Out of her Senses
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009
by Rahaman Onike
CRITIQUE OF THE NOVEL: OUT OF HER SENSES
The novel, out of her senses is a 203 pages literary work and it is one of the titles or literary production in the creative minds series published in Nigeria by Crescent Publishers in the year 2008. The novelist, Wakeel Salawu has tried to lend a new voice to the world of African literature with the book, out of her senses. The work which is sociological in conception has well defined setting in terms of time and space. The setting are located in Oyo, Ibadan, Abeokuta and Lagos. The descriptions of the setting given by the writer are real, believable and social realities.
The characterization of the novel by Wakeel Salawu focuses the problems and the challenges of youth development. There are major and minor characters in the novel. The major characters are Shina, Toyin, Moji, Funmi and Wale. Wakeel succeeds in portraying the protagonist of the narration as brilliant, humble, oratorical and as a courageous person.
As a good book of literature, the protagonist is made to appear real through his disposition in the novel. Shina, the protagonist exhibits the usual tendency of a young man by living a couple's life on campus, double dating two ladies Toyin and Funmi, engages in pre-marital sex and scolding at unruly behaviour of Toyin, his girl friend.
Toyin as a major character is presented as a young lady whose choice of man is dictated by materialism. By my own assessment, the work do not include adequate atrocious behaviours of this character to justify the role she plays in the novel. Ditto for Funmi. There is little focus and attention on specific misdemeanours of Funmi to show her level of moral corruption in the novel.
The minor characters used in developing the themes of the novel are relevant. Some of the minor characters like Taiwo, Moses, Dele, Olusola etc. act as confidants to Shina, the protagonist in the novel. However, the writer is careful enough by not allowing any of the minor characters to overshadow the main characters. Nonetheless, some characters that have little to do with the furthering of the narration are used by the writer. The protagonist in the novel is portrayed by the writer as a person that believes in fighting against social injustice, oppression and deprivation. He displays admirable attitude, courage and knowledge. Hard work, diligence and strong will of Shina, the hero in the novel is a good source of motivation for the upcoming youths.
Indeed, Shina as the main character is made to feature in each of the settings. Shina's characterization is typical of a modern day young man with vision for social justice. Whereas Toyin's characterization is a reality of culture of materialism among ladies of nowadays. The lives of the characters are masterfully woven into the Nigerian campus experience with specific emphasis on illegal levies by the University Authorities, imposition of handouts by the lecturers, deployment of police to Nigerian campuses any time there is students' disturbances and police brutality and use of fire arms on students. The writer however succeeds in portraying the attitude of the characters to reflect and revolve round the problems and challenges of educational development.
The plot of the novel are carefully arranged to mirror and depict the true realities in the nation's Ivory tower. Again, the plot revolves around the fight for the affection between friends, lust, jilt and consequential crisis of choice among youngsters as depicted by two undergraduates. The work essentially presents a mature vision of reality in the contemporary Nigerian society. In essence, Wakeel Salawu succeeds in creating the chaos which is reminiscent in the nation's academia today using his power of imagination.
The work clearly shows the interest of the writer in sport, journalism and literary arts. In developing his theme, he chooses issues of cultism, examination malpractices, drug abuse, prostitution, sexual harazzment of students, love and lust among undergraduates, jilt, regret etc. Therefore the themes developed in this narration are love; lust; friendship; reconciliation; regret; jilt; exploitation and oppression. However, the dominant themes are love, jilt and regret and they are properly handled by the novelist in the book out of her senses .
The thematic message of the novel is causes and effects of moral decadence and degeneration in contemporary society. Wakeel expertly paints the picture of campus life in constructing his setting and characterization using acceptable tone, style, diction and prose rhythm. In this richly textured narrative, Wakeel explores his imaginative knowledge to give meaning and aesthetic value to the novelistic production. Although there is little to non symbolism and rhetoric in the novel which are necessary literary devices to increase the quality of the work.
Through his inclusion of proverbs, folktales, folklore and Yoruba traditional songs, the writer creates an impression that he is a keen lover of Yoruba cultural norms, values and custom. In this novel, Wakeel manages to capture and convey the rhythms, structures, cadences and beauty of Yoruba language, custom, tradition and poetry. With his innovative approach, the writer succeeds in enriching African Literature using Yoruba poetical rendition such as praise singing to celebrate the exalted throne of Alaafin of Oyo. Also, the novelist tactfully reinforces the potentials and historical pre-eminence of Oyo as the historical headquarters of Yoruba race.
The title of the novel, out of her senses is appropriate and relevant considering the theme, plot, characterization, setting and thematic focus of the writer. Specifically, the role played by Toyin in the narration makes the choice of the title suitable. There may be no better title than that if one considers how the story ended. Toyin's temperament and material consciousness largely contributes to her decision to jilt Shina the hero of the narration. Obviously, there is a correlation between the title, plot and the thematic focus of the writer. Wakeel mastery of the art of the story telling is evident from his organization of the themes, characterization and the use of language.
The book equally focuses the evils associated with Valentine day which is 14th day of February (pg. 109). The role of Mr. Syvester, one of the characters in the novel, is a relevant example of corrupt lecturers that usually impose handouts on the students. The Author believes in celebrating achievements and this reflects in the award giving ceremony organized by Shina, the President of the Students' Union Government in the novel. The novel as a result of the character of the hero shows the fallibility of man. Shina, the protagonist that had been warned by his parents before entering the university, still harboured Toyin in his room on Campus.
The elements of suspense and surprise heighten the curiosity and anxiety of the reader from the beginning till the end of the story. He excels in the description of characters. The third person narrative presents are consciously used by the writer to enliven the readers. No doubt, the novel has pleasure-giving quality at first and subsequent readings.
In this novel, Wakeel set out to expose the ugly facets of life on campus. The Wakeel's university campus is one in which bribery, corruption, nepotism, cultism, graft etc are firmly established and deeply rooted. In the same vein, the novelist successfully reflects the language situation in Nigerian campus using colloquialism, slangs, argots and the use of pidgin English.
The novel compels attention to socio-cultural background of the writer and his personal interest. The style and approach used by the writer show that the novelist is a literary minded person, debater, activist and that he is argumentative in nature. He devotes a great deal of space to import of logic in debate, intricacies of the students' unionism in Nigerian campuses and moral issues. Also, it is evident that the writer is a good humourist and he proves the effect of poetry and songs as tools to express love. He portrays the decadence in the students' unionism, poor health and infrastructural facilities, state of insecurity in Nigerian campuses. Apparently, Wakeel's sense of proverb is profound among those that are contained in the novel is The groom to whom the bride is being brought does not peep over the fence'.
An innovative and interesting aspect of Wakeel's novel is the consistent condemnation of social vices based on religious and moral values. The novel is innately enjoyable because it is imaginative, orderly and for his dramatic and aesthetic qualities. Indeed, the extensive use of dialogue gives the novel the effect of rapidity in the development of the themes and plots which characterize and represent the major features of the novel.
As a matter of fact, the Author succeeds in sustaining the reader's interest throughout the narration using good style, dialogue and good sentential order. The twenty five chapters novel is socially relevant. In conclusion, the role played by Toyin reveals that she is truly out of her senses . The target readership are principally the youths, so the characters are developed by the writer to reflect the sociological and psychological behaviours and attitudes of the youths. The novel is therefore recommended for its high quality, in terms of readerbility, exploitability, imagination and social relevance.
Evidently, there are few typographical errors and errors of syntax including spelling and punctuation flaws observed in the novel which could have been corrected in the course of proof reading. Besides the writer fails to proffer solution to social vices listed in the novel. It is like he gives more attention to causes than the therapeutic and control strategies. The book is therefore considered rich and valuable to students, writers, academic, artisans, parents and even government in the campaign and struggle against social vices which is prevalence among the Nigerian youths.
By
Onike Rahaman
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