Review by Ishmael
Mzwandile Soqaga
Here is a phenomenal novel that presents an interesting tale
of certain women who honestly waited and longed for the return of their
husbands after a long departure.
Overall, the novel comprises of part one and part two respectively. Njabulo Ndebele has creatively succeeded to
establish such astronomical and glamorous novel that authentically whets the
appetite. Apparently, the novel is one
of the ilks of fine literary works that fascinate dramatically. Created by an African writer, academic, Professor
and essentially it will remain one of the most resounding novels to be produced
by an African.
Part one of the novel unfolds with the descendant of
Penelope, the wife of Odysseus who had waited for nineteen years for the return
of her husband. “While waiting, Penelope
had to bear the agony of persistent advances by countless suitors among the
nobility of Ithaca. They all wanted her
hand in marriage. In an unspeakable
insult to her privacy, some of these men, in an effort to wear her down,
shamelessly camped at her house.”
How terrible!
This invasion was of course equally an insult to the honour
of her absent husband.
But where was he?
“He will never come back!” the persistent suitors pressed
their demands. “Surely, he is dead” they
said to this waiting wife, poking at her vulnerabilities, tossing her this way
and that, in an open field of uncertainty and anxiety, testing the limits of
her love, loyalty, and faith.
It didn’t work
Penelope spurned them all...
In fact the author relates his novel to Penelope with other
women who have similar experiences of longing and waiting for the return of
their husbands after a long absence. He
precisely refers to these women as the descendant of Penelope, from the first
descendant to the fourth one. However, in
wealth of detail we see in part two of the novel the essentials mentioning the
participation of Winnie Mandela.
Part One
The First Descendant
Harsh realities of poverty in Lesotho make Lejone Mofolo to
leave his country to search for a living to bolster his family. Leaving behind his wife and children was not
an easy thing. Of course, it was a very
difficult decision to make however; circumstances compelled him to do so. Drought, unprecedented poverty, unproductive
land to yield maize, lack of rain etc pose a daunting situation for their
survival. Felicitous, Lejone Mofolo
manages to get the job in the mines as was a common thing at that time. At first he repudiates to allow city life to
allure him to forget his wife. He will
diligently send money and pay regular visits to his wife and he obviously
desired to have his wife s photo as other co-workers in the hostel have
them. But things begin to change when he
adapted to city life, changing language and use township accent. He forgets to pay those regular visits to
Lesotho, settles in Benoni, eThwatwa with another woman and starts another
family. At home in Lesotho his real wife
begins to be overwhelmed with consternation and many tentative questions lead
her to break the law of Penelope of waiting for Odysseus. She goes to the city to search for her
husband but her efforts are a complete miscarriage – she cannot find her
husband.
The Second Descendant
A young man at the age of thirty –five got scholarship to
study in overseas. He was a married man
with two children and he wished that his young beautiful wife could join him in
overseas. Probably it was
impossible. His wife was very skilled
and she always supported her husband while in the meantime she is still waiting
for her husband. After many years - six
years waiting the East Rand township produced its first black medical
doctor. It was not her husband. However she persists to wait for her
husband. But surprisingly as she was
waiting for her husband, in the tenth year of her husband’s medical studies,
she discovers she is pregnant. In the
twelfth year her husband finally completes his studies and returns home in the
fourteenth year to find a four year old child. Six months after his return, he
divorces her. She has been honestly
supportive, and waited for her husband but her husband accused her of
infidelity and abandoned her.
Third Descendant
Another reeling waiting begins when the couples were
teens. Mamello had to wait for her
husband since their teen years. Growing
together, playing together and essentially attending the school together until
they graduated and get married. However,
something whimsical happened when Mamello had to wait for her husband to return
home. She waited and waited and never
realized about the departure of her husband, but later on she discovers that
her husband went to exile for political purpose. She continued to be patient and committed
herself to take responsibility to look after her husband s aged parents. Eventually, after ten years of waiting, his
husband was jailed for fifteen years in Robben Island. Subsequently her husband was released but he
never returned home and she had to wait but only to discover later that her
husband has married a white woman and ultimately Mamello was divorced. .
Fourth Descendant
Her concern was her Odysseus to be loyal and remain at home;
however in contrast her husband was not at home as a married man. But he openly “sleeps around”. In the meanwhile as she waits, her husband
finally died and she buried him with a casket giving him a decent funeral.
Part Two
Ibandla Labafazi
The part two of the novel narrates how the four descendants
met and gathered together to share their experiences about their
predicament. The women chit-chatted very
emotionally and Mamello came with the proposal to talk about Winnie Madikizela
Nomzamo Mandela. She argued that it will
be apposite to talk about her as she waited too. The women declared Winnie Nomzamo Zanyiwe
Mandela as a member of ibandla labafazi
abalindile. Eventually all these
woman confabulated and expressed anything pertinent to their situation as ‘women waited’ with Winnie and at the
very same time Winnie responded positively to their interlocution. In conclusion of the novel we see the women
with Winnie Mandela heading east for Durban and on the road they meet with a
stranger. “Women, are you Penelope?”
Winnie asks in absolute astonishment.
“None other, my dear,” says the stranger. “For more than two thousand years I have been
on a pilgrimage of reconciliation. On
the morning after our first night together in nineteen years of absence,
Odysseus decided to leave me again to perform cleansing rituals to forestall
possible evil strife following his brutal slaying of my shameless suitors.
“Well, he left, but it has never been told that when he
returned, I was gone. I went on my own
cleansing pilgrimage. Odysseus should
not have left like that on that special morning when I was still learning to
savour his return. He should have shown
more sensitivity…
Apparently, this is one of the transcendent novels that when
one concludes to read one will be overwhelmed with lot of euphoria considering
the prodigious flair of the author.
Utterly mesmerizing! Moreover,
this is a novel that must be relished with great delectation. Its construction, the style and contents are
explicitly remarkable. Njabulo Ndebele
is one of the few African intellectuals who continue to write stunning books
with profound enthusiasm. His
exhilarating books conspicuously evince the fact that he is one of the top
classic African writers.
The Cry of Winnie
Mandela although it is a novel, but it wittingly gives an emotional picture
of women who affectionately waited for the return of their husbands. Albeit it furnishes the most important
details about South Africa, city life and rural life like in the case of Lejone
Mofole and Mannete his wife, Delisiwe Dulcie S’ khosana, Winnie Mandela etc
. The novel reveals how likely womens
marriages are affected in particular when the man is absent for very long
time. Indeed it is a wonderful novel to
relish and inevitably Njabulo Ndebele remains stupendous and credible as the
one of the extraordinary writers in Africa.
Using European literature, impressive allusions, biographies and other
sources to concoct a novel in African context patently demonstrates the ability
of the author as an illustrious and veritable writer with palatable literary
prowess.
Works by Njabulo
Ndebele
Fine Lines from the
Box: Further Thoughts About Our Country, 2007
Rediscovery of the
Ordinary: Essays on South African Literature and Culture, 1991, Reissued 2006
Fools and Other
Stories, 1983, reissued 2006
The Cry of Winnie
Mandela, 2004
Umpropheti/The
Prophetess, 1999
Death of a Son, 1996
Bonolo and the Peach
Tree, 1994
Sarah, Rings, and I,
1993
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