The title of this book is self-explanatory “PEOPLE OF THE TOWNSHIPS”. Its motif – the main character John Lefuo, is apparently loitering around the townships meeting old time foes and friends alike before his murder beans are spilled out. This is the centre and the core of this book. Summing up the theme of the book in a nutshell I could say it is all about ‘Societal rejection.’
The outer cover of this book that is a must-read, has a dagga smoking man wearing dreadlocks on whose shirt there are writings that read thus ‘Jah Lives.’ To enlighten some who do not understand this statement, Jah is the God of the Rastafarians. Because of that statement one without any shadow of doubt in his mind draws the conclusion (which might be wrong) that the main character John is a Rastafarian. This book is a vision of what life in the township is like. I think a lot of readers will agree with me when I say that the author has the ability to capture in full the essence of social lives.
The vision that one sees is the devilish interaction of the society and its people. They are still trying to dictate the other people’s lives. They still cherish the sentiment that ghetto-Rastafarians are “jailbirds” and associate them with all the bad things life has to offer. (Incidentally, my wife-to-be asked after reading this book to buy her a copy. But she went further to inquire ‘is the author trying to paint a bad image of the Rastafarians?’) The narrator is not as it is always suggested anti-women. There is the truth that we can not shy away from – some Ghetto-Rastafarians do not wash up, instead they smoke dagga and bask in the sun the whole day.
In page one, paragraph four, John’s sister gives us an idea of what the people thought of our John Lefuo: “People say you look wild, you dress in a horrific way. Nor would it hurt if you washed up sometimes.” This and other statements however do not suggest that John was wild but gives us the wrong impression they had about him. In the same page one we hear that John who seems to be the central character in this book relied on their mother for survival. This is typical of his kind in our townships. They are always in and out of prison. My humble submission to the readers is that they should not think that the narrator is anti– township people. The book is very interesting to some one who has been or never been to the township.
Surprisingly enough the story paints a justifiable picture about the people of the townships. I would like to restate that the book is perhaps one sided, as the narrator (author?) does not talk a lot about law-abiding citizens. His main focus was on the “bad” people only. Yes it is true as the narrator tries to show us that a lot of people’s lives have been destroyed by the women they loved. What confused me about the book is whether the narrator wrote it while in prison. A lot of people loved John as they were so happy to see him. Except the remarks passed by those that he rubbed the wrong way there is no sign of insanity in the way he handled himself. John was quite aware of the stigma “Insanity” that was attached to him. But his response was (I quote): “I do not give a leaf about all the criticisms, the snide comments, and the vilifications. I am not a criminal. I have not killed, nor robbed anybody.” The way he comes out is no different from the way the loafers in the township. It is evident that the author did his homework as the discourse that his characters employ is used in the township by people who smoke dagga . It reminded me of the novel, Maru by Bessie Head, the central character Margaret was not ashamed of what people thought of her. Even though in Margaret’s case it was racially inclined remarks.
Without any real success from my side I tried to reconfigure the etiology of John’s insanity. I did so by judging him on the basis of what he used to say and do. I am sorry to say that he struck me as a somewhat normal person who is so intelligent. I felt that I would be doing injustice to him if I could have chosen to believe what the narrator’s sister thought of him, as we know her for the critic and nagger she was.
John Lefuo is a well-read person. This becomes evident when talking to Lupna in page 31 he quotes Wordsworth. ‘A perfect woman
Nobly Planned
To warm, to Comfort
And Command’
When ever he talked with people there was logic. Women loved him as they could easily confide in him. According to his sister, people saw him as just a stinking person but surprisingly enough women longed to be with him. No woman would love to socialize with a man who does not wash up, more particularly a loafer like John. If the narrator said that he had money I would think that they were just after his money.
I am not convinced that this character “John” was indeed stark raving mad as some people described him. John also confessed:
“I am crazy” I say. Serame shrugs. “Maybe. But if things are falling apart, the centre can no longer hold, we should not blame ourselves. Remember Achebe’s book.”
On whether John was man enough to take the life of a fellow human being: the question that we have to answer is ‘was he a man who could harm even a fly? Let us look how one bouncer describes him on page 16 paragraph 6. “You attacked” that worthy said. ‘This guy (John) always minds his business and is the quiet type. I saw you (he mentioned her name) approaching him at least twice. Now, leave him alone, or I’ll be forced to get tough with you, eh?’’
On Page 54 paragraph 3 we meet one of John’s acquaintances named Thabiso. If you listen to this guy talk you will sense in his speech that he hated women as according to him his failure in life had been brought about by them. According to him his dreams are now a pipedream. He is now always in trouble with the police.
“The haunted look on his face becomes pronounced. The only battle a man can hardly win is women, temptation… you can beat smoking, drinking etc, but women? Because of them my life ambition was nipped in the bud. My greatest wish in life was to become a successful artist, painter,” There was a whine in his voice. “Was crazy about drawing since I could crawl I really believe this was my calling.”
The author has written this novel in what we call in literary terms the “first-person narrative;” in which the main character narrates the happenings he personally witnessed and was party to in a time frame of three hours prior his arrest. The book reminds me of a book by two of the respected African writers, Ayi Kwei Armah “Why are we so blest” and the late joint winner of Guardian fiction prize Dambudzo Marechera with “The house of hunger”. Personally I should confess that Ayi’s was not my cup of tea I only liked his style of writing in “Why are we blest”. This talented narrator (Bolaji Omoseye) has employed the realistic mode by which he is seen trying to provide a convincing illusion of life as we always witness it in the township. By this I believe that the author deserves, to a certain extent a pat on the back. I could easily identify with some of the characters in the book. If the reader has been brought up in the township he can get involved with the events when they unfold. It should be borne in mind in reading this book that the author has written about what he has first hand information on as he stays in the township.
On page 52 the narrator introduces us to Serame who, despite his brilliance and erudition was ostracized by the society. Serame, upon meeting John, quoted Dorothy van Ghent as having once written the following: “A person is sane who is socially adapted in his time and his place, in tune with his culture, furnished with the mental and moral means to meet contingencies, accepting the values that his society accepts and collaborating in their preservation…” We see the narrator’s mind as his writing has leaned in two-folded direction. On one hand he is suggesting that his main character should not conform to society’s standards; on the other hand he has to be bound to feel ostracized. According to his sister nothing good could come out of him as whenever he suggested some thing she used to dismiss him.
I want us to look at the central character and his friend Serame when they talked about how they were at odds with the society. In the same page 52 paragraph one: “Near the stream, I see Serame, brilliant, generally ostracized by society. Over the years he has always said: We blacks must – work like the Chinese did – to build ourselves”. When you read this statement you can see that this black consciousness exponent was a visionary but to the readers’ disappointment the society that he lived in did not see him as such.
Despite how much John’s brother worshipped every ground his wife treaded on; he used to beat her up. John was always a lifesaver to his brother’s wife.
Let us look at page 7 of paragraph 7.
“Which did not stop him giving her a severe, brutal beating one evening. And it was I who saved her in the end, from my irate brother by physically coming between them”
This shows that John did like people, and could be altruistic.
Despite how interesting this book is, I believe that there are some gaps that the author must try to bridge. For me, whether or not John killed the mother of his child can be contested. We have learnt that the new boyfriend was very abusive. When Alice Memela was talking to John she gives us the impression that this boyfriend would be coming back for her that night. When John was arrested he admitted being party to the killing. The way author ends his book is not convincing enough for me as it calls for continuity. I believe that the author must continue with the book and bring the “Perry Mason” character in the next book. Maybe when the post mortem is conducted, it can be proven that she had died of injuries that she sustained when the new boyfriend beat her up. The only evidence that the police have against John is that he was the last person seen with the deceased and the confession he made thereafter.
Before killing his wife if ever he did kill her, we learnt that his wife used to sleep over but he had never beaten her up except refusing to sleep with her as he feared contaminating sexual disease. He once swore on page nine paragraph five: “But I am not the type to bear grudge against anybody. I say the right things-I hope!-then moved to the main road” I cannot justify John’s act of killing his ex lover. The author could have got him caught up in different problems so that we could believe that he was capable of killing. The author had shown us that Alice’s deeds could create a monster out of an innocent puppy. Maybe John could not hurt a fly but his ex-s deeds and indiscretions drove him to do this premeditated murder. This book is so interesting but like I said, maybe it calls for continuity...
