The Famished Road

Dad sleeps on, while the road itself experiences nightmares. The rainy season is more relentless than usual, and the beggars suffer under the torrential downpours. They sometimes try to fulfill Dad’s wishes for them to be useful, picking up trash in the streets. Yet he sleeps on, missing the entire season. With Dad not working and Mum caring for him, there is no money, and the family grows hungry again.

While Dad sleeps, he “was redreaming the world” (492). Azaro dips into his dreams on occasion and sees that he is trying to bring about a more just world without hunger, greedy landlords, or coercive political thugs. Dad is impatient; he does not want to wait for this world to come to fruition, even knowing that these changes take time.

In the meantime, Madame Koto “grew more powerful with the rainy season” (495). Her desire for money and power contradicts Dad’s dreams of justice and fairness, Azaro thinks. He believes the political factions are also fighting it out in the spirit world. There are attempts to restore balance, and Azaro knows that “a cycle [is] coming to an end” (497). Dad finally awakes and speaks of having an open heart and an open mind for the new times that are coming.