Under the Udala Trees
Under
the Udala Trees is a novel by Nigerian-American
author Chinelo Okparanta
written in 2015. It is set in 1960s Nigeria and follows the story of Ijeoma, a girl growing up in
war-torn Nigeria who must come terms to term with her sexuality and the
conflict this presents in society.
The
novel is told in a first person narrative from the protagonist's viewpoint, namely Ijeoma, and as such, the story is told
with her voice and perspective.
Okparanta's
mother had watched her father die in the same way during the Nigerian Civil War
that the novels protagonist sees her father die, linking with how Okparanta's
own real life experience has informed her in the context of writing the novel.
The
novel is Okparanta's first, following her short stories collection Happiness,
Like Water (2013), and has received generally positive reception since its
publication in 2015. In 2016, as part of the Annual Lambda Literary Awards, the
novel won an award for "Best Lesbian Fiction".
Plot
The
novel opens in 1960's Nigeria, following the tale of Ijeoma, a young girl who
lives in a small town called Ojoto with her mother, Adaora and father, Uzo, in
the middle of the Nigerian Civil War.
Following
an air raid at the start of the novel, Ijeoma and her mother Adaora escape
unharmed but her father is killed. This leaves Ijeoma under Adaora's care. The
death of Uzo has a profound effect on Adaora's mental health, sending her into
a trance-like state. Eventually, Adaora soon decides to send Ijeoma away to the
far away town of Nwewi, to live with family friends, under the idea that it's
safer and the right thing to do although Ijeoma is reluctant to move due to the
strong bond she has to her mother as well her young age.
Ijeoma
is taken in by a School Teacher, where she soon meets Amina, who becomes the
object of her affection. The illicitness of the relationship and hesitation
stemming from homophobic views from society puts strain on their relationship.
Adaora, through frequently visiting Ijeoma, slowly begins to realise the
affection that Ijeoma and Amina have for each other and expresses utter
disapproval, quoting the bible and making Ijeoma swear allegiance to God and ultimately,
to end the relationship and stop having 'wrong' feelings for each other.
Eventually, Ijeoma is sent back to Ojoto to live with Adaora again while Amina
remains with the school teacher. Ijeoma's relationship with Amina slowly
fizzles out thereafter.
Back
home in Ojoto, Adaora makes it her goal to turn Ijeoma straight and preach
(from the Bible) that homosexuality is wrong and that she must change (become
straight) to make it right. Adaora preaches that no lesbian relationship is
right and that Ijeoma will feel the full force of God's wrath if she doesn't
change her ways and end this lifestyle. Ijeoma is initially resistant to the
strong influence exerted by her mother but eventually succumbs to the power of
the Bible and tries to change and become straight.
Having
succumbed to the bible preaching, Ijeoma then takes a new, heteronormative
outlook on life and is determined to become straight, marry a man, with the
objective to appear 'normal' in Nigerian society. She however eventually meets
another female, Ndidi, whom she falls in love with. Adaora eventually realises
the affection between the two and once again repeatedly bellows her disapproval
and objection to her daughters love for Ndidi. Ijeoma soon afterwards finds a
man named Chibundu, and ultimately in order make her mother happy and fit in
with heteronormative standards, she marries him. Not too long afterwards, the
two eventually have a child together.
Ijeoma's
marriage and relationship altogether with Chibundu eventually takes a turn for
the worse when he finds some love letters Ijeoma had intended to send to Ndidi,
and confronts her over this. The two end up fighting, Ijeoma eventually
realises, through critically reinterpreting the very Bible that Adaora has used
to preach homophobia, that if God truly loves everyone, then that includes
members of the LGBT community such as herself as well. Ijeoma then decides to
leave the marriage with a man she ultimately never loved or was attracted to.
The novel ends on a hopeful and more positive note, with Adaora also being able
to critically reinterpret the very same Bible that preached homosexuality was
wrong, and ultimately concludes that God accepts Ijeoma for who she is, ending
the tension that plagued the mother-daughter relationship throughout the novel.
Characters
Ijeoma: The young female protagonist of the novel and the voice of
the first person narrative. She is sent away from her mother early in the novel
to live in Nwewi with a grammar teacher which is reportedly safer for her.
Ijeoma is lesbian and must come to terms with her sexuality in a homophobic
society. While growing up as a young girl, she falls in love and enters two
separate relationships with two other female characters in the novel, Amina and
Ndidi, neither of which last as Ijeoma eventually succumbs to fierce backlash
from her mother. She reluctantly marries a man later in the novel, Chibundu,
and has a child with him to comply with heteronormativity. Ijeoma eventually
divorces Chibundu after growing tired of living in a marriage with a man she
genuinely doesn't love while Chibundu disapproves of Ijeoma's previous
affection towards Ndidi when it comes to light, and Ijeoma subsequently then
moves back in with Adaora.
Adaora: Ijeoma's mother. Shortly after her husband, Uzo, dies, she
falls into a trance of following the Bible and its messages, which influences
how she raises Ijeoma. Adaora preaching disapproval of Ijeoma's homosexuality
and associated relationships with other females is her wanting to do what's
'right' for her daughter in terms of society, rather than attempting to be
outright homophobic. Adaora becomes Chidinma's grandmother when she is born,
and by the end of the novel, eventually accepts that Ijeoma's homosexuality is
not able to be changed.
Uzo: Ijeoma's father. Killed in an airstrike at the start of
the novel, an event which has mental health consequences for Adaora and pushes
her to resort to the Bible for solace, a move which affects how she treats
Ijeoma for the rest of the novel. Uzo's critical thinking skills displayed at
the start of the novel, which Ijeoma herself inherits, and are vital for her to
be able to critically reinterpret the bible herself and use this to eventually
shut down the bible's oppressive power.
Amina: A young girl who is Ijeoma's first love interest in the
novel. Like Ijeoma, Amina has also been impacted by the war and has been
separated from her family and soon lives with Ijeoma and the School teacher.
Amina and Ijeoma's romantic and sexual relationship eventually falls apart from
other authoritarian characters' (such as Adaora and the School Teacher's)
disapproval and shaming upon finding out about the relationship.
The
School Teacher: An elementary School teacher who
takes in Ijeoma after Adaora sends her away to Nwewi. He eventually also takes
in Amina after persuasion from Ijeoma.
Ndidi: Another teacher that Ijeoma falls in love with and starts a
romantic and sexual relationship with, but as with Amina, it eventually
crumbles when Adaora finds out and relentlessly oppresses her daughter into
ending the relationship.
Chibundu: A young man that Ijeoma marries in order to comply with
heteronormativity. Although Ijeoma lacks physical attraction to him, the two
get along well enough to eventually have a child together, Chidinma. Ijeoma's
relationship with Chibundu turns sour when he discovers, through unsent
letters, her previous affection for Ndidi and becomes hostile. Ijeoma then
eventually grows tired of a marriage with a man she doesn't love and divorces
him.
Chidinma: Ijeoma's daughter, who is born late in the novel during her
marriage with Chibundu. When Ijeoma ends her marriage and relationship with
Chibundu, she takes Chidinma with her when she goes back to live with Adaora.
Themes
The
novel draws on several themes relating to war, family, mother-daughter
relationships, homosexuality,
religion and Bildungsroman.
Okparanta,
in the context of writing this novel, has described herself as "a champion
for love", linking with the novels focus on homosexuality and drawing
attention to the associated same-sex relationships within.
Okparanta
has also made important reference to the theme of women, describing the novel
as very "women oriented". She further reiterates the significance of
Ijeoma and Adaora's mother-daughter relationship in the novel stating that
"That family, that mother and daughter, will always be mother and daughter
and will have to find a way even if forever they are fighting. They will find a
way to coexist.”, the latter sentence in the quote making reference to Adaora
eventually accepting Ijeoma's sexuality and that it cannot be altered.
Religion
has also been seen to be an important theme in the novel in regards to the
bible specifically being a catalyst behind the Nigerian gay community's plight,
with another critic noting "A narrow reading of the Bible, she [Okparanta]
suggests, is partly to blame for Nigeria's vicious treatment of the gay
community."
Other
critics have noted the importance of Bildungsroman, namely, the focus of the
psychological and moral growth of the main character, Ijeoma's, psychological
and moral growth in accepting herself and her homosexual identity in a hostile
society. Courtois remarks in regards to Bildungsroman how being a woman would
also contribute to her journey of self discovery and growing up, noting that
"Ijeoma becomes aware of the limitations to her self-construction that society
imposes on her because she is a woman.".
Critical Reception
Critical
Reception for Under the Udala Trees has been generally positive, praising the
structure of the prose, writing style and discussion of themes while more
negative criticism has been directed from some readers at not being able to
sympathise with the plight of the LGBT characters in the Nigerian context.
Wisner
(2015) has described the novel as exceeding his expectations, in that it
"quietly undermines the readers expectations". Wisner (2015), in the
context of the political themes within the literature, also praised the novel
for reading naturally like a story, "unlike others, Under the Udala Trees
never reads like a position paper or protest speech" (2015). Osinubi
(2018) meanwhile, makes note of both the significance of Opkaranta's first
published novel as well as the themes that are addressed within, in that it
"makes critical interventions in literary history".
Geary
has meanwhile praised the novels use of intersectionality, remarking that "her intentions of not narrowing the
focus to just a lesbian story shine through". Geary furthermore praised
the novels 'scene-painting' and ability to communicate cultural context to a
Western audience, remarking that "American readers would not have a
backlog of information about the landscape of Nigeria - geographical or
political - but Okparanta makes it accessible to non-Nigerian readers."
However,
negative reception, in the context of a Western audience, found it hard to
understand the plight of the LGBT characters in Nigeria. Okparanta noted
negative reception towards her novel primarily revolved around some Western
readers being oblivious to the anti-LGBT climate in Nigeria, with criticism
such as "we've moved on from that - LGBTQ people don't struggle here
(America) with that anymore" as well as "Africa and Nigeria are so
behind. Here, people can marry now,”.
References
· · Gilette, Courtney
(2015). "Chinelo
Okparanta: On Her New Novel 'Under The Udala Trees' and Being a Champion of
Love". Lambda Literary Review. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 19 February
2020.
· · Lombardi, Bernie
(2018). ""Where Paradise Will Hopefully One Day Be": An
Interview About Sexuality, Home and Diaspora With Chinelo
Okparanta"". The Black Scholar. 48 (3): 17–26. doi:10.1080/00064246.2018.1475837.
· · Popescu, Lucy
(2016). "'Under the Udala Trees', by Chinelo Okparanta". The
Financial Times. ProQuest 1768493509.
· · Courtois, Cedric
(2018). ""Thou
shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: It is abomination!": Lesbian
(body-) 'Bildung' in Chinelo Okparanta's 'under the Udala trees' (2015)
[online]". Commonwealth Essays and Studies. 40:
119–133. doi:10.4000/ces.302 – via Informit.
· · Wisner, Geoff
(2015). "'Under
the Udala Trees' examines the potential for cruelty in ordinary life". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February
2020.
· · Osinubi, Taiwo
Adetunji (2018). "The
Promise of Lesbians in African Literary History". Johns Hopkins University Press – via Project MUSE.
·
Geary, Shannon (2016). "'Under the Udala Trees' is an
Intersectional Triumph". University Wire. ProQuest 1765708832
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