Me who moved out of my parents house, just so I wouldn’t answer to small small interrogations like ‘Where are you going?’ ‘When will you return?’ Me who has chosen to be child-free so I can galavant across the globe and partake in near-death experiences willingly??? Me Olave daughter of Orawo…is who Franz chose that I gasp for air while reading The Trials Of Chepondor? I will say it was suffocating because ‘triggering’ is too common a buzzword now, it might not accurately illustrate the wave of emotions I experienced while reading this, only 95 page, font size 14 written play.
Before we dive in, I must appreciate the author’s style and technique. I was worried about reading a play (something about my goldfish memory trying to remember who's who mid-way—LoL). But I’m happy to report that didn’t happen. Franz cleverly keeps it to around ten characters, all tied to the main one—Chepondor. As someone who thrives on sitcoms (arguably my only form of visual entertainment), I felt right at home.
This is a work of fiction painting a real world so vividly—the locations, the people, the experiences—they all felt targeted, like Franz was aiming right at my emotional weak spots. And he doesn’t just entertain; he drags certain social issues out of the shadows and slaps them right on centre stage. This book doesn’t just inspire, it kicks your brain into gear, demanding you unlearn and rethink so much.
Now let’s talk about the stand out themes in this book.
Parenting a Divergent
This was a theme that stood out for me in ‘The Bridgeton’ series and I was truly excited to have it pulled back to the foreground of my thoughts. Chepondor was born into a man’s world and does not have even the privilege of imagining what life would be without total subjugation to a man. The man commanding dominance could be as sharp as the blunt side of a knife but still a woman’s place remained to be seen and not to be heard.
Life however is a sadist and just like most of us, likes a dramatic plot twist. Chepondor, completely illiterate, is gifted Cherot for a daughter; and she is born with a stubborn spirit of defiance. Cherot pursues learning to read and write against her father’s will and orders. She dares to dream of a life outside of Olmoron. She has guts enough to say out loud, things about her father and their cultural practices, that everyone else prefers to leave as thought in their heads. Chepondor is told by her co-wife, and I quote ‘For all the books she reads, Cherot merely spreads rumours. I fear for that little daughter of yours, she has seen too much of the world, nothing good can come from it.’
We see Chepondor is often amused by what she calls ‘stories’ Cherot tells her from the books she reads. They have even now learnt that, the circumcision they go through isn’t a shared experience with other women outside of Olmoron and apparently even the government has banned it.
We see that Chepondor is completely torn, she wants the best for her daughter. If she could, she wouldn’t let her children live the life she has lived. Again, if only she could…Chepondor doesn’t even have autonomy for herself; to give her child options is an impossible desire.
She is only to be seen, so she doesn’t even have a word in, on her husband bidding Cherot off to his friend, a man as old as him. Occasionally we see a mental battle as well, moments when Chepondor will correct Cherot on what and how a woman should be; not to restrain her daughter, but only because, that’s all she knows. That’s how she was taught and that’s how things have always been. The little encouragement and consistent love for her daughter, could easily be blamed for what is to be Cherot’s fate, tragic but defiant tragedy.
Is It Patriarchy Or Stupidity?
‘Kata ng’ama onge rieko, pod en ng’ato madongo’ is a luo saying that loosely translates to ‘Stupid people grow old too,’ So the idea that older people are wise is completely obliterated by this fact. Kakut by way of patriarchy is the head of the two households. There isn’t a single word uttered or action, pointing to this man having bare-minimum sense let alone wisdom. All he has is egotistical authority by virtue of the genitalia confirmed at birth.
Kakut strangles Chepondor with his bare hands on accusations of her being spotted around the Health Center. To this sorry excuse of an evolved australopithecus, his wife could only be at the Health Centre to take contraceptives. Something he describes as, ‘Unholy concoctions designed to deny me my birthright.’
In the Pokot community, women and girls are 2nd class if humans at all. Women are ovens acquired for a pretty penny to make buns. The female buns go for a good price building wealth for the oven buyer. This Kakut doesn’t hesitate to say when he learns Chepondor is pregnant. He says ‘I hope it’s a girl. I am running out of cattle, when I receive her dowry it will replenish my stock.’ This being one's only thought about an unborn child says it all. And all this is just so, he can afford to drink himself silly and pay for a lodging room for him and Mary…Oh and pay Mary too.
On learning of the pregnancy Kakut asks Chepondor to remind him not to smack her on the belly, only on the backside and occasionally on the face. Pleased with himself and his new wife-battery terms and conditions, he assures out loudly that he is often considerate and fair.
Remember when I mentioned women and girls are not human, just tools for trade. Without even consulting Chepondor, Kakut proposes Cherot to his friends during a casual hangout. Through the negotiations as if it was an already decided deal; he had already tricked Cherot into going to the forest, so she’d be kidnapped by women folk and get circumcised ready for her wifely duties. Cherot is 14!
Mini Themes
Mental Slavery | Grief | Fertility | Ethnic Clashes
You see Chepondor and her co-wife Cheptios? They have not completely resigned to this life of despondency. They too have their own dreams and wishes, not as wild as Cherot’s, just within their reality. They have heard that male circumcision will return. They are hoping beyond hope that Kakut dies in the process so they can live happily ever after. Even as they are battered and bruised, they have their moments where they retort to Kakut’s stupidity with mockery of sarcasm or silence. Their shared suffering has made them friends who deeply care for each other. Just because they are accustomed to this life of torture, doesn’t mean they don’t wish that it would be different. All their wishful thinking nonetheless can only come to be, if executed by the gods, not by themselves.
Even as Chepondor wishes for Kakut’s death in the wild, she has two conflicting prayers. Limareng’ too, her younger son, will have to face the knife. Him…she wants to live. She is still haunted by the death of her eldest son who died at war against the Samburu. To be fair, this grief is heavy on Kakut’s heart as well. As Kakut and Limerang’ leave for the forest, Chepondor’s prayer for the safe return of her son is definitely louder than her wish for her husband’s death.
Through all this, we can’t experience what worry and grief for a child feels like for Cheptios. She is just as much a mother to Chepondor’s children, but even the author doesn’t capture how the loss of her god-children affects her. Having not borne any children of her own, through Kakut, we can deduce that the Pokot community views a barren woman with disdain. It’s the endless barrage of insults and Kakut’s quickness in getting another wife to bear children for him. Kakut despises Cheptios so much, he has made up despicable things about her and told everyone who didn’t even care to hear. He insists, she doesn't know how to cook and her hut is dirty, which Chepondor and the kids confirm isn’t the case. This got me thinking about the subconscious correlation we have between basic home keeping and having children. People have often expressed that I am wasting my meticulous home keeping skills by choosing to be child free. (LoL)
Speaking of loss, the Pokot community has lost more of its men to war than to sickness and natural calamity. This is alarming considering a mention of HIV/AIDS creeps into this play. Not to say it is a death sentence; but we know how communities were swept clean at the onset of the plague, while in denial and continuing with cultural practices that encouraged spreading and vigour of the disease. I digress… Ethnic community clashes continue to this day and it basically was the bedrock upon which our very own 2007 Post Election Violence was founded. It is the same script for the Biafra wars in Nigeria, the Rwanda Genocide, the Kivu conflict in Congo… I could go all day. From an aerial view, there’s clearly no intention of harm from either communities, but men are easily convinced by sensationalist propaganda intended to pit one against another. Cherot was given grief for having been seen talking to a Samburu boy. Eeh!..Missing out on the love of your life because of small small beef??? I would like to unsubscribe from this package please (Hehe) War has existed since time immemorial, I don’t know what to say about it anymore. I guess men need to blow off some steam and killing is a fun activity to unwind???
Emancipation
This theme is the only oil in my lamp…I would have already given up on this review by now (LoL). I love me a bold move. I love the shock effect when the underestimated PAWN PULLS A QUEEN! Cherot was a cannon waiting to explode but since the community had seemingly managed to tame even their wildest women in the past, no one had anticipated Cherot’s move.
Every woman Cherot grew up around towed the line and did as was told. So the sheer thought of wanting to break away from slavery, rubber stamped that she was to be a nuisance. She, alongside her mother, was also subjected to physical assault by Kakut. He refused to take her to school and burnt the books she got from the church to self-teach. Even when they didn’t understand a word she said, she told them stories and recited poems. She openly spoke of the imaginary land and life beyond Olmoron.
Cherot however couldn't escape and so forcefully she became what women were in her community. She was abducted to be circumcised and shipped off to her father’s friend to start on cooking, clearing and giving birth.
Holding two old men hostage at the edge of a cliff, with all their wealth at hand, could never dare be imagined. Cherot held a bargain and tossed the chips in her hand one by one. She had called her mother and had a heart to heart. She had expressed to her how they could orchestrate a revolution for Pokot women. I guess as she heard her mother’s reservations, Cherot knew Chepondor was a spitting representation of most, if not all Olmoron women. Hopeless wishful thinking and no courage at all, to ever dare challenge the status quo.
Cherot always found alternative ways to get the things she wanted. Marriage however had resigned her to Olmoron women’s fate. Alternative doors here were locked shut. Autonomy is the most precious gift a human being could have. Cherot could have had a bit of it as a girl; but transitioning to a woman took away even that measly privilege. She knew other people have lived this life, but she also knew, this isn’t a life worth living.
We might have a lot to say about those that execute their own exit from the land of the living. I however hold the highest respect for them because they have done what we haven’t…They chose their own fate.