Say You’re One of Them
Uwem Akpan
Reviewed by Lee L. Peoples
Say You’re One of Them is a collection of five short stories by Nigerian author Uwem Akpan. This is his first book. It was chosen by Oprah in September as her book club selection. These stories are set during very difficult times in Africa, most of them during times of ethnic cleansing, and are told—although not always narrated by them—with a focus on children, the oldest of whom is sixteen.
The first short story, “An Ex-mas Feast,” is the very depressing story of a twelve-year-old girl supporting her parents and her many siblings by prostituting herself. She is the only hope for her eight-year-old brother—the narrator—to attend school, saving for his tuition and uniform, so that he can one day be his family’s savior. After making school possible for him, she leaves home for good, to the utter disappointment of her brother. Their ten-year-old sister, however, looks forward to continuing in her older sister’s occupation. It is quite depressing to witness what some people must do in order to survive.
The second story, “Fattening for Gabon,” tells the story of an uncle who has “rescued” his five-year-old niece and his ten-year-old nephew, the youngest of his brother and sister-in-law’s five children, when they are hopelessly ill because of AIDS. A border patrol worker, he “fattens” up the two for sale into slavery across the border, receiving in payment, a new motorcycle. They’re so poor that now that they have got the motorcycle, the children think they are rich. And being rich creates its own problems; their motorcycle is always in danger of being stolen.
I know a little French, but too much French is interspersed here, slowing down the pace and hindering my comprehension. I try to figure out what is being said, but I am not always successful. I wonder how readers with no knowledge of French at all handled this. Besides, the African dialect is also often mixed in. The three languages─of course, the story is in English─make comprehension difficult, yet the tragic culmination of the plot is quite clear. Even though the uncle has second thoughts about the sale and tries to escape with his niece and nephew, he is caught; and the children are taken. The motorcycle he received in payment is destroyed.
The friendship between two six-year-old Ethiopian girls is threatened because of religious differences in “What Language Is That?” the third short story. Forbidden to see each other when tensions erupt between Christians and Muslims, they find a way to communicate and convey their continuing love and friendship for each other. The narrator, an only child, and her parents are leaving for Addis for a week and forbid her to speak to Best Friend Selam, the youngest of her family. When the narrator tells her parents she does not want to leave Bahminya, her mother, surprised at her behavior, responds, “Hey, what language is that?” Then, the two secretly sign their love for each other, waving and hugging from their balconies. The narrator smiles, having discovered a new language. She is now ready to leave for Addis, she tells her parents, secure in the knowledge that she and Selam are still best friends.
“Luxurious Hearses,” the fourth story and the longest of the five is the story of a sixteen-year-old Muslim fleeing his home in the north during a time of ethnic cleansing to seek refuge in the south with his Christian father. Though a devout Muslim, Jubril’s life is threatened by Muslim friends of his, who because of his older brother’s Christian belief, for which he was stoned to death, accuse him of also being a Christian. He manages to escape them and now others looking to kill him by boarding a bus bound for the south. He is still in danger among a busload of Christians seeking to return to their homes and hopefully safety in the south. To be safe, he must hide his identity. In route, the passengers learn from television (with which all of the “luxurious” buses are equipped) that the mass killings from which they are fleeing are widespread, now occurring in the south, to which they are traveling.
The story is so named because these “luxurious” buses are not only used to transport refugees to safety but also to return corpses to their homes, as mandated by the government, thus the title “Luxurious Hearses.”
Most touching of all and the story to which the collection owes its title is the last one, “My Parents’ Bedroom,” set in Rwanda. Monique, the nine-year-old daughter of mixed parentage, narrates the story of ethnic cleansing in which she escapes with her toddler brother after having witnessed her father being forced to kill his wife—their mother—in order to save them, the two children. The night before the mother has instructed Monique that when the time comes, she is to “say you’re one of them. . . .”
In one way or another, each of the stories suggests that the characters in order to be safe make an attempt to fit in, saying they’re one of them.
The last story was also the easiest to read. The others sometimes presented difficulty not because of the names of the characters but because of the many languages or dialects with which the reader had to contend. I suppose that because of the many dialects, English, learned by almost everyone, is the language of choice in the midst of so many dialects. So with the native languages mixed in, and in the case of “Fattening for Gabon,” also French, I was never sure I thoroughly understood what the characters were saying. In this case I thought the author, who chose to write in English, might have done a better job of choosing to intersperse the dialect in such a manner the reader could better guess at the intended meaning. Quite understandably, characters’ names must match their location, not only to contribute to local color, but also to make for plausibility; so there was no problem there. So touching, so engrossing, the command, “Say You’re One of Them,” is a testimony to the deep feelings experienced as I read.
Reviewed by Lee L. Peoples
Go to Agenda Magazine to read more book reviews by this author.
Uwnm akpan’s abee i lie imm bee gonna reach over to his house i lie
Uwem akpan’s a bee i lie?
Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well
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