A REVIEW OF NGOZI EBUBEDIKE’S ‘BROKEN’- By ABDULWAHEED OLANIYI

Life is full of challenges. Life is full of happiness. It is like ocean where everyone swims. It takes much courage to avail the ordeal of the waves of the ocean of life, such wave is like the predicament that one faces in the world. The knot in one’s life requires patience. Perhaps one is not fortunate to get assistance, patience is the only key to success in life especially during difficult time. In such situation, children and women are always vulnerable, people take advantage of them while looking for a swift solution to their quandary in life. If patience is not applied, another problem may come in and one will not have choice than to accept the fate, either good or bad. This is why Ngozi Ebubedike, in her novel, encourages youths, especially the vulnerable ones, to remain patient and stay with God during hard time. 

Sometime in life, if predicament showers like morning dew in one life, one may be so desperate to embark on another life journey that will lead to one’s chagrin. ‘Broken,’ a novel that contains a partial true life story and fiction, centres on the life of a character called Calista. Calista who is the main character in the novel, is unfortunate to be borne to a poverty stricken family. She grows up with her parents in the village. The main occupation of her parents is farming, an occupation that Calista detests with passion. Her hatred for farming often results to misunderstanding between her and her parent. Consequently, she was reprimanded, after engaging in war of words with her mother, the day she refuses to follow her to farm to uproot cassava.  She wishes to live a city life. She then leaves her parents’ home in the village. She heads to Owerri to begin a new ‘independent’ life. Arriving at the motor park in Owerri, no more bearing for the ‘innocent-stubborn’ lady. She then stays there till evening, expecting a good Samaritan to rescue her. Fortunately, one of the drivers in the garage, where she buries her head, Sunday, sees her and take her home to avoid being raped.

Calista spends the night in Sunday’s one room apartment together with him. Sunday promises to help her, tells her that she should see herself as his sister. Thus, Sunday’s words shower hope in her life. After living together for a month, Sunday begins to take advantage of her and she perseveres the ordeal because she believes that no other home for her in Owerri. Besides, Sundays is the one feeding her and people believe that she is Sunday’s sister. After few months, she becomes pregnant but Sunday refuses to be the father of the fetus. Although Calista does not agree initially, she aborts the fetus as advised by Sunday. While in the hospital for the abortion, Sunday has packed all her belongings outside his home and flees. Calista is shocked to see this when she gets home.  While blood is still coming from her, as a result of the abortion, she sleeps outside for some days to confirm whether Sunday has fled or truly travelled to see is ailing mother in the village. Although she eventually sees him, he refuses to admit her into his room. However, he gives her some money to take her to Lagos as she requests. Calista also heads to Lagos to begins a new life.

Getting to Lagos, Calista goes straight to her sister’s house, perhaps to save herself from another unforeseen predicament, but she does not welcome her. Her sister rebukes her because of her past sins against their parents. Eventually, she ends up living on the street. She begins her street life in Lagos with a petty trade as a source of income. This goes on for a while until some gangsters robbed and raped her while sleeping under the bridge in the night. While she was being raped, there was no one to rescue her, no one to sympathise with her. She was neglected at the time of ugly incidence because everyone fears the hoodlums at Ijora where she was raped and robbed. To sympathise with her, Kate, a lady who also lives on the street comes to her the following day. Kate then introduces the pauper into prostitution.

 Calista welcomes prostitution business in her life wholeheartedly. She looses her shame until the time when she coincidentally meet her primary school mate, Chioma. Chioma who does not know her initially until she narrates the story of her life, introduces her into a new life of Christianity. After serious efforts by Chioma with the support of her husband, Calista becomes a good Christian and preaches same to her friends who still remain in the prostitution.

The author performs excellently in term of the use of language in the novel. The novel, ‘Broken,’ is written in a simple language, accessible to a common man on the street. The author uses the language to differentiate the characters, the one who is educated and illiterate. While the educated ones speaks English fluently, the uneducated ones speak ‘pidgen' English.

However the author does not maintain gender balance as she creates pity for one sex, female, while the other, male, is seen as the one that creates problems for the former. For instance, Calista's father is seen as a man who is not responsible in the family. Then Sunday who is supposes to be her saviour ends up compounding her problem. Consequently, Chioma is given a good role to be a saviour while her husband is only supportive. Is this the true reflection of reality?

‘Broken' is a didactic novel that everyone has to read especially the youth. It shows that life is full of challenge and patience is the tool to encounter any challenge in life. For instance, if Calista had remained patient with her parents, in the village, she might not have encountered such predicaments she has in life. This book is on Amazon, bookshops.