Imagery of the Amount of Food Served During an Ekwe Title Ceremony
On page 43, of the book, the author uses extensive imagery to describe the glamour of an Ekwe titled ceremony. The most important aspect being the amount of food being served. The title was associated with excess and hard work and as such, the ceremony was meant to reflect it.
The author says, ''....Ogili was heaped like a huge anthill...a very tall paole was stuck into the pounded food. Strong young men would then pile layers and layers of pounded food round the base from the base to the tip , until it looked like a small, white hill.'' The imagery used is so vivid that the reader can definitely picture the food and the largesse in his or her mind.
Imagery of the Ekwe Titled Woman
After the Ekwe title ceremony, the woman was now an Ekwe titled woman and was dignified and respected in society. Her physical appearance especially had to ooze dignity as she walked around in the village. She was supposed to, comb her hair, buy a towel, stick a knife into it and sling it on her shoulders. Then she would walk in the street like that.
This description of such a woman is so vivid that one can see her in their mind with the combed out hair and towel around her neck walking around in the village of Nnobi.
Imagery of Death Rites of a Lineage Member
On page 59, the author describes in detail the role of lineage daughters to a bereaved of the same lineage. Their role is explained in vivid detail that the ceremony can be imagined by the reader of the book. They lineage sisters washed the corpse of a lineage member, decorated it , slept with it during the night and they would sing and dance as they did so.They also sang songs intended to annoy to the people who did not gift them anything during the funeral ceremony.
Such a description used by the author makes the ceremony come alive in the mind of a reader. The reader can picture the sisters washing the body of the bereaved and singing songs while working.
Imagery in the Story of the Kola Nuts
On page 61 of the book, the author tells a story of how the greed of lineage daughters was punished. The story is so descriptive that one would picture the events happening in their mind. The story goes that a plate of coconut was given to the lineage wives but a woman who was the eldest lineage daughter of about 80 years, told them not to share it among themselves lest they be fined. The lineage daughters only laughed at her and shared it among themselves. They were fined Kola nuts each and whoever did not have kola gave money. The woman took the money and threw some back at the wives and this caused an uproar. This was meant to remind everyone of the superiority of the daughters to the wives.
