The Famished Road Literary Elements

Magic Realism / Bildungsroman

Set in 1960s Nigeria.

First-person narration from Azaro’s point of view.

The tone is candid and simple.

The protagonist is Azaro while the antagonist is the entities in the land of spirits that hound him.

Azaro is torn between the land of the living and the death with spirits and evil forces drawing him in. He undergoes continuous series of deaths and rebirths interacting with both worlds while grappling with realities of poverty and political instability.

The climax of the story reaches when the three-headed spirit coerces Azaro to follow him into the land of the spirits and gets angry when he refuses.

The political rivalry between the poor and the rich during campaigning is foreshadowed in Madame Koto’s place of business.

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The novel alludes to the Biblical Lazarus through the protagonist who resurrects from the land of the dead time and time again. Furthermore, it makes allusions to the political transition and transformation in 20th century Nigeria following the tensions between two opposing political parties.

“The moonlight of their voices became too multiple and too sweet for me to bear. I felt myself breaking out into another space. Everywhere I looked the spirits invaded me with their manifestations. The smell of flowers overpowered me. The songs wounded me with their relentless beauty. Seared by the agony of their melodies, I stumbled across a road and I suddenly saw them all, spirits in full bloom on a field of rainbows, bathing in the ecstasy of an everlasting love.”

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The narrative parallels Madame Koto’s pregnancy with the state of affairs in the nation, in that the pregnancy is delayed and interminable like the nation’s birth.

“As I hurried back in I fancied that I saw the King of the Road eating the dead rats and enjoying them.”

“The chair clattered on the floor and the window flew open.”