Afterlives

Afterlives reveals the subordination of women with particular clarity. The women of Tanzanian society belong to their male relatives and are frequently at their mercy. Women in the narrative are often treated like personal property and must conform to strict gender norms. Through the experiences of Asha and Afiya in particular, the subjugation of women is revealed, exposing the patriarchal oppression that exists in tandem with colonial oppression.  

When Asha’s parents die, she passes into the lordship of her uncle, Amur, someone she detests. Although she should have inherited her parents’ home, Amur claims it in lieu of Asha’s father’s unpaid debts. Amur then gives her—literally—in marriage to Khalifa. Asha’s consent is not sought for the marriage, and she does not even meet her groom until after the marriage has taken place. While Khalifa proves to be a kind and loving husband, Asha’s good fortune is a simple stroke of luck: She had no choice in the marriage.  

Afiya belongs to the generation of women after Asha, and her own life is also dictated by men for most of her youth. She is abused by her uncle and male cousin, and is even left with a permanently damaged hand after an especially violent outburst. Her only hope of escape is through other men: Her older brother Ilyas rescues her, and then after he goes to war, she has to ask Khalifa to intervene once her uncle’s abuse becomes unendurable. Afiya also learns as she matures that adolescence means learning and strictly adhering to a stern set of purity rules. When Afiya is 12, Asha gives her a kanga, a brightly-colored wraparound, with the command: “To preserve decency you must cover yourself when you go out” (80). As she becomes a teenager, the purity rules extend to avoiding touching, eye contact, or speaking with men. These heavy restrictions upon her behavior emphasize the lack of freedom women have in comparison to the men.

Afiya, at 16, then finds herself in a precarious position as Asha and Khalifa debate whether it is time to arrange a marriage for Afiya. The first two suitors who propose to Afiya do so through her elders. Afiya’s refusal to marry either man infuriates Asha, who believes that it is not fitting for a young woman to be single. While Afiya is not forced into a marriage the way Asha was, the pressure she faces to marry underscores the lack of options available to a young woman in her time and culture.

However, there are some hints in the novel that the status of women can potentially change. When Afiya falls in love with Hamza, she decides to take control and pursue what her heart desires on her own terms. She knows that her own friends would not understand her: “She was a woman, they would say, and in the end all a woman had was her honor and was she sure he deserved the risk” (206, emphasis added). Afiya rejects this obsession with “honor” and the limitations placed upon her as “a woman” in a patriarchal society: Instead, she goes to Hamza’s room in secret, where they consummate their love. She then accepts Hamza’s proposal and marries immediately, according to her own wishes. In this way, Afiya represents hope for the next generation of women: Change may come gradually in Tanzanian society, the novel suggests, but enterprising women are finding a way forward in defiance of patriarchal norms.