Struggle of the Abject; Portrayal of Culture and Orphan hood in Buchi Emecheta’s The Bride Price

Abstract

The African continent exemplified life enlightened with culture and many of the African novels are the embodiment of the portrayal of culture within the African Society. Customs and traditions cease to enlighten when it turns out to be a taboo, instead it hastens annihilation. Buchi Emecheta, the prolific writer from Africa transcended her writing to the next level by delving deep into the soul of Africa. This paper is an attempt to examine how Emecheta illustrated the taboos which obliterate the life of a young girl Aku-nna and abiding the superstitions molded an orphan out of her and generated insecurity and emotional imbalance which finally amalgamated into a psychological trauma which resulted in her tragic end. Emecheta through this novel tried to throw light on to the dark arenas of culture. Read from different perspectives the novel offers an assurance towards a better future.