Nardos Yosef
Anlicker
English 1102
5 December 2016
‘Benji’
Benji was written by
Chinelo Okparanta an author was born in Nigeria, and graduated from Penn State
University with a Masters Degree. is a
short story that begins with a description of the main character. Benji is a man
who’s recently deceased father has left him to be the only male in the family.
His expectations were that he would find a wife and use his family’s wealth to
help them grow. The author continues to describe Benji’s disgust with marriage.
He was 42 and wealthy, but did not want to get married at all. He begins an
affair with his mother’s close friend Alare, who’s class status was not as high
as his. His mother becomes sick and his mistress’ visits become regular. After
Benji’s mother dies, Alare’s husband becomes sick shortly after. He offers to
pay for his massive medical bills, but her husband’s conditions continue to get
worse. After a while, he gets better, and she ends her and Benji’s relationship.
This piece of work shifts
from Alare’s thoughts to Benji’s point of view the whole time, making it hard
to find a protagonist of the text. The short story also discusses Nigeria’s politics
and class status issues. I think that these comparisons are not limited to
Nigeria, but also relate to America’s issues with social status, money, health
care, and politics.
This text also described
issues with society and what they expect you to do. Benji was expected to get
married to a nice woman, have children, and live ni a big house. His mother even
says that people would begin to suspect something was wrong if he did not carry
out with this plan. Although Alare ended up with her husband in the end, Benji
had technically never wanted a wife in the first place. She was the closest he
had come to a wife.
I think the reason Benji
continued to pay for the treatment was because he truly never wanted a full
commitment to a wife. If the husband had died, he would have had Alare to
himself, but instead he continued to pay for all of her husband’s medical
treatment so he would get better. I also think Alare never wanted him
completely either. She continued to take his money, knowing that ultimately she
would choose her husband in the end.
I also think this text
was very descriptive, sort of like a poem. It described the food and location
with descriptive words that almost made you feel like you were there, such as
with the Nigerian food and the way they eat. The descriptive way things are explained in this piece give us some insight on how they lived their lives, day to day. It also helps you build a connection with the characters in the piece.
Ultimately, I really liked the piece. It brought attention to some important aspects about things in not only Nigeria but America as well. The text was definitely ahead of its time.
