The Plantation

From the beginning, it is clear that Namidi’s discovery will lead to destruction and death. This foreshadowing is primarily conveyed through the thoughts and questions of Mama Efe, who is the first to ask if an explosion is the likely consequence of Namidi’s plan to gather gas. She asks about fire, while simultaneously imagining the people “writhing in flames” and seeing “grotesque-looking figures being planted in the ground” (79). After Namidi assures her that his quest will be successful, Mama Efe thinks to herself that “this thing is a ghoulish business and will come to no good” (80). At each point that Mama Efe’s thoughts are described, she thinks either that the plan to gather gas will result in death or that Namidi will ruin them with his rigidness.

“The Plantation” focuses on nature and the conflict between the natural and human worlds. As a result, the narrative often gives human characteristics to nonhuman or inanimate objects, and animal attributes to humans. In describing the fires and explosions at the end of the story as Ochuko runs back to his father’s hut, the narrator says, “[T]he demons picked up pace, screaming and gathering behind him in a swift veil of smoke and blackness” (84).