August 10, 2018
The Novelist
Born on the 12thof May 1934, Elechi Amadi was a Nigerian author raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He had many novels to his credit and like many classic novelists such as Chinua Achebe, his novels exposed readers to the traditional way of life in Nigeria. Elechi Amadi died on the 29th of June, 2016.
Overview of the Novel
The Concubine by Elechi Amadi is a novel that revolves around the subject of marriage and effects of immortal forces in the activities and fate of human beings.
Using Ihuoma as a tool for demonstrating such subject, the author revealed Ihuoma (the main character) as a lady who possessed all the necessary qualities to enjoy marital life but to the readers’ chagrin, a force beyond human control hampered her supposed sweet marital life; Ihumo had a spiritual husband.
The Theme of Supernatural
In the novel, The Concubine, Elechi Amadi boost the beauty of the novel with the theme of supernatural events. Notable is Ihuoma and the sea-king (believed to rule the sea) who never wanted her get married to any man in the physical realm because she was his wife in the spiritual realm.
The novel went further to narrate the consequences of her attempt to get married_ the sea-king was responsible for the death of characters such as Emenike, Madume, and Ekwueme.
The novel went further to narrate the consequences of her attempt to get married_ the sea-king was responsible for the death of characters such as Emenike, Madume, and Ekwueme.
The sea-king was so powerful that all sacrifices offered to divorce Ihuoma from him was so futile leading to the death of Ekwueme.
Enunwa Chukwudinma S.
aka samuedpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)
