History a story about a young woman, Ihoma, who belongs to the Nigeria ethnic group. Her bright was involved in her past life when she was called the wife of the mythical deity of the sea king. This gives her great status in the present, but foreshadows the death of any mortal man who wants to marry her. As the novel progresses, Ihuoma wed and widowed three times, as a result of the wrath of the Sea King to those who usurp his bride. Although it seems like a traditional warning tale on the surface, Dictionary of Literary Biography the essay that "power Concubine relies on the fact that this is not folklore, but realistic fiction, despite the strong penetration of the supernatural.
Since his first appearance as a writer, with Concubine In 1966, Elechi Amadi established himself as a unique figure in African fiction. He was not alone, trying to convey the daily texture of traditional pre-colonial life in an African village: Chinua Achebe Everything falls apart already done it, at least to some extent. But he distinguished himself by not offering obvious contradictions between this traditional world and those who replaced him. While Everything falls apart and many other African novels are associated, at least with the arrival of the white man and the effect of this event, the novels of Amadi never emphasized the influence of others in general. The action of any of his three novels could have occurred five or a century before the colonial invasion of the area. In the same way, the dilemmas that oppose and finally destroy his heroes or heroines flow entirely from the beliefs, practices and events of their local culture.
In the novel Ihuoma, whose beauty squeezes all men and women in the village of Omokachi and Omigwe, supports rational behavior, intellect and social decency. her good reputation spans three villages, including Chiolu. As a woman, she is a model of perfect beauty, as the narrator tells, telling that she was a beautiful woman: sometimes she got married so early ... She was young; it was easy to determine her age. The complexion of Ihuoma was the complexion of an anthill. Her features were smoothly rounded ... Ihuoma’s smiles were disarmed. Perhaps the narrow gap in the top row of her white teeth did the trick. At that time, the gap in the teeth was fashionable. The gap in Ihuoma was natural, and other women were jealous of her. Her beauty is the scale of all women who want to be considered beautiful. Everyone is jealous of her. Everyone loves to be her. Further, in truth, she wanted to look at herself. That she was beautiful, she had no doubt, but that did not make her arrogant. She was sympathetic, gentle and restrained. It was her husband, who was proud that in the six years of her marriage she had never had a serious quarrel with another woman. She was not good at temptations, and other women spoke much faster than she. The fact that she will be surpassed in a verbal exchange, despite the fact that she partially retrained her, so that she would not open a verbal conflict with her neighbors. Gradually, she acquired the ability to carry complaints of neighbors without reparation. Thus, her prestige among women grew until even the most talkative among them was an assistant to be unpleasant for her. She found quarrels settling and offering advice to older women.
For villagers, these characteristics of Ihuoma place it on a pedestal of a tribal and community center of exemplary femininity and motherhood. Needless to say, all men in the village desire it. Most of the men were jealous of their husband, Emenike, who married her at the age of twenty-two. The couple behaves like an ideal family blessed by gods with four children. With a great sense of balance, they have two sons and two daughters whom they really love.
The concept of beauty and strength for men is measured by his features and appearance, his strength in the fight, his strength in hunting, his willingness to go to battle with their matches, always ready to protect the village from enemies and his ability to support and educate his wife, wives and children. Physical deformities, incapacity, or abnormalities are considered ugly. The man who can not win the wrestling match, turned black and became weak. The village has a strong patriarchal system, as husbands control and dominate the house. Their wives are subordinate and unshakable in meeting their needs.
Emenike's first husband, Ihuoma, praised and loved the elders of the tribe. They consider him the perfect young man. He was handsome and well-shaped, loved by girls. He was just an average wrestler, but he was lucky that he threw people impressively, that the audience always remembered for a long time. He won the trust of old men, and they always allowed him to carry out orders that required reconnaissance and intensive use of proverbs.
On the contrary, Madum, although considered a successful man at the age of the early thirties, was not considered strong. He was not a good fighter (although he danced well to the rhythm of the drums), and he liked a lot of young people.
Maduma had one mistake that most residents did not like. He was a "big eye"; that is, he was never satisfied with his share in everything that was good. He roars until he has something more than his fellow actions. Therefore, he always quarreled on the ground, palm wine trees, plantains and the like. So he quarreled with Emenike.
Ekwueme, Ihomaa - the most patient groom, is also considered the handsome, hardworking and respectful of his parents, Adak and Igwe.
On the other hand, his best friend and performer of songs in many village activities, such as wrestling, death of a village member, market day, landing, worship of spirits and or gods, is considered abnormal due to his deformed legs,
One of the most complex cultural traditions used in the novel is the custom of marriage. John Mbiti in the book African religions and philosophy says marriage is difficult with economic and religious aspects, which often overlap so firmly that they cannot be separated from each other ... For Africans, marriage is the center of existence. This is the place where all members of this community meet: departed, alive and unborn. Marriage is a duty, a demand ... the one who does not participate in it is a curse for the community, he is a rebel and a lawbreaker, he is not only abnormal, but also “underhuman”. Non-observance of marriage under normal circumstances means that the person concerned rejected society, and society rejects him in return.
Thus, in the fairy tale, we see how parents are very concerned about the marriage of their children. They openly discuss early or concerted marriage, like what happened with Equoeum and Achurol. Even if Avrol is still in the womb, she has already approached Equume. And when the time comes, the parents of this man should inform the woman’s parents about the formal conversation about marriage. A year is given for the official conversation with the first visit to the family of the person bringing gifts and wine for the girl's family. Subsequent visits will include elders to bargain for the price of the bride or dowry. When the guide can reach an agreement, you can set the date for the last day, which is manifested and celebrated with colorful dances and nights of drinking. This custom is carried out to make friends with the friendship between the family of the newlyweds and the villagers.
He said that his parents chose Akhurole as soon as she was born. By the time he could hardly pull the bow. He really had no choice. Ekwe told Ihuoma. In the following days, negotiations were held about the wedding of Equa. Ahurol was associated with Ekwe when she was eight days old, and Ekwe was about five years old.
Mbiti says marriage is a lengthy process, the key points of which can be marked by rituals. When a child is born physically, he must also be born ritually or religiously to make him a social member of the family. At a later age, he undergoes a series of initiation rites ... Only after initiation, where it is observed, a person is socially and religiously born in full masculinity and femininity with all the secrets, duties, privileges and expectations. The whole community is involved.
There are many customs and wedding procedures. In some societies, the ceremony lasts many days and is indeed full of rituals.
And so the parents Achurolla just proud of their daughter. For many years they have been especially careful and alert to her. It is time for formal negotiations. Negotiations could well have begun two years ago, but Vagbara said that he was not in a hurry, which implies two things: firstly, he was not too keen on the price of his daughter's bride, which meant that he was healthy; secondly, that he was confident of his good influence on his daughter.
The following days were full of wine and gifts. Until the uncle of Akhurol becomes the conductor. After six months, the price of the bride was agreed. The whole family was happy and hurried to bring Akhurola home to the village of Ekwe. It is their fear that Ekwe may insist on entering into marriage with Ihuoma. These are parents. the duty to lead your children for a proper marriage. And Ekwe, belonging to the marriage of Ahurol, followed the advice of his parents, because he never wanted his parents to have problems with the villagers, and he never wanted to be ostracized, defying tradition, even if his heart goes to Ihim.
Ekwe is struggling to do his job in marriage, but Arurol is immature and emotional, much to the disappointment. His desire for Ihoma is increasing, as it points to his legitimate wife.
Another custom that is very complex is the observation and superstition of the death of a family member and community. When the first and lawful husband of Ihuoma Emenike died because of the lock chest, the village of Vigme mourned for eight days for his demise and weeping of Yohumi. People took great care of their neighbors. Many songs were performed, and the wines were glorified while awake, until he was buried in his rich complex, preferably in the backyard. It is believed that his spirit will guide his property and his family.
His main enemy, the greedy Madema, who claims that part of the land settled by the elders will be Emenike, continues to impose ownership. This materialism Madume leads to his death, as one day, wanting Ihuoma, catches her harvesting bananas in the controversial land. He succeeds and abuses Ihuoma. The widow runs after her life until his brother-in-law, Nnnandi, comes to the rescue. People run after Madum, until they catch him and spit out the poison of the cobra. His life changed after the incident, because it brings him swollen eyes, and he becomes blind. His wife Wole escapes from her husband's cruel behavior. Upon returning Madum hangs in the doorway. The whole village could not believe the insanity of Madum’s suicide. His body is considered unclean. No ordinary man or woman can touch his body, because his body is filthy. The medical man is obliged to carry out the burial, because he can clean himself. The body of Maduma rushes into the forest with the spirits of the top.
The last and tragic death of the last fiance Ihoma, Equume is the most dramatic. The night before their hardworking relationship, which the village at the beginning disappoints, turns out to be the grim and significant death of Eku. Agvoturumbe, a medic who will offer sacrifices for his marriage, prepares all herbs, animals and amulets so that they can go to the river to meet the Sea King. The next day, when Ekvu is preparing for himself, he was shot by a shot from the thorny arrow of the son Ihuoma. The arrow is intended for the lizard required for the sacrifice. Death is finally established, because the wrath of the spirit of the sea goes against the fate of Ekwe, even his parents hired the services of a medic, Agvoturumba.
People value their lives, their love and their fear of the spirits of their ancestors and their gods. Every part of the land is ruled by a god. The inhabitants of the village are often mentioned and afraid - the god of thunder, Amadioch and Ojukvu, the god of air and forest, Ani, the god of the earth. Each person is guided by his personal spirit, and each must follow. No one can go against the spirit, but the spirit can go against a person, like what happened in the struggle between Emenike and Madum.
Polytheism — the worship of many gods — was characteristic of the pre-colonial Igbo society. However, this did not exclude faith in the supreme deity. Once close to people, the supreme entity, Chukwu, was believed to have moved away from direct intervention in their affairs.
Mythology Igbo repeats examples illustrating the fact that this higher being was used close to people and was actually used to interfere in the affairs of individuals and communities, until it was alarmed by the aberrant behavior of some people, especially women who violated one redefinition code or another ... From all the messages it is clear that the supreme being, who decided to refuse to interfere in the daily activities of people, decided to impose some of His powers on creatures with a smaller locale izovannoy power.
There was no equivalent of Satan, or the devil, in the precolonial faith. Although Igbo attributed one evil or other to different deities in the pantheon, not one spirit was considered the embodiment of all evil. Similarly, pre-colonial faith did not include the concept of hell.
Traditional Igbos, apparently, most often engaged in their own guardian spirit. The supreme being is nominally supposed to be responsible for everything. However, at the individual level, chi, which is often interpreted as a guardian angel or personal spiritual guardian of each person, seems to play a more active role in the affairs of any person. Faith was that the man had a direct hand in his affairs. For the ideas of fate and free will are associated with chi. “Every man,” Igbo taught, “has a destiny attributed to his life,” and his personal God controls his fate.
The practice of medicine is accepted as holy, healthy and healing. A medical person can pray for gods on behalf of a nation; he acts like a village doctor, he acts like a prophet who can see the future. Both Anika and Agvoturumba see the death of Equhoema. Both are afraid of the sea king, who legally owns the sea goddess Ihuoma, who has chosen a man. Here the man of medicine is as great as the needs of the people.
The core of all his works is the concept of life as a continuous struggle. There is a rather ironic contradiction between the philosophy of Amadi about the irrelevance of man and absolute impotence in the hands of the gods and that his characters fight to the end, regardless of obstacles and threats, even because of the gods, as shown in "Concubine". Although Amadi never indicates that the characters in the novel are “Igbo” (or For), they are provided by critics belonging to the Igbo society. The Ibbos earthquake mainly in southeastern Nigeria. Amadi’s fictional term for them is “Erekvi”; a small shuffle of letters creates an “Ikwere”, an ethnic group to which Amadi himself belongs. Ikwere is spoken in a separate language in the Igbo language word, and they are river people, which helps explain the appearance in their pantheon of the deity of the sea king, which is included in the story "Concubines".
Traditional Igbo lived in small self-governing villages, each of which consisted of relatives who traced their origins to a mutual ancestor. They did not base their society on a centralized government or a higher political power, such as a king or head. Rather, Igbo is empowered by the people themselves or by the council of elders. These elders, based on the wisdom of their ancestors, settled land disputes and other fragmented or contractual matters. There were also public forums in which poor, rich and young were made, as well as old voices before decisions affecting the whole village.
In the novel, the village of Omokachi closely matches this model. He has no single leader; instead, the villagers themselves manage their community, paying special attention to the court of elders. At some point, the protagonist Ihuoma reminds her greedy neighbor Maduma that the land dispute between him and her late husband, Emenike, was resolved in favor of Emenike by the village elders. In another joke, the internal disputes of the unfortunate spouses Equuema and Akhurole are resolved by the elders of Omokachi and the home village of Ahurole Omigwe. The proverb, if someone tries to run in front of one hee, a person will pretend to death, hinting at the power of fate; in order to succeed, goals for themselves must be consistent with the goals of one of them. Other proverbs refer to free will, and collectively, two types of proverbs (by fate and free will) reflect the ambiguity in Igbo thought. The belief was that everyone had hidden powers granted by his or her chei. Man had to use these forces to achieve achievements in life. Другими словами, можно повлиять на собственную судьбу, или, как говорится в пословице, «если человек захочет, его личная воля тоже».
Человек и его чи не считались постоянно связанными друг с другом. Есть области жизни, в которых нужно бороться за то, чтобы что-то добиться самим собой, с активной поддержкой и сотрудничествоми с одной или без нее. Однако считалось, что человек всегда должен быть в хороших отношениях со своим чи, так что, когда он будет вызван, он придет к его поддержке. Когда кто-то не смог мобилизовать свой ци, чтобы поддержать конкретное начинание, обычно говорили, что дух - это сон или прочь.
