There is no great complexity of theme in Ajeemah and His Son; the novella is a study of character rather than an exploration of ideas. Ajeemah is about thirty-six years old when he is kidnaped. He has two wives and several children, and he loves them all. To keep his sanity through years of torment, he envisions himself talking to them and remembers how they made him happy or proud. As a father and as a man, he has developed the inner resources he needs in order to endure great adversity, but his son Atu has not had time to do the same. He is kidnaped just as his adult life is about to begin, and in his misery he can only think of what he has lost: the love of his life, Sisi, his prospects for an honorable adulthood, and his right to...