This novel comes very handy in the light of the recurrent upheavals in Sudan, and is a good recommendation for anyone seeking to gain a bit of understanding about the region.
By Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera
Leila Aboulela’s River Spirit is a historical novel set in 19th-century Sudan that takes a dig at the origins of one of the numerous conflicts plaguing the country. The novel employs the multiple perspectives of its main characters in an attempt to tell its story. The multiple perspectives include that of an illiterate orphan girl and a scholarly young man who has been exposed both to the merchant and scholarly way of life.
The book revolves around characters who are among the political and educated class and also the peasants. In this way, the book’s multiple perspectives shine a polaroid lamp on the psychology of its characters from various classes and backgrounds of society and allow readers to see things from their perspectives.
In Leila Aboulela’s River Spirit, the major focus is on a set of siblings who are orphaned early in life, and their father’s friend, a merchant who takes them in and carries them to his place, where his people separate them. The girl, Akhuany, is sent to serve one of the aristocratic families, and the uprising is led by a rebel force headed by a figure known as the Mahdi. At the time, because of the widespread penury, there had been a prophecy that there was going to be a saviour, and an eccentric figure, charismatic, full of fresh fire, and different from the conventional elites had emerged and convinced many that he was the Mahdi.
And so in the novel, we experience the changes as it happens in Akuany’s life with respect to her relationship with the merchant who took her in. As she matures, she develops feelings for him and grows the desire to follow him wherever he goes, against his will. On the other hand, the society is slowly plunged into chaos as the rebel forces gain more influence and power.
Like a good historical novel, River Spirit is able in some measure to demonstrate the psychological acuity of forces driving the historical event that it tries to re-examine. In the battle between the Mahdi and the elites of the society, one is able to see the character of the Mahdi, which makes him so charming, consequently for which many believe in his cause and are willing to give their lives for it.
On the other hand, one is able to see his flaws too, and how it can be easy to be blind to people’s misgivings once they are surrounded by so much fanfare. In this way, the book is a critical analysis of how individuals in society can be susceptible to their “messiahs” because of the unbearable yearning to be saved from their misery.
The Mahdi movement was responsible for dividing the society into those who believed and who did not believe in him. And in both groups, there was a clear distinction; most of the educated people and the elites belonged more to the latter and most of the oppressed and poor belonged more to the former. And the Mahdi, whoever he was, before declaring himself Messiah, must have been inspired by the vacuum of leadership in the society and its malevolence towards the people, and ridden on it.
River Spirit speaks to the oppressor, warning them of the mishaps they create by their waywardness, and it speaks to the oppressed about looking before they leap in their fight against oppression, especially as the level of violence and destruction it takes, can often lead a movement to become the same thing it fights for.
Another important angle to the story is illustrated in the genealogy of Akuany’s story, from being orphaned at an early age, taken over, and sold consecutively into slavery until she is sold to a painter who sought to draw her nude portrait. The artist, a man named Robert, puts so much of his efforts into the portrait, in an attempt to make it his masterpiece.
And he succeeds, except that Akuany destroys it. Many years later, Robert’s daughter discovers the leftovers of the destroyed portrait. The image has an uncanny effect on her. In the portrait, she recognises the role that her kind has played in history, and cannot help but destroy it. In this aspect of the story, River Spirit explores the dichotomy of how the coloniser and colonised respond to the force of colonialism.
In River Spirit, Leila Aboulela’s writing style is straightforward and without frills. It focuses totally on the story and advancing its course forward. This makes the book more or less easy to consume. The book also thrives in encapsulating the character of the different people whose perspectives we read of in the novel. One could argue, though, that the effects of the events of the times in the lives of the characters could have been dealt with more attention.
This novel comes very handy in the light of the recurrent upheavals in Sudan, and is a good recommendation for anyone seeking to gain a bit of understanding about the region.
River Spirit is a profound novel from Sudan’s most widely-read author. Known for her profound writing, this particular book excels for its riches in the lessons of history and the force driving it and how it enables the reader to look inwards on its account.
Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera is a writer and community builder. He is the author of the novel, “Loss is an Aftertaste of Memories”, and the poetry chapbook, “Painter of Love”. Follow him on Twitter @Chukwuderaedozi.