The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma Book Review — Tobechukwu J. Udeigbo
The Fishermen is a story about four brothers — Ikenna, Boja, Obembe, and Ben — whose childish curious adventure of fishing led their family into simultaneous heartbreaking scenes of pain and death; after the four brothers crossed path with Abulu, a notorious local madman in Akure, who was known for his evil prophesies.
The author told the story from Ben’s perspective, who is the youngest of the four brothers, and one of the two who lived beyond Abulu’s prediction. It is important to know that this story was set in Akure during a politically charged era in Nigeria. Due to these circumstance, Ben’s father had to sacrifice watching his boys grow into ambitious men for work so he can provide for his family. I believe that the boys’ curiosity would have been curbed if he had been at home during their dangerous fishing expedition. I love how Chigozie juxtaposed his absence in order to provide for his family with his lack of provision for his family’s safety during the riots (the boys spearheaded the march for MKO) and the demise of two of his sons.
Ikenna became disrespectful and a nuisance at home when he learnt that Abulu predicted that one of his brothers (a fisherman) would kill him. He became a terror to live with, ejecting his younger brother Boja from the room and torturing his mother with sleepless nights. One fallout led to the other and he was later found in the pool of his own blood in his mother’s kitchen, and Boja drowned in the family well. Their father later came home to bury his sons and amend his fractured family, but it was too late. Ben and Obembe hungrily sought for Abulu’s pound of flesh and they killed the madman, but it was a costly endeavor because Obembe ran away from home and Ben clocked in some jail time.
I also love the way Chigozie visually captured the emotions surrounding these boys as their stories unraveled. I enjoyed his very detailed description of Akure; as I have never been there, but he left some picturesque memories to satisfy my tourist thirst while I read the book.
I would highly recommend the book for other readers because it shows the messiness of families and surrounding environment. Nigeria, as it was shattering through political unrest tricked down to Ben’s family being disrupted due to an absent father, a busy mother and a dangerous boyish adventure. In addition, I do not think that Abulu’s prophesy meant anything more than mere words. I think Abulu’s words had a psychological effect on the boys by corrupting their minds and inevitably the boys doing exactly the same thing Abulu predicted. I learnt that the mind is a powerful force to reckon with. I wonder what would have happened, had they refuted Abulu’s prophesy by loving and looking after each other like they have always done.
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