AFRICAN PROSE ISIDORE OKPEWHO: The Last Duty Examine the role of Major Ali in the novel.

Answer Details

In Isidore Okpewho's The Last Duty, Major Ali is the commanding officer of the federal troops stationed in Urukpe. As one of the several first-person narrators, he offers an outsider's, soldier's view of the town, and his role is important both to the plot and to the novel's moral vision.

Major Ali represents the presence of the state and the army in the occupied town. It is his duty to keep order, guard against saboteurs and hold Urukpe for the federal side. Through him the reader sees the burdens and dilemmas of command in a civil war, the difficulty of distinguishing genuine threats from private feuds dressed up as security matters.

Amid the corruption and scheming that surround him, Major Ali stands out as comparatively principled and thoughtful. He is a professional soldier who tries to act justly and to see through the manipulations of local men like Chief Toje. Unlike those who exploit the war for gain, Ali is troubled by his responsibilities and reflects seriously on questions of duty, loyalty and fairness. His narration reveals a conscientious mind wrestling with the moral confusion of war.

Toje attempts to use the military to serve his private vendetta against Oshevire and to protect his own interests. Major Ali becomes the point at which these schemes must either succeed or fail. His growing awareness of the intrigues in the town, and his scepticism toward the accusations against Oshevire, position him as a potential check on injustice, even if the machinery of war has already done its damage.

Ali is also given a personal and psychological dimension. As a Muslim northerner commanding a mainly southern town, he is himself a kind of outsider, and he ponders his own position, his professional detachment and his human sympathies. His reflections deepen the novel's exploration of how war tests individual conscience.

As one of the multiple narrators, Major Ali widens the novel's perspective beyond the domestic tragedy of the Oshevire family. His voice supplies the official, military angle on events and allows Okpewho to show the war from the standpoint of those charged with waging and controlling it. This multiplicity of viewpoints is central to the novel's method and meaning.

Conclusion. Major Ali functions as the military authority in Urukpe, a comparatively upright and reflective soldier who resists the manipulations of the corrupt, embodies the moral dilemmas of command in wartime, and, as one of the narrating voices, broadens the novel's perspective. Through him Okpewho balances the greed and injustice of the town with a figure of conscience, enriching the novel's meditation on duty and war.