BAYO ADEBOWALE: Lonely Days
How is Ajumobi portrayed in the Novel?
Explanation
There are several significant ways in which Ajumobi is portrayed in the novel. He is presented as an accpmplished hunter, an adorable husband, an industrious farmer, and a sociable man in the community. Ajumobi is the late husband of Yaremi. As an accomplished hunter, he lives the most part of his life among animals in the forest. It is held that every pregnancy of a hunter's wife results in the birth of a child that looks like an animal: long-necked like the giraffe, large-eyed like the buffalo, or scaly-skinned like the crocodile. Consequently, Yaremi is warned of the inherent dan-ger in contemplating marriage with Ajumobi. So, during their courtship, the people of Kufi and Adeyipo keep close watch over Yaremi and Ajumobi, and conclude that their marriage will never stand the test of time. However, the people of Kufi are proved wrong. Their (Yaremi and Ajumobi's) marriage works out pretty well. Yaremi gives birth to beautiful children, male and female, who have no blemish whatsoever. They even get a grandchild, Woye. Indeed Ajumobi becomes Yaremi 's reliable partner in life, (`silent shadow in life'). His presence comforts and protects her as he is lively (hen boasting, funny when joking, and exciting when stammering.
That Ajumobi distinguishes himself as a husband, leaves an indelible impression on Yaremi as she reminisces on the happy days that she has with him. She swears never to stop loving him, though he is dead. He will "always remain her best - a lovable creature dwelling in her innermost part of her heart, sweeping her off her feet". As a hunter of great repute, Ajumobi brings home all types of bush meat for his wife, Yaremi: antelope, impala and buffalo. Thus, Yaremi can differentiate the varieties in the taste of game. like the different tastes "in the mouth: of sugar cane, coconut, ripe banana and honey". Being sociable, Ajumobi gets very well with his friends. They drink palmwine, gallop like frightened giraffes, rent the air with fickle slogans and jive wildly to the beat of sakara music together. As a part-time farmer, Ajumobi has a cocoa plantation, containing banana, Kolanut and palm trees. He also has a cassava farm, and a garden in his backyard. He is known to have competed with his brother, Dayo, on who had the strength to make eight hundred heaps in one day during their youthful days. In her confidential moment with Segi, her daughter and first child, Yaremi tells her that Ajumobi, her late father, distinguishes himself as a hundred since he was to her like "the mighty baobab, king of the savannah, towering above ten thousand lesser trees around, protecting me under its cool shade, and taking good care of all you, my children". These recollections make Yaremi refuse to pick a cap during the cap-picking ceremony which would have made her remarry and settle down with another husband. Her defiance of the cap-picking ceremony is a testament to Ajumobi's greatness and her undying love for him, as to her, no other man can lift the candle to Ajumobi.
Points to Note:
1) The belief about offspring of hunters resembling animals, which is disproved.
2) Ajumobi as husband and family man
3) Ajumobi as a distinguished hunter
4) Ajumobi's death culminating in Yaremi's defiance of the widowhood rite.
5) Ajumobi as an industrious farmer
6) Ajumobi as a sociable man in society.