The Road Metaphor and Journey Motif in Zaynab Alkali’s The Virtuous Woman
Abstract
The concept of “road” as a metaphor of human sojourn on earth is a recurrent leitmotif in African Literature in tandem with Africans‟ perception of life as a journey. This paper seeks to examine Zaynab Alkali‟s The Virtuous Woman as a novella that parades three female characters who are navigating the course of their life through the dilapidating and slippery road representing the major obstacles and challenges of life women contend with in their stages of development. This study adopts the Womanist and Stiwanist strands of Feminist Literary Theory in carrying out an in-depth analysis of the text. It is discovered that, women confront three major challenges in their peregrination: the good, symbolically represented by the character of Nana Ai, the bad, portrayed by the character of Laila and the ugly, depicted by the character of Hajjo. The writer aptly deploys the road metaphor and journey motif in the development of the plot and the thematic thrusts of the text. She sounds a note of warning to young women to be determined and focused as they make choices that may make or mar their life as they grow into womanhood.References
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