History

The novel is frequently critical of the past and present effects of this history, in which foreign influences often dismantled traditional Nigerian socioeconomic structures. For example, early in the novel, the chi speaks in narration about how European capitalist structures have caused much wealth disparity in both Europe and Africa. The chi states in narration that “In the time of the old fathers only the lazy, indolent, infirm, or accursed lacked [resources]” (27). However, the imposition of capitalist structures created poverty on a much larger scale. Thus, early in the novel, the narration establishes critiques of capitalism, colonialism, and neocolonialism that operate both within the main narrative and in the thematic background of the central story.

When the novel revisits these ideas around the midpoint of the story, it adds some nuance by examining subtler elements of the history of colonialism; the narration specifically acknowledges how colonialists...