Reading GuideforWHO FEARS DEATH
“Dear friends, are you afraid of death?”
—Patrice Lumumba, first and only elected
Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo
International award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor enters the world of magic realist literature with a powerful story of genocide in the far future and of the woman who reshapes her world. Below are a series of questions Nnedi wrote that explore and build on ideas in the novel. These great for teaching the novel in schools and simply for one's own personal understanding of the book.
1. In Who Fears Death, actual African traditions and spirituality are blended, oftentimes seamlessly, with the fantastical. In Nigerian culture, one can see masquerades dancing, joking, threatening at weddings, funerals, and on other special days. These creatures are spirits and ancestors come to mingle with the mortal world. The Great Mystic Points are derived from central Igbo (Nigerian) traditional beliefs. Consider the definitions of fantasy and spirituality. How does this affect your reading of Who Fears Death? Consider the genres of science fiction, fantasy, magical realism and literary fiction. Which of these does Who Fears Death touch on? Discuss how you’d categorize this novel and why.
2. In Who Fears Death, there are traditional villages and towns that also have advanced technology including computers, portable devices, capture stations, etc. In this world, the traditional and the modern are fluid and quite compatible. How does this reflect parts of Africa today? How does this complicate common stereotypes of Africa ?
3. In Who Fears Death, the Ada Ada
4. In many cultures, women view the clitoridectomy as a bonding experience. They share pain, fear, risk infection and heal together. Consider Onyesonwu’s friendship with Luyu, Binta and Diti. How did their clitoridectomys play a role in the creation of their friendship? How would Onyesonwu’s story have been different if she did not have a clitoridectomy? What does this say about life?
5. Consider Alice Walker’s book about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Warrior Marks. Does Who Fears Death’s approach of this topic differ from Walker
6.
“‘The raping of Darfuri women is not sporadic or random, but is inexorably linked to the systematic destruction of their communities,’ the report said. Victims are taunted with racial slurs such as ‘I will give you a light-skinned baby to take this land from you,’ according to one woman interviewed in the Touloum refugee camp in Chad, recalling the words of a Janjaweed militiaman who raped her.
From “Janjaweed Using Rape as ‘Integral’ Weapon in Darfur, Aid Group Says”, Washington Post Foreign Service, July 3, 2007
A large part of the violence in Darfur, Sudan (the United States has defined Darfur conflict as genocide) has been attributed to militias known as the Janjaweed. In Arabic, the word “Janjaweed” literally means, “A man with a gun on a horse”. In Who Fears Death, Daib and the men who rape the Okeke women Holding Conversation in the desert were modeled after these Janjaweed. The ethnic-cleansing in the West was modeled after the genocide in the Sudan . How is the novel using a future setting to address these devastating problems of the present?
7. Onyesonwu’s biological father is a rapist and the main instigator of the last push to completely annihilate the Okeke from the West. As a child he was taught by the mysterious sorcerer Sola and raised by a mother who was one of the few Nuru who took the chance to help Okeke escape slavery. What does Daib’s character say about the nature of good and evil and the idea of “nature vs nurture”?
8. Onyesonwu never gives up on becoming a sorceress. She tries asking, having others ask for her, begging, pleading, using persistence and finally using force. What was her main driving ambition?
9. Consider the bits of history and storytelling in the novel that give glimpses of the distant past. Who are the Okeke really descendants of? The storyteller says that the goddess Ani pulled the sun to the land and from this sun she plucked the Nuru people. What could this “sun” represent? What part of the origin tale of the Okeke and Nuru in the Great Book is story and what part is actual history?
10. Discuss the role of friendship in Onyesonwu’s journey.
11. Discuss the role of mentorship in Onyesonwu’s path to becoming a sorceress.
12. Compare and contrast the relationships between Onyesonwu and Diti to their lovers Mwita and Fanasi. How have their upbringings contributed to these relationships?
13. Just after Binta’s death, Onyesonwu retells the story of Zoubeir the Great. How does her angry retelling differ from the likely original version of the story? Why does she tell this story?
14. In the Igbo language (the Igbo are a Nigerian ethnic group), the word ifunanya is used to denote love. A more literal translation of the word is “to look into one’s eyes” or “I’m seeing you with great affection.” Like most Igbo expressions, it is more an idiomatic expression of love, thus it cannot be translated literally into a Western perspective. In the traditional context, long ago, romantic love grew on a couple, and was not necessarily the initial reasonfor the coupling. In Who Fears Death,this word takes on a more magical meaning. It is a word spoken only once in a man’s life (or a barren woman’s) to the one that is his (or her) true spiritual companion. Discuss the relationship of Onyesonwu and Mwita and the significance of ifunanya.
15. Onyesonwu’s being female, a sorceress, pregnant and overcome with emotion causes an entire town of men to die. Was Aro right to discriminate against the training of a young woman as sorcerers? Explain your answer.
16. In the West, the Nuru are inflicting genocide on the Okeke people. However, as with all evil things, the issue is complicated. Mwita’s journey is a perfect example of this. His parents were in love when they made him. He was raised by loving Nurus who were murdered by angry Okeke fighting for their freedom. He was forced to be a child soldier by Okeke, the very people who were being exterminated. As a child soldier, he witnessed rape and murder amongst the Okeke. Consider the genocide in the Sudan which is based on history, religion, land dispute, ethnicity (real and imagined) and skin tone. How are things there more complicated than they seem?
17. Mwita is a healer and he weaves when he is nervous. Onyesonwu is the one prophesied, not a man. Onyesonwu’s adoptive father is the one who raises her and it is her biological father who tries to kill her. For years, Aro rejects Onyesonwu because she is female. Mwita harbors resentment because it is Onyesonwu’s destiny to rewrite the Great Book, not his. Mwita is allowed a certain freedom because he is ewu and male, whereas Onyesonwu is hindered by being ewu and female. Comment on the roles of men and women in the novel.
18. In Who Fears Death, the written word and language are very powerful. Onyesonwu “rewrites” the Great Book. There are two moments when Onyesonwu speaks special words and great harm is done. The mysterious House of Osugbo is engraved with Nsibidi (a magical script), as is Daib’s office building. It is a mere word that Daib uses to nearly kill Onyesonwu and it is a word that Mwita uses to cripple Daib forever. Onyesonwu’s oral telling is transformed into written words by the documenter. Discuss the various ways that words drive Onyesonwu’s story.