SECTION E - African Prose BAYO ADEBOWALE: Lonely Days How do the men of Kufi behave towards their women?

Answer Details

In Bayo Adebowale's Lonely Days, the men of Kufi behave towards their women in ways that reflect the entrenched patriarchy of the traditional community. Through the widow Yaremi's experience and her reflections, the novel exposes the domination, exploitation and unequal treatment women suffer at the hands of the men.

Men as masters, women as subordinates. In Kufi the men regard themselves as the natural masters of their wives. Women are expected to be submissive, to serve their husbands and to accept the authority of men without question. A woman's status is defined largely by her relationship to a man, so that widowhood, the loss of a husband, exposes her to particular vulnerability.

Oppressive widowhood practices. The harshest treatment falls on widows. After Ajumobi's death, Yaremi is subjected to degrading and painful widowhood rites imposed by tradition and enforced by the community. Widows are made to undergo humiliating mourning customs, are sometimes suspected of causing their husbands' deaths, and are pressured over inheritance and remarriage, all reflecting how little control a woman has over her own life.

Polygamy and women as property. The practice of polygamy in Kufi treats women almost as possessions to be acquired, and the men's readiness to inherit or remarry widows shows an attitude in which women are valued for their usefulness rather than respected as equals.

Yaremi's resistance. Yet the novel does not present the women as wholly passive. Yaremi resists the pressure to remarry and to submit meekly to the widowhood customs, asserting her dignity and independence. Her strength stands as a criticism of the men's oppressive conduct and of the traditions that support it.

Conclusion. The men of Kufi behave towards their women with dominance and, especially towards widows, with harshness and disregard, upholding patriarchal customs that subordinate and exploit women. Through Yaremi's dignified resistance, Adebowale exposes and questions this unjust treatment.