Lonely Days Critical Analysis, Themes, Characters, Summary, Setting
BACKGROUND OF LONELY DAYS
In a typical African society where women are treated as objects, it is almost normal, if not normal, to see widows being encapsulated in victimization, marginalization and ill treatment by members of such society who claim to act within the confines of some barbaric laws and tradition of that society. This inhumane act leaves these widows in a pitiable state, and those who can't endure the torture, join their deceased husbands afterwards. However, amidst such unpleasant circumstance, few women still summon up courage to defend themselves even with the last drop of their blood. These women, most times, emerge victorious in their fight against society.
The above assertion is evident in Bayo Adebowale's Lonely Days as it showcases the unpleasant circumstances which come with being a widow within the context of a Yoruba community in the western part of Nigeria. The novel shows the horrible traditional widows' rite women go through after the death of their husbands just to prove their innocence. With Yaremi being the most victim, the rights of other widows (Fayoyin, Dedewe and Radeke) are trampled upon by the custodians of tradition. These widows are denied access to better life, and at worst, thrown into outer loneliness. Although Yaremi has been a friend of loneliness since the death of her husband, she is a strong resistance to societal dominance. Her unshaken refusal to abide by the custom and tradition of her society makes her distinct from other widows.
Plot Summary OF Lonely Days:
Lonely Days, Bayo Adebowale’s novel centres on Yaremi, a strong widow and her experiences as a lonely woman in Kufi village. Yaremi is the widow of Ajumobi who was a very brave and prosperous hunter. She has three children: Segi, Alani and Wura. As in all African cultures, Yaremi faces a lot after the demise of her husband ranging from accusation of murder and several rites and practices. After going through all those, Yaremi is now left alone to face life as a widow. Yaremi’s grandchild (Segi’s son), Woye, is a small boy who stays with Yaremi during this trying times. The boy helps Yaremi with her trade in the market and also with the production of dyed materials who she sells for a living.
After a short while of reminiscing on the good days, of sorrowing over her dead husband, of trying hard to face the new life of loneliness that the death of her husband presents; Yaremi is to pick a new husband. Dedewe, Fayoyin, and Radeke (three widows whom Yaremi used to pity before she also becomes a widow visits her and comfort and encourage her a day before she is to pick a new husband during the Cap- Picking Ceremony. As a result of her husband’s death and the love she had and still has for him, Yaremi has grown stiff and is fast becoming more like a man. And so when three me, Ayanwale, a popular drummer; Olonade, a successful wood carver and Lanwa, a successful farmer who is also Ajumobi’s half-brother; when these three men presents themselves before Yaremi in front of the whole village, she rejects them all to the utter shock of the villagers. The elders were ‘speechless and overwhelmed’.
Due to this act of stubbornness, ‘a conspiracy’ is ‘sprouting which might get her ostracized or outrightly annihilated from Kufi village.’ Yaremi decides to leave and return to her own maiden village Adeyipo before she is sent out of Kufi.
A week after the new-husband-picking incident, Segi, Yaremi’s first child and daughter visits to comfort her mother and tell her that there was ‘no reason on earth for’ a second marriage or new husband.
Woye, the small son of Segi who has been living with Yaremi is undisturbed by the issues at hand. When Segi, his mother sets to return to her own husband’s house, Woye sets to follow her and dreams of going to school.
After this, Yaremi sets to leave Kufi but for the ‘timely appearance of Alani’ who has not been seen for a decade. Alani lives in Ibadan city.
Uncle Deyo, a friend of Yaremi’s husband comes and shows Alani the farmlands of his father which has been left untended since his death. According to uncle Deyo, ‘It is the duty of the son…to look after his father’s property. When fire burns, it succeeds itself with wood ash…’
Despite all this Alani is not moved. The next day, he approaches his mother, Yaremi and explains to her that he cannot stay in the village to tend any farm. He has a booming carpentry business in the city which he wants to face squarely in a bid to marry ‘a pretty city girl’ who is now heavy with pregnancy and to also take his mother to his home in the city in the end. After this explanation, Alani leaves two loaves of bread, a tin of corned beef and a large size custard for his mother and departs. Yaremi bursts into tears. The village elders add to the problem the following day when they announce that due to her stubbornness and refusal to pick a new husband, Yaremi is to be ostracized as a leper and also her husband’s property is to be confiscated. The story ends as Yaremi cries and lament for the future days of widowhood and loneliness
Summary of Chapters in Lonely Days
Chapter 1
Yaremi mourned the death of Ajumobi and tried to console herself with the fact that Ajumobi did not die a shameful death.
The mourners falsely suspected her of having killed her husband.
She became very lonely with no husband or children to keep her company.
Woye, her grandson became her only company. She told him stories of her childhood and taught him number games while making taffeta.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 captures Yaremi’s everyday routine especially how she worked hard in the kitchen, in the forest while gathering firewood and in the dyeing yard where she produced her taffeta.
Yaremi is portrayed as a very strong, beautiful and agile woman in spite of her age.
Chapter 3
This chapter describes the narrow road leading to the village river. This road served as a meeting point for widows in Kufi.
The chapter also features stories of humiliation, torture and ill-treatment of other widows in Kufi namely Dedewe, Fayoyin and Radeke.
Chapter 4
Yaremi showed her versatility by combining different tasks. She made stitches, discarded husks of palm kernel and blew chaff off the melon seeds.
She spent her leisure time exchanging pleasantries with neighbours and telling Woye stories from her childhood days.
The importance of time management was emphasised in this chapter.
Chapter 5
Woye is portrayed as a very playful child. Yaremi taught Woye how to make scarecrow to ward off hawks.
The chapter reveals the people’s superstitious beliefs.
Chapter 5 describes events leading to the death of Ajumobi.
Chapter 6
Yaremi is portrayed as an independent woman who was no longer under the control of a man.
This chapter introduces the readers to the character of Ajumobi. Ajumobi is described as a brave and powerful hunter. He was also very ambitious.
Yaremi recalled the moments they spent together and showed how much she adored him.
Ajumobi expressed his desire for a polygamous marriage.
Chapter 7
The author describes moonlight night in Kufi.
Yaremi recalled her relationship with Ajumobi in his lifetime.
She recalled how she insulted him on some occasions and how Ajumobi beat her.
After his death, Ajumobi appeared on different occasions.
Yaremi attempted to ask Ajumobi several rhetorical questions.
Yaremi expressed her desire for Ajumobi’s affection.
Chapter 8
This chapter describes how Yaremi sold her taffeta in different markets and how she dealt with her debtors.
Woye’s ill-health worried Yaremi. She gave him special attention and made several promises. These were aimed at making him recover quickly.
Woye recovered from his illness.
Chapter 9
This chapter describes Kufi women. They were hardworking and showed so much devotion to their husbands and children. It also describes how women coped in polygamous homes.
Yaremi displayed her generousity by sharing her food with others.
Yaremi became influential and assertive. Most men in Kufi resented her for these attributes.
Ayanwale, Olonade and Lanwa proposed marriage to Yaremi.
Chapter 10
Yaremi displayed manly attributes.
She chided her suitors and turned down their marriage proposals.
Ajumobi appeared to Yaremi in her dreams assuring her of his presence and support.
Her extended family planned to organise a cap picking ceremony to facilitate her remarriage and a purification ritual to make her forget the past.
Chapter 11
Dedeke, Fayoyin and Radeke tried to talk Yaremi into remarriage.
This chapter features the cap picking ceremony.
Yaremi refused to pick a cap at the cap picking ceremony.
The villagers were angry.
Chapter 12
Yaremi suffered great resentment from the villagers as a result of her decision to remain unmarried.
She recalled her happy days with Ajumobi especially how he showered her with love, care and affection.
She considered leaving Kufi for Adeyipo, her parents’ village.
Chapter 13
Segi visited Adeyipo village. Yaremi confided in Segi and expressed her fears.
The chapter features many unanswered questions associated with a widow’s second marriage.
Woye looked forward to starting school in Olode.
Woye returned to Olode with Segi, his mother.
Chapter 14
Alani, Yareni’s son arrived from the city.
Uncle Deyo scolded him for keeping away from the village and from his father’s properties.
Uncle Deyo took Alani to Ajumobi’s cocoa plantation showing him the farm’s boundaries.
To Yaremi’s chagrin, Alani announced that he was returning to the city and was not interested in cultivating his late father’s farm.
The village elders threatened to confiscate Ajumobi’s properties and banish Yaremi completely from the village.
Yaremi resolved to remain in Kufi in spite of all odds.
Themes of Lonely Days
1. Widowhood or The plight of widows:
Theme Analysis
The theme of widowhood is the novel’s central theme. The widows in Lonely Days were subjected to pain and humiliation. The widowhood experiences of Yaremi, Dedewe, Fayoyin and Radeke are a miscrosm of the plight of widows in the larger Nigerian society and in the African continent as a whole. The author condemns widow inheritance, forced remarriage and other cultural practices that subject widows to pain and humiliation.
2. Loneliness
Theme Analysis
The theme of loneliness runs through the novel hence making it the central or dominant theme of the novel. The novelist, Bayo Adebowale, uses the character of Yaremi to project this theme. The sudden demise of Ajumobi leaves Yaremi in outer loneliness. She is forced to carter for herself and face societal challenges alone unlike when her husband was alive. He had been her only companion since the marriage of her two daughters and long stay of her only son, Alani, in Ibadan.
Yaremi's loneliness is aggravated when the elders of Kufi ostracize her and seize her husband's properties due to her refusal to pick a cap during the cap-picking ceremony.
3.Humiliation:
Theme Analysis
Yaremi suffered humiliation from extended relations who accused her of killing her husband. Dedewe, Fayoyin and Radeke also suffered humiliation. For instance, Dedewe was made to sit in a dark room by her husband’s corpse while Fayoyin’s hair was badly shaved. Hardwork or Diligence: The theme of diligence is expressed by Yaremi’s industrious character. The author uses several anecdotes to encourage hardwork.
4. Male chauvinism :
Theme Analysis
This is a belief or notion usually held by men that women are inferior to them. Yaremi suffered resentment from most men in Kufi because of her self-reliant and assertive status.
5.Traditionalism and spiritualism
Theme Analysis
Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional views or practices, especially with regard to cultural or religious matters. In other words, traditionalism places customs and traditional values over modern ideas. This is the practice in Kufi land. That is why Yaremi and other widows are being forced to go for a second marriage without any option of choice, which is in accordance with the traditional values of the land but against modern ideology.
On the other hand, spiritualism is a belief that the dead communicate with the living, especially through a medium. This is reflected in the novel through Ajumobi when he appears to Yaremi in her dream and declares to her that he is not asleep in heaven and he is constantly watching over his household.
6. Gender Inequality
Theme Analysis
Gender inequality has been a very big issue in Africa, both in urban and in rural parts. In Lonely Days, the issue surfaced among dwellers of Kufi village. The men are highly placed above women and women are meant to have cold feet whenever issue between man and women arise. Even a Yoruba proverb says "let a man pee while walking and a woman pee while walking and we shall see which one will wet her legs with urine"
One of the ways with which men prove their superiority over women in Kufi village is the forceful cap-picking which is organized for the widows; in such event, men interested in such a widow will submit their cap for the widow to pick one.
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7. Survival, Resilience and Determination:
Theme Analysis
Yaremi had the will and the determination to survive in spite of her predicament as a widow. She worked very hard to earn a decent living and refused to be cowed into accepting traditional injunctions of widow inheritance and remarriage set by her society.
8 Superstitions:
Theme Analysis
The novel explains how superstitious beliefs impact on people’s behaviour. For instance, wives were accused of killing their husbands because of the belief that someone had to be responsible for every death. They also suspected feathered creatures like birds as they were usually linked to witchcraft.
9 Death:
Theme Analysis
In Kufi, the people believed that there were good and bad deaths. Yaremi consoled herself with the notion that Ajumobi died a good death. It was also believed that the dead people watch over the living. This explains Yaremi’s many monologues addressed to her late husband, Ajumobi.
SETTING OF LONELY DAYS
The events of the story Lonely Days, took place in Kufi, a little village in Oyo State in the south-western part of Nigeria. It is a primitive village with all its crude and obnoxious customs and traditions. The people are mostly agrarian. They work on the farms in the day and hunt at night. They dont use mechanized tools. They live in mud houses and thatch roofs.
The oracle is regarded as the highest authority. The villagers resort to it when all human efforts have failed and its pronouncements are incontestable. The council of elders is next in authority. The elders are custodians of the tradition; their decision can only be voided by the oracle.
In Kufi, women are meant to be seen, not heard. The prevailing atmosphere is hostile towards women, especially widows. Widows are suspected to have caused the death of their husbands by their sins. Polygamy is the order of the day. Men are free to marry as many wives as they can afford, and women are free to complain as much as they want. And when a man is fed up by the verbal attack of one of his wives, he uses beating to bring her back under control.
Roles of Characters in Lonely days
Yaremi:
Who is Yaremi in Lonely Days
Character Analysis
She is the protagonist of the story. In her early fifties, Yaremi is beautiful and hardworking. Her real troubles begin after the death of her husband who died of typhoid fever. The relations of her late husband accuse her of killing him. They hate and ostracise her. Her two daughters are living with their husbands. Her only son is stuck in the city of Ibadan, working as a furniture carpenter. He seldom returns home to see his mother. Yaremi is only left with her grandson to keep her company and help her in her taffeta dyeing business.
Yaremi is later required―according to tradition―to choose a new man to replace her dead husband. She rejects the offer to the shock and anger of the elders and the villagers. Her daughter, Segi, visits her and identifies with her. She encourages Yaremi to stand her ground, but at the end of her visit, she takes her son away to enroll him into a school thereby living Yaremi lonelier than she is. Her lost-in-the-city son pays her a fleeting visit worsening the situation by his nonchalant attitude towards his mothers predicament. On the heels of his departure, it is heard that Yaremi is to be exiled and her husbands property confiscated. Yaremi solemnly declares that her dead body will have to be what the people will send into exile because she is prepared to fight till the last drop of her blood.
Ajumobi:
Who is Ajumobi in Lonely Days
Character Analysis
Ajumobi is Yaremis husband before his death. He is a hardworking man. He has a strong control of his household just as it is typical of a man. He is a farmer and a hunter. Boastful, he never fails to regale Yaremi with his hunting exploits. He loves his wife and spoils her with his games; but beats her when he could no longer stand her verbal attack. His death brings untold hardship to Yaremi who never dreams she is going to join the league of widows in the community. Before his death, he had a dream of marrying a new wive which usually caused quarrel between him and his wife. After his death, he continues to appear to his wife in dreams with words of consolation and comfort. Some people even claim to have seen Ajumobi on two occasions in the village. Adebowale uses the death of Ajumobi to portray the many tribulations and injustices meted against women after the death of their husbands.
Alani:
Who is Alani in Lonely Days
Character Analysis
Alani is the third child and only son of Yaremi. He is a furniture carpenter in the city of Ibadan, where the process of his citification takes place. He seldom visits his mother in the village because his home holds no attraction for him. So he does not stay long during his once-in-a-decade visit to the village. He represents a typical picture of someone who has lost his root and identity, needing the help of his uncle, Deyo, to conduct him round his fathers property. If not for anything, his visit worsens Yaremis already bad situation. It confirms that Yaremi is all alone in her predicament.
Woye:
Who is Woye in Lonely Days
Character Analysis
Woye is the son of Segi and grandson of Yaremi of about eight years old. He plays the role of a comforter in the life of his grandmother, Yaremi, when there is nobody to console her. Woye, somehow, fills the vacuum created by the demise of Ajumobi, helping Yaremi in the production, transportation and marketing of taffeta cloth which is regarded as the best in the village. Woye is playful and naturally happy, enjoying the company of goats and dogs. Woye is a bit lazy, but when fired up, he can use his number game as a motivation to do the work he is expected to do. He loves to go to school; therefore, he decides to follow his mother, Segi, back to his fathers village to start schooling, when his mother visits Yaremi. Woyes departure is painful to Yaremi, but she has no choice than to allow her grandson to get education.
Uncle Deyo:
Who is Uncle Deyo in Lonely Days
Character Analysis
Uncle Deyo is the brother of Ajumobi and uncle of Segi, Wura, and Alani. Uncle Deyo is kind and considerate as he helps Yaremi with the repairs of Ajumobis thatch roof after his death. He is the one who pointed out that Alani looks weird and out of place with the ways of the people. He even chides Alani for deserting his mother, Yaremi, when she is in need of someone to take care of her. Uncle Deyos help is needed to conduct Alani round the property of his father.
Dedewe, Fayoyin and Radeke:
Character Analysis
These are the three women who are insulted, assaulted, and humiliated sequel to the death of their husbands. They represent the theme of inhumanity against women in our society. After the death of Dedewes husband, she is accused of killing her husband. She is forced to confess to the sins of jealousy of the mistresses of her husband and adultery. Fayoyin is giving a libation to drink to cleanse her of all the sins she must have committed against her husband. After that, cold water is poured on her head to facilitate the clean shaving of her head. Her look is completely altered after the exercise. In the case of Radeke, she is asked to kneel before the dead body of her husband to sing the widows traditional song of innocence and lamentation. These women are made to choose new husbands after their purification rites. During Yaremis turn to pick a new husband, these women are around to encourage her to obey tradition.
USE OF FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS
The author’s generous use of figurative expressions is evident throughout the novel.
1. Metaphor
This is a figure of speech that equates two things that are not the same. Comparison is done without the use of “as” or “like”. In Lonely Days, the number game, for instance, has a lot of metaphors in it. Page 8 paragraph 3 reads: “Three is the dirty calabash on my mother’s wooden rack…”. See also paragraphs 4, 6, 7, and 8. You may also see paragraphs 1 to 6 of page 10. Another use of metaphoric expression is seen on page 9 paragraph 3 when Yaremi said “Work was music to us, Woye.” See also the last paragraph of Page 15 where the author directly compares life with fire by saying “Life is fire”. The slippery and narrow river road in Chapter 3 is equally metaphoric. It is directly described as the “Widows’ Road” on which widows thread with caution. The author’s description of a new wife on page 58 also contains a number of metaphors-“A new wife is a polished drum…”; she is a fresh lily…”
2. Simile
This is a figure of speech that compares two non-similar things by the use of “as” or “like”. The author uses simile to describe Yaremi’s loneliness- “Yaremi felt thoroughly abandoned, like a stone at the bottom of a lake” (page 3); “… the extended family’s mockery heaped on her like the strange showers of a January rain” (page 3). Uncle Deyo used simile in describing Alani’s long stay in the city- “You flew away, Alani, like a bird with no destination; like a stone-missile flung aimlessly to an unknown destination from the leather-strap of a catapult”. (page 135)
3. Personification
This is a figure of speech in which human attributes are given to inanimate objects. An example is seen on page 60 paragraph 1- “the moon peeped and vanished, to reappear playfully again among the woods, seducing onlookers’ souls with serene beauty…” 4. Hyperbole: An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally. It’s used for emphasis and comic effect. Ajumobi’s boastings in page 50 contain a lot of hyperbole.
5. Rhetorical Questions:
These are questions that do not require answers. Yaremi asked lots of rhetorical questions on page 69- “where are you now, Ajumobi?” is an example of a rhetorical question. Segi also asked rhetorical questions on pages 126 and 127 where she raised questions on remarriage.
IMPORTANT LITERARY DEVICES
Exposition:
Exposition is a literary device used to introduce background information about the characters, setting and events to the reader. In Lonely Days, the author explains the character of Ajumobi, the marital life of Ajumobi and Yaremi, and events leading up to the death of Ajumobi through Exposition. This exposition is presented through Yaremi’s thoughts, dialogues between Yaremi and Ajumobi as well as monologues.
Falling Action
The falling action in a work of literature is the sequence of events that follow the climax and end in the resolution. In Lonely Days the falling action occurs after Yaremi refused to pick a cap at the cap-picking ceremony: She suffered great resentment from the villagers because of her decision not to remarry. They also threatened to banish her from the village and confiscate her husband’s properties.
Rising Action
Rising action is what happens in a story leading up to the most exciting part of the story. In Lonely Days, the rising action occurs where Yaremi’s extended family planned to organise a cap picking ceremony to facilitate her remarriage and her co-widows (Fayoyin, Radeke and Dedewe) tried to persuade her to choose a husband at the cap-picking ceremony.
Climax
is the part of the story where the tension or action reaches its highest point. In Lonely Days, the climax occurs at the cap-picking ceremony when Yaremi refused to choose a suitor by picking a cap.
Resolution
Resolution is the part of the story’s plot line in which the problem of the story is resolved or worked out. It comes after the falling action and it is typically where the story ends. In Lonely Days, the resolution occurs when Yaremi resolved to remain in Kufi in spite of the village elders’ threat to confiscate her husband’s properties and banish her from the village.
Style
: The story is narrated with the typical eye of God point of view. The author took the position of an omniscient observer, telling us what each character was doing at every point in time and what the characters were thinking. Such third person pronouns are he, she they, her, him, his, and them are predominant. The story has fourteen chapters with every chapter unveiling a kind of progressive challenges that widows face after the death of their husbands.
Irony: This means saying one thing and meaning another. It is also an amusing or strange aspect of a situation that is very different from what you expect. It is ironical that men who accuse widows of killing their husbands would turn around to ask for the hands of the widows in marriage. One would expect the men to stay away from these widows who allegedly killed their husbands. It is equally ironical that Dedewe, Fayoyin, and Radeke who suffered humiliation and assault in the hands of men should turn around and encourage Yaremi to pick a new man to replace her dead husband.
Suspense: This device is used to keep readers uncertain of the outcome of an event in a story. A reader finds himself asking what will happen next? The story of Lonely Days seems unended. The reader is not told what happened after the elders rolled out punitive measures against Yaremi. Her husbands property is to be confiscated and she is to be sent into exile. The reader will want to know if these punishments were carried out and what became of Yaremi afterwards.