The journey motif in flora nwapa's efuru and Margaret Ogola's the river and the source

Abstract

This thesis is inspired by the realization that women have emerged from cultural subjugation in a male dominated world to participate in the reconstruction of individuals and society through their creative talents. Nwapa and Ogola's conscientization of gender disparities in Nigeria and Kenyan society, respectively, exhibits a commitment to their art. As social - realists, they have not only recorded the pressing, issues: socially, politically and even economically, that inhibit female development, but have also suggested modalities of remedy for gender redefinition in Africa and even the global world. In the two novels, Efuru and The River and The Source, the authors seek to explain the historical origin of the alienation of women from the main stream of equal participation with the male counterparts in society. On this note, their explorative journey is not only physical but also psychological and spiritual. It is not only the search for women's identity and esteem but also, inward and outward regeneration of individuals' conscience as a human society. Nwapa and Ogola engage in historical, social and spiritual rehabilitation of women in order to formulate a just and authentic existence of equal participation of all members of society.