGULE E35/3604/2017

Ben Okri is a Nigerian novelist, short story writer and poet born March 15 1959 in Mina, Nigeria
to an Igbo mother, Grace and Yoruba father, Silver Okri. When he was barely two years, they
moved to London where his father studied law. They later moved back to Nigeria in 1968. At the
age of 14, when he was denied admission to a university program in physics because of his
youth, Okri claimed to have had a revelation that poetry was his chosen calling. He began
writing articles on political and social issues but these never found a publisher. Okri claimed that
his criticism of the government in some of his early works led to his name being placed on a
death list and prompted his departure from the country. In 1978, he moved back to England and
went to study Comparative Literature at Essex University with a grant from the Nigerian
government. On completion of the grant life became difficult far away from home but his
passion for writing intensified. His works was influenced by the philosophical texts in his
father’s bookshelves. His novel, The Famished Road was awarded the 1991 Booker prize along
with Songs of Enchantment and Infinite Riches that make up a trilogy that follows the life of
Azaro through the social and political turmoil of an African nation reminiscent of Okri’s
remembrance of war-torn Nigeria.

The Famished Road by Ben Okri revolves around the life of one, Azaro, who happens to be the
narrator and is frequented with apocalyptic visions as well as harrowing scenes of violence and
wretched poverty. Azaro is a spirit child who maintains his ties to the supernatural world. He is
also referred to as Abiku, a spirit child predestined to die before puberty. His powers manifest in
a number of ways including vivid dreams in which he can see the future. At the beginning of the
novel, Azaro frequently sees spirits interacting with the material world where we also see him
get lost in a market where the spirits are purchasing goods. At times, these spirits beckon him to
leave his body for long periods of time during which he appears to be dead. In one of these
occasions, he woke up in a coffin as his parents thought he was dead. This forces Azaro’s parents
to plan for a spiritual ritual designed to sever his ties with the spirit world but they fail because
they cannot afford.

In another occasion, Azaro has a premonition that prompts him to flee from his family’s
compound forcing his parents to follow him. This premonition is confirmed when the compound
goes down in flames. After this incident Azaro is captured by a group of priestesses who want to
harness his power to themselves. He manages to escape to a home of a police officer where he
sees the spirit of the officer’s dead son who attempts to possess him. Fortunately his mother
arrives in time to rescue him. Azaro’s family struggles financially and this makes him befriend
Madame Koto, a local bar owner who often feeds him when the parents cannot afford food.
Azaro notices that the fetish hanged by Madame Koto attracts all manner of spirits who tried to
capture him but he manages to escape. He gets lost but comes back home with malaria. As
election season begins, different political parties roam the streets in vans blaring out propaganda
from loud speakers. The party of the rich distributes tainted milk to the villagers who get sick but
later on retaliate. It is at this point that we see Jeremiah a local journalist seeking refuge in
Azaro’s house after publishing the picture of the political van which was attacked by the
villagers.

Supporting the ‘wrong’ party would invite harassment and at times physical assault. When
Madame Koto expresses her support for the rich, the clientele in her bar become much vulgar
and aggressive which scares away her regular customers. As Koto’s fortune swells, Azaro’s
family slides deeper into financial ruin. During the rainy season, the landlord raises the family’s
rent after a quarrel with Azaro’s father despite the ceiling leaking. Azaro’s father spends more
time at Madame Koto’s bar where he gets into fights over political differences. Azaro is tricked
by a three headed spirit into smashing a blind’s man window which gets him beaten up by the
father. This incident makes Azaro allow himself to be drawn into the spirit world where he gets
lost until his parents manage to rouse him with the help of some herbalists. Azaro’s father
channels his violence into boxing and practically stops working. This new passion attracts him a
new name, Black Tyger. He is then challenged by another fighter known as the Green Leopard
where he bets on himself all his money and narrowly escapes with his life into a comma. When
he recovers he runs for political office as the fight made his fortunes change.

As the novel comes to a conclusion, the Black Tyger has one more fight at Madame Koto’s with
a man in a white suit. Black Tyger pulls off his opponent’s suit revealing a grotesque terrifying
spirit that makes the crowd recoil in horror. The Black tyger knocks out the spirit and returns
home badly neaten where he sleeps for three days battling other spirits in his head. When he
wakes up, Azaro is finally at peace, no longer tormented by spirits himself.

In this paper we shall attempt to look at how the history of Nigeria is reflected in the novel, the
role of major characters and capitalism in the society together with its implications.
Nigeria is an African state found in the western part of Africa. It is made up of two hundred
tribes which are culturally and linguistically distinct. It is a country that was colonized by Britain.

There are three predominant groups namely Hausa-Fulani of the North, Igbo at the east and
Yoruba in the west. Nigeria was divided into these three major ethnic groups. In the North,
Britain employed indirect rule where they used the communities' leaders to administer their
rule, and the community leaders took the advantage of this to acquire wealth. In the east and
west they employed direct rule where they used European natives to rule. These three regions
received their full independence in the year 1960, but the problem was to unify these three
regions where each wanted to rule over the other. This led to unrest and civil wars that lasted
from 1966 to 1990. There has been exchange of military rule and civilian rule. As a result, those
who clinched into power used the opportunity to grab lands and enrich themselves at the
expense of all the other Nigerians leading to the rise of different classes. In that those who
were of different ideology from the other either counter attacked of the contrary or staged a
coup leading to tantamount suffering and poverty and rich and wealth on the other end.

The history of Nigeria relates to the openings in the Novel by Ben Okri, The Famished Road
where the characters are divided into two social classes and they are affected by these classes a
great deal. For instance, there is party of the rich which uses tricks and bribery to gain political
mileage from the poor people. This is seen when the poor were given milk that had expired and
when they retaliated, the rich uses a lot of force to discipline them, they were beaten for
complaining. Also if one does not support the party of the rich, one is subjected to a lot of
exploitation. In the Novel, Azaro's father was asked which party he supports, being poor he
supported the party of the poor and as a result he used to be given a lot of heavy loads to carry.

In the Novel, there is a distinct difference between the rich and the poor just as it was in Nigeria
during past independence period. The rich in the country grew richer and richer in contrast to
the poor who lived in a rented house and there was nothing in the house, they would hardly
raise the rent while Madame Koto had a lot of wealth. This is also evident in the novel, when
Azaro's father says that the rich have plenty of food to feed the dogs while the poor work hard
to table something to eat. Politicians had a lot of tracks of land. Many Nigerians were in slums.
These happenings in the Novel relates directly with events that took place during military and
civilian rule in Nigeria where the few rich enriched themselves after clinching into power and
the poor masses languished in great poverty as they strive to exist.

Ben Okri has used different characters in the following ways:

Azaro is an Abiku narrator used to show a way of seeing the word multi dimensionally as one
who can see through the material world endowed with foresight and prophesy. Okri entrust
Azaro's with an adult role of delivering worldly truths and aphorism. Azaro as a narrator
disperses the point of view, knowledge and perception regarding the environment. He serves as a
vehicle of experience for the African socio-economic and political condition. He represents the
Post-colonial African nation with its recurrent coming and going of political instability. Azaro
evolving into maturity reflects Nigeria's growth and emergence into a prosperous nation.

Through Madame Koto, Okri enumerates the kind of evil that thrives in the society; an ending
cycle of greed, corruption and debauchery that defines modern politics and power games. When
Madame Koto gains the characteristics Rain Queen, she changes her attitude. People, Azaro
among them, dislike her because she is too proud, cruel and greedy. This stage corresponds to
the colonial period which despite bringing positive transformations to traditional Nigerian
society such as modern transport, it turned the nation against the colonial power because of the
subjugation and all pervasive authority it brought with it. Madame Koto represents the British
Empire and its denomination in Africa. Okri uses Madame Koto's bloated stomach which is not
just to show her pregnancy but greed too, to show the hunger for power and acquisition of more
wealth.

Azaro's father is Okri's vehicle to criticize his own people. He says that the road is hungry and
we (Africans) have no desire to change things. He accuses people of their apathy towards the evil
condition around, their laziness, their cowardice and selfishness. Furthermore, Dad reproach
people because of their forgetfulness and lack of historical consciousness. Through Dad the
oration at the end of the novel, Okri represents his socialist optimistic vision of Nigeria/Africa,
he expresses the urgent need for a new African society.
In the novel, like Azaro, his Abiku friend Ade, functions as a representative of Nigeria/. Ade
leads a poorer and harsher life compared to Azaro and, unlike Azaro, he is enthusiastic to go
back to the world of the unborn. Azaro and Ade becomes representatives of two different visions
of Nigeria. Ade represents Nigeria as neglected, disregarded, and frustrated and a torn apart
country whereas Ben Okri uses Azaro to present Nigeria as a country which still struggles to
survive despite all misfortunes, difficulties, suffering and failures. Through Azaro, Okri offers
that the country can emerge into harmony if people can remember their roots and keep their
faith. At the end of The Famished Road Okri represents the Nigerian nation directly as an Abiku
nation through Ade’s prophecy. Azaro and Ade function as the symbol of Nigeria, by extension
of the whole African continent, in the throes of recovering from the effects of bygone
colonialism.

The title “The Famished Road” is a metaphor for the never ending hunger for power. The society
described in the novel is one full of greed and corruption. Azaro’s father tells Azaro the story of
the king of the roads. People used to offer sacrifices to him so that he would not eat them as they
passed through the road. However it reached a point when the food offered to the king was not
enough and eventually he started eating the people. In the end the king ended up eating himself.
This story is symbolic in that it shows how greedy and corrupt people can be when it comes to
acquisition of wealth and power and in the process they end up destroying themselves as they
never have enough. This is why the road will never be satisfied as people want more and more
for themselves. Madame Koto is an example of such kind of people as in the novel she continues
to acquire more wealth and even goes ahead to open a second bar. She becomes fat even to the
point where her door has to be extended so that she is able to go through,

Okri portrays a capitalist society in ‘The Famished Road’. Capitalists use three factors of
production, which are land, labour and capital to acquire more wealth, Capitalists are generally
materialistic. They hardly mind the welfare of their labourers and their main aim is to grow
richer every passing day. Madame Koto is a representative of capitalists. She continues to gain
more wealth at the expense of the poor people. During the electioneering period she brings
prostitutes to her bar since prostitution is an economic demand and thus she is able to attract rich
customers. She even disregards people like Azaro’s father because they are poor. Madame Koto
acquires a lot of money and with this she is able to open another bar. She also supports the party
of the rich because there are a lot of benefits which come with supporting it. Madame Koto gets
to grow bigger and this symbolizes how in a capitalistic society, the rich continue to acquire
more wealth and they are never satisfied.

A capitalistic society is characterized by class struggle. In the novel, there is the party of the rich
and the party of the poor. This shows the two main classes that exist in the society, that is the
upper class and the lower class. In “The famished road” the people from the party of the rich
mistreated the poor people in the society. The rich look down upon the poor and see them as
worthless. This is why the poor people were given rotten milk by the party of the rich who were
pretending to help them. This inhumane act by the party of the rich shows how the poor people
in the society are not valued.

Ben Okri also looks at the political, social and economic conditions in a capitalistic society.
There is a lot of political instability in such a society which is characterized by violence. The
people of the party of the rich want to get power at any cost and thus anyone who stands in their
way is dealt with. The poor people decided to revenge by burning down the van of the party of
the rich during the campaign because they had been given rotten milk. As a result people were
sent at night to beat the poor people and to terrorize them. This event was not talked about and
the people acted like nothing happened due to fear. The rich also do not want their evils to be
uncovered and this is why Jeremiah the photographer in the novel was hunted down and almost
killed because he took pictures of all that was happening and made the world aware of the evils
that were taking place.

Also those who do not support the party for the rich are mistreated. The landlord increases the
rent of Azaro’s family because Azaro’s father supported the party of the poor. Also the spot in
the market for Azaro’s mother was taken away from her because she was not for the party of the
rich. Azaro’s father tries to make people reason in a logical manner by saying that he will vie for
the political seat of that particular area they were in. He tries to campaign and even tries to clean
up the street but people see him as a mad man. They do not even pay any attention to his agenda
for the people. He further says that political parties will poison the minds of the people. Ben Okri
shows through this that it is the ignorance of the African people which has led us to choosing
poor leaders over and over again and we still complain of poor leadership. Azaro’s father
represents the voice of reason in the society which the people fail to hear. If we stop being
ignorant and choose leaders wisely then Africa will change for the better.

Economically, Ben Okri shows that those who belong to the upper class continue to grow richer
while those of the lower class struggle to make ends meet. Madame Koto thrives in her business
and even brings things such as electricity and music to her bar to attract the rich people. It is thus
seen that her wealth continues to accumulate and she goes ahead to open a second bar. On the
other hand the poor people like Azaro’s father continue to struggle and do a lot of work for
minimal pay. The capitalists take advantage of the poor by making them do more work for low
wages. Thus it becomes difficult for poor people to even afford two meals a day.

Socially, the poor people live in poor conditions as compared to the rich like Madame Koto.
They live in small houses which are poorly ventilated. In the novel, Azaro’s family live in a
small house which has a leaking roof. The poor also wear clothes which are rugged as compared
to the rich like Madame Koto who has beautiful expensive attires. Generally, the poor people
live in great misery. The society is characterized by poverty, disease and violence. Despite the
challenges that the poor people go through, it is the capacity to love which unites especially at
the family level. This helps the people to be empowered and possibilities come up. Okri uses
Azaro’s family to show that if Africans remain united and love thrives amongst us then the
society will progress to greater heights

Ben Okri preserves the African culture of spiritualism throughout the novel. He does this by use
of an Abiku child, Azaro. Africans have beliefs and many communities believe in the
supernatural powers. Culture makes us view things differently. This is why Okri is able to easily
move from the real world to the spiritual world and vice versa in the novel. The novel is
characterized by a lot of spirituality which reflects the African society. Azaro keeps on getting
lost in the spiritual world and is constantly called by his spiritual companions to go back to the
spiritual world. However, Azaro is determined to stay in the real world and encounter all its joys
and sorrows. The black tyger also fights with people from the spiritual world in the real world
and he becomes victorious. Even though Ben Okri talks about the issues which affect the society
such as capitalism, he is able to successfully preserve the African cultural heritage throughout
the novel and this goes ahead to show that our cultures define us as Africans and spiritualism is
part of us.
The major literary technique used by Ben Okri is vivid description. He has successfully brought
out the clear picture of things and events in the novel which makes the reader to understand
better and the reading of the novel interesting. For example, he describes in detail the violence
that occurred during the night after the poor people burnt the vehicle of the party of the rich.
Through this description we are able to clearly understand the injustices that were committed
during the electioneering period. In another instance, Okri describes how Azaro saw his father
carrying heavy bags of cement and salt on his back and such a sight broke Azaro’s heart.
Through this description Okri shows the hardships that the poor people went through in order to
get money for their basic needs.

Symbolism is another technique which has also been used. The clearing up of the forest to pave
way for the construction of houses and the roads symbolizes the destruction of The African
traditions by the capitalists to pave way for modernization. Madame Koto is a representation of
the capitalists and their selfish ways while Black Tyger is a representation of the voice of reason
in the society who seeks to preserve the true African values.

Biblical allusion has also been used. The novel begins with “In the beginning was a river...”This
not only shows the origin of the Yoruba myth bur also alludes to the story of creation in the
Bible that is “In the beginning was the word…”This use of allusion also shows that everything
has a beginning thus the never ending hunger for power in Africa was actually brought by the
colonial powers.

In conclusion, Ben Okri through “The Famished Road” shows how the capitalistic nature of the
society has detrimental effects on the people of that society. He also shows how valuable the
African culture is since it is what identifies us as Africans and even though modernity has set in,
we should not do away with our rich cultural heritage. Themes such as poverty and political
instability show how the poor suffer in the society. Azaro’s father says that selfish dreams will
eat us up and thus Africans should learn to be generous and take other people into consideration
if we want our society to prosper. As Africans, we are responsible for our own situation and we
should strive to make Africa better.
WORKS CITED

Mahmutović, Adnan. "REVOLUTION REVISITED IN THE FAMISHED ROAD". Brill.Com, 2019,

https://brill.com/view/book/9789401208093/B9789401208093-s012.xml?language=en.

Okri, Ben. "The Famished Road Background". Gradesaver.Com, 1991,

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-famished-road.

Okri Ben, {1991} The Famished Road. Anchor Books

“The Famished Road." World Literature and Its Times: Profiles of Notable Literary Works and

The Historic Events That Influenced Them .Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2019

https://www.encyclopedia.com

"The Famished Road Summary | Supersummary". Supersummary, 2019,

http://www.supersummary.com/the-famished-road/summary/.

"The Famished Road Summary". Www.Bookrags.Com, 2019,

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-the-famished-road/#gsc.tab=0.