Buchi Emechetas Ona :: essays papers

Buchi Emechetas Ona Ona is as Much a Love Story as it is a Tale of Ritualized Beliefs and heathen Behavior Patterns often stories in a particular culture take into account, and capitalize on symbols of that particular culture for thematic effectiveness. Many indigenous stories so contain generalized patterns of beliefs that serve as the backdrop which enables readers to relate to the stories and the content thereof. Buchi Emechetas Ona is a powerful love story that centers around ritualized beliefs and cultural behavior patterns of iodine African tribe. The story is legendary in nature, alluding to its cultural import. It is about Abagdi, a very wealthy local chief, who is love with Ona, one of his mistresses. Agbadi is head over heals for Ona scorn the fact that he has many wives. Agbadi is particularly crazy about Ona because, unlike the other women, she is not submissive as she was the daughter chief Obi Umunna. The cultural theme in the story is that man enjoys hunting, taming and conquering even in matters of love Agbadi finds a special thrill in trying to win the obstinate love of Ona. Ona is a woman ahead of her time, unwilling to be controlled, even by the strong and powerful Agbadi, not solo because of her individual desires, but because of her celebrate for the cultural norms of her society. From the onset of the story we learn that Agbadi proposes marriage to Ona. Since Onas father, Chief Obi Umunna, had no sons, he raised Ona to be very assertive and assume what is considered young traits. Thus, like a man, her father raised her never to stoop to any man. Does this mean that women and men are not considered equals in this society? Evidently, it seems the only reason Ona was thought not to stoop to any man was because she was raised essentially to behave like a man. Men and women are therefore not considered as equals in this culture. Nevertheless, Chief Umunna maintains that Ona was free to have men, however, and if she bore a son, he would take her fathers name thereby rectifying the omission that nature had made. 2 important deductions can be made here first that men are free to be promiscuous (she is free to have men) and that having a son child asserts a mans manhood.