Homegoing

The matriarch of the two family lines, Maame is mostly defined by her absence in “Effia,” a mysterious figure who sets a fire that sweeps across Ghana. She leaves a necklace for Effia that will be passed down through the generations. In “Esi,” Maame appears as a loving mother who “had never been able to stay mad at Esi for longer than a few seconds” (33). She is described as “terrified of fire” and haunted by the rape she endured while a house girl to Cobbe Otcher (33). Esi realizes that “Maame was not a whole woman” as their village is raided and she disappears into the night (42).

Maame reappears to Akua in her dreams as the firewoman, although the narrative does not name her explicitly. She communicates the family history to Akua in dreams, where she is pictured holding “two babies to her heart” (177). When the babies disappear, the firewoman’s sadness turns into flames that spread across the trees. While her appearance in these dreams is destructive at first, Akua’s interactions with Maame leads to a better understanding of their family’s destructive role and traumatic past.