The Plantation

“But such noble thoughts soon evaporated as he turned the matter over in his mind. Yes, it was surely petrol, but of what benefit would this be to him? There was an opportunity here, if only the meddling of the villagers would let him. Then a small grin lit up his face. Yes, he knew what to do.”

Namidi’s conflict is apparent in these lines, which mirror the struggle between nature and civilization embodied in the placement of pipelines under the plantation. His intention to stop the leak and alert the village head evaporates just as the liquid petrol flows, and the small grin lighting up his face foreshadows the fire and explosions that soon occur as a result of the leak.

“‘He looks like he has seen a ghost,’ another said, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘And he has this smell around him,’ another one added. ‘It smells like something they use with their rubber,’ said another one. They stared at the departing figure and shook their heads in puzzlement.”

The discussion among the women of the village after Namidi avoids his normal conversations with them is another example of foreshadowing. The plantation, a place of life and nature, will soon become a place of death and devastation, and Namidi will be a ghost. The use of the term “departing” is another clue that many of the villagers will soon become the departed, as they die trying to gather petrol.

“Namidi moved as quickly as he could, his heart full of intent. Some riches are too hard won, he thought to himself, too long waited for to be shared, especially in this village where no man lacked the capacity for greed and treachery.”

Namidi gives voice to one of the major conflicts of “The Plantation.” In a narrative that centers on a conflict about the power of nature, Namidi’s lines describe human nature and Namidi’s pessimistic view of it and the village. His desire not to share the gasoline bubbling from the plantation is explained by his claim that no one in the village can or will share these riches.

“Namidi felt diminished each time he saw his boy playing in the sand while the school bells rang in the distance. It seemed as if the bells in his mind started clanging loudly at the thought, willing him to return to the plantation with the utmost haste.”

The narrator explores Namidi's motivations for his dangerous quest to gather gasoline. The school bells become a symbol of his failure as a father and a constant reminder of his poverty. The sound of these bells is further internalized as it becomes an image of his mental determination to face the hazards of the pipeline. Namidi will work in the earth, while he hears this mental clanging, so that his son can go to school instead of playing in the sand.

“In her mind, there appeared a great flash of blurred images writhing inside a great flame; of grotesque-looking figures being planted in the ground; and of grey-clothed people standing around the fresh mounds of soil, with a charged, funereal quality”

Namidi’s wife, Mama Efe, is wary of the quest to collect the gasoline. As she accompanies her husband and children to the site of the leak, she imagines the likely consequences. This quotation articulates that fear, using figurative language to depict people as lifeless trees planted in the ground alongside fire-covered bodies. Foreshadowing the end of “The Plantation,” Mama Efe’s thoughts connect the planting of bodies to the burying of dead people.

“Namidi, his wife and three children carved an old, almost patriarchal procession as they left the house with huge, empty cans.”

In this quotation, Adagha uses figurative language in his depiction of Namidi’s journey to the plantation to gather gasoline. The use of “carved” refers back to the paths toward the plantation, mentioned at the beginning, that are cut through the plantation. Noting that they created an “old, almost patriarchal procession” also suggests that they are static and traditional, like a wood carving.

“On the third trip to the plantation they were accosted by Jackson—a greasy-looking youth from the village with a Boy Scouts scarf tied around his neck.”

This quotation offers a characterization of Jackson, the only character who has a Western name. As someone who spreads the news and gossip in the village, he is depicted as “greasy” in a story about the danger of pipelines, leaks, oil, and gasoline. Reflecting a hybrid of traditional figures and Western culture, Jackson wears a Boy Scouts scarf and asks Namidi sarcastically if he works for Shell.

“He said not a word but she knew darkness was brewing within him—the way he flicked his head with irritation, and slashed his cutlass at the swaying creepers. It made her all the more nervous, the entire business.”

Mama Efe characterizes Namidi as a figure of darkness. She is filled with fear, as he reacts “with irritation” and slashes at the grass on the way to the plantation. The characterization of his inner darkness might also be compared to the pipeline, carrying oil and gas, before it leaks and explodes.

“Away to the right, to the left, and all around, the plantation sparked with keen contests as the people jostled and fought with each other for space around the site. Metal pans and buckets clashed and flashed in the sweltering heat like weapons of survival.”

This quotation depicts the battle of the villagers as they jostle for position and try to grab as much gasoline as possible. The containers that they use to gather this gasoline are compared to “weapons of survival.” This figurative language makes clear how desperate this struggle is for the villagers.

“But it flowed on still, steadily giving in to the ceaseless mania of sucking, the avid thirst of animals long deprived of natural milk.”

This quotation describes the pipeline leak at the plantation and the fighting of the adults. In a sign of the human’s animalistic desires, these villagers are described using figurative, zoomorphic language, with the gasoline compared to milk and the humans compared to animals thirsty for that milk.

“To the children, the fortune hunters presented hearty entertainment. They giggled with glee at the sound of high-pitched voices drawn tight with tension; as grown men charged and shoved riotously at each other; as here and there a woman lost her footing, and rolled in a heap in the slimy soil.”

In this quotation, Ochuko and Onome watch the adults fight over the gasoline. This passage is full of sensory details, as the two boys hear and see the conflict. These details are conveyed through alliteration, or the repetition of initial consonants, from the pairs of “hunter” and “hearty,” “giggled” and “glee,” and “slimy” and “soil.”

“In a flash, he was up on his feet and running off towards the village clearing. He ran, followed by the acrid smell of burnt chicken feathers; by the long grasses and the screaming demons that leaped up and down behind him.”

This quotation describes the immediate aftermath of the explosion, and the imagery gives rich sensory detail. Ochuko smells the burning of chickens and feels the long grasses of the plantation as he runs toward home. The personification of fire as demonic beings gives a new view of Ochuko’s play-acting. He was playing games before the explosion, but his imagination and play take on a sinister tone when he sees the monstrous nature of the fire.

“It was there, under the bed, that Ochuko waited for them. He was breathless, but elated by his escape from the smoking demons.”

After the explosion, Ochuko runs away from the flames and explosions. The fire and explosions seem monstrous and demonic to him, and the fires are personified as demons. He retreats to his home and hides under his mother’s bed. Although the story depicts a patriarchal society, Ochuko associates his mother with protection and safety.