Tackling polygamy in ‘The First Wife’

19 Mar, 2017 - 00:03 0 Views
Tackling polygamy in ‘The First Wife’

The Sunday Mail

POLYGAMY is a phenomenon that has long existed in African culture but has of late become unacceptable as Western values become the norm.

While having one wife is the “normal” thing today, it has not stopped men from engaging in extramarital affairs. In many instances, men father children outside their marriages and the wives might not even find out.

Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane tackles these issues in her book “The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy”.

The writer paints a picture of the challenges faced by women in her country on a daily basis through the voice of Rami, who has been married to Tony, a senior police officer in Maputo, for 20 years.

“He tells me he’s on duty at night. That he has to supervise the work of all the police officers because night is when thieves are on the attack. I pretend to believe him. But men leave a snail’s slime behind them, they can’t hide. I know very well what he’s up to,” goes Rami as she narrates her ordeal to her counterparts.

As it turns out, she is not the only one who is having such problems as her neighbours also relate the situations they are in.

“I look at them all. Tired, used women. Beautiful women, ugly women. Young women, old women. Women defeated in the battle for love. Outwardly alive, but dead within, forever inhabiting the shadows.”

Rami discovers that her husband has not only been cheating, but has also fathered children outside their marriage.

It comes to light that the other women Tony has fathered children with are also being neglected as he gives attention to the youngest lover.

Rami tries to employ different strategies, including sorcery, to retain her husband’s affections.

While she is angered at first, she ends up sympathising with her husband’s other lovers and ensures that he marries all of them. The women come up with a roster, dividing the time their husband has to spend at each wife’s household.

But as his needs are being satisfied, the same cannot be said for his wives.

“I asked women: What do you think of polygamy? They reacted like gasoline set off by a spark. Explosions, flames, tears, wounds, scars. Polygamy is a cross to bear.

“I asked men: What do you think of polygamy? I had to listen to laughter, as steady as water bubbling from a fountain. I saw smiles stretching their lips from ear to ear. Their salivary glands went into overdrive as if I were serving them some delicious tidbit. They applauded.”

The story is good at its core but the text does not really flow, which could be because the book was translated as smoothly, a setback that can be attributed to the fact that the book had to be translated from Portuguese to English and some of the zing could have been lost.

A readable text all the same.

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