Character: Adisa
Novel Violence
Author: Festus Iyayi;
This novel touches on poverty, how the rich continuously manipulate the poor and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Adisa is Idemudia’s (the primary character) wife, and is quite beautiful. To quote the author –
“‘Her long, jet black hair was now held in place with hairpins.
Her lips were dark, decided and firm. Her nose was pointed,
long, like a Fulani’s. Her eyes were black and deep, like the
quiet water of a deep and darkly moving stream. Her breasts
were big and tight as they had been many years ago. They heaved
now against her chest as she stood leaning against the door…’ “
And so, Adisa is introduced. The novel shows how Adisa and Idemudia are trapped by poverty into making uncomfortable choices; him selling his blood so they can eat, her sleeping with a rich man to get money to get him out of the hospital after he falls sick. Unfortunately, his friends have bailed him already so her sacrifice is pointless. Or so it seems.
Violence portrays Festus Iyayi as a man who understands poverty. A man who came from a background where choices are made for people because they are poor and they are not in control of their lives; but at the same time do not loose faith in the human spirit. It shows that people cannot be judged all the time by their actions, rather by the motive behind such actions; and it’s a reminder that love truly conquers all.
Adisa’s character resonates with me because she represents the ideal woman who would give anything for the man she loves. There’s a paragraph that describes this perfectly:-
‘She smiled and closed her eyes. “I am a prostitute! A cheap woman! It wasn’t my fault.
It was the only chance I had! He may kill me but I did it for him. Only for him.” ‘
Love is the most durable of all human emotions.
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Seun-Odukoya @Seun-Odukoya
Feels like the greatest gift God gave him would be the ability to scam people into thinking he can actually write....Go to Seun-Odukoya's profile, and read more of his/her posts.
Musketeer, I feel this.
Thank you Kay.
I feel this…I remember this…
You’ve read Violence?! I swear, I could not put the book down for days. I kept reading and re-reading…flipping to my fav pages. Classic.
Violence u said….I fink I will go look for it.
You wouldn’t regret that man…fact.
Oga Odukoya, nice piece man. Liked the book when I read it. It was just sad…and I really agree with Iyayi, poverty IS violent oh…cos you’re in a battle to survive from day to day and you get to a point where you’re just dehumanized meanwhile thieves and corrupt people are enjoying everywhere…it was a deep novel really.
But have a small, tiny, objection to that excerpt u put up. Why must women always be sexualized?? All the time..
WHat do you mean ‘sexualized all the time’?
It would be nice if you were more specific…
I hated her for sleeping with that fat fool but i loved the way Iyayi handled the whole plot… the book is in my collection and i pamper it…
As you very well should, @xikay.
Funny…I always had the impression that Obofun was a slim man. Now that you mention it…
Where have you been since? No just dey disappear like that o…
When I first read Violence, I didn’t understand the relationship between poverty and violence. I enjoyed the plot and characterization, and read it over and over again, but because I was shielded, I didn’t understand the dangerous desperation that poverty breeds. Now, I know better. I think a movie should be made based on the story.
@febidel…
There’s actually a movie about it – something that had Liz Benson playing the role of the rich woman – forgotten her name. But there was something not right – it wasn’t properly released or something like that. It was in a newspaper…
Thank you. I think its an amazing book.
Was the title also Violence? I’d like to check for it online, if possible.