THE MULTIFACETED FACE OF A WOMAN: A REVIEW OF EUNICE NGONGKUM’S WEN MEN NTE
Louisa Lum
University of Yaounde 1
lumlouisa@yahoo.com
Title: Wen Men Nte
Author: Eunice Ngong Kum
Publisher: Miraclaire Publishing
Simone de Beauvoir urges women to write about themselves implying that a woman should paint their experiences without fear of the patriarchal notion that women’s experiences are trivial. Julie Krestevia in Revolution in Poetic Language observes that there is a need for feminine space which she calls the chora wherein feminine ideas and world view can flourish without being corrupted by patriarchy. Eunice Ngongkum’s Wen Men Nte exemplifies such a space wherein the veil is dropped and the multifaceted face of the woman is revealed. For the purpose of this review, subthemes have been selected to explore the varied facets in the work. These parts include burial of the death, the scheming bitch, the cheerless giver and the valiant activist.
In Wen Men Nte Ngongkum unveils what is on a woman’s mind which is quite intriguing and varied. There is always the notion that feminine ecriture is biased and favours the woman over the man but a reading of Wen Men Nte completely dispels such misgivings since the author tells it as it is. In burial of the death, there is a realistic painting of the emotions that go through the mind of a woman at the funeral of supposedly a loved one. This myriad of emotions is evident in Last Minute Rights wherein the protagonist is brutally honest with her feelings. She considers the VIP treatment given to her during her husband’s funeral ceremony as last minute rights. Her relief is evident and even in death she finds it difficult to cook up tender feelings for the husband. A philandering husband who neglected his wife and children, though she remained a good wife and helped him enormously when he was sick. Yet even in illness the callous man does not ask for the wife’s forgiveness. The sense of freedom is strong and watching the other unofficial wives and illegitimate children parade the scene she can only think of her new status as a happy widow. Society expects her to mourn and she puts up a performance for them, though she almost spoils that act by nearly laughing out when the preacher prays that Tee’s soul should find heavenly bliss. To the lady, God will be a joker to allow her husband anywhere near heaven.
In Lachrymose Dues for Kedungmbi, the author depicts a grieving mother whose desolation makes her cruel. She laments that her daughter’s death comes from the fact that she marries an unsuitable man in the name of love. Love has finally killed her and that Kedungmbi would still be alive if she had chosen a more suitable husband. This is outrage for the mourners who become embarrassed at such ranting. It becomes evident therefore that the lachrymose dues are held back out of embarrassment. Yet when Ewondzeng arrives on the scene she puts a stop to the mother’s foolishness. According to her, what matters at the moment is giving their dead daughter her final dues and not cutting down another’s son. She starts a dirge which the mourners pick up thereby avoiding the outrage that the mother had sparked. From this perspective, one realises how successfully Ngongkum breaches the gap between the poetics of feminism and post-feminism. She presents it as it is without favour of her fellow women, what is wrong is wrong and that which is right is so.
The scheming bitch is also seen in Ngongkum’s Wen Men Nte. These constitute a group of women who will do anything to have their way. Sometimes they find unconventional methods to solve their problems. In Truth is a Person a female student fakes the death of her parents in order to pass an assessment. Here the author expresses her disgust in such lowliness, it is true that Eliti Abang might have had a good reason for not taking the test, yet lying about the death of her parents is abhorrent. Although she gets what she wants, her conscience will always haunt her, it is a lesson to learn that truth is a person and no matter what happens the truth will always come out.
In Accomplished Mission, Ndum Ikum is the woman who will do anything to protect her husband. Her unconventional lifestyle earns her so many fines from women’s groups in her village which she pays promptly. Though her husband is a lazy man she makes him respectable by working hard and catering for his needs, yet never undermining his manhood. She outsmarts a randy man who wants to take advantage of her because of her desperation. At the end she brings food to her family a feat that is commissioned only for men in her village. Although she clearly wears the pants in the relationship she does not brag about it. In this light, the author seems to be suggesting that the man or the woman can take the role of provider in the home, but this does not emasculate the man or makes the woman vain.
The scheming bitch in The Minister’s Wife brings to mind the idea of karma. What goes around comes around is the warning that Ngongkum seems to be sounding to her fellow women. Laura Ndentang is the lady who works hard to make sure that her husband gets a ministerial portfolio. This feat is rewarded and the author takes the reader into a private moment wherein the protagonist is reflecting on her achievement. Her conscience judges her severely because of the unconventional things she does for this appointment to come true. She attempts to justify that all these things like the nocturnal liaisons with political godfathers and medicine men were for her husband. The question the author seems to pose is what about the fidelity pledge Laura makes to her husband, does gaining a ministerial position compensate for infidelity and can Laura live a happy life with all these on her conscience. The fact that the first visitors who come to celebrate her husband’s success are the senators and the medicine man she slept with is suggestive of the fact that happiness might not be her due.
Another female which Ngongkum explore in her work is the cheerless giver. This is the individual who makes sacrifices to her family hoping to be an example of charity yet no one thanks or repays her for her effort. Rose Umfern in Arrows of Treachery is an individual who has sacrificed everything she has for the growth of her family. Yet the family seems to think it is her obligation to continue solving everyone’s problems though they are now independent and well to do. Rose comes to the realisation that ‘privileged exemption from family responsibility is not for her’ (20). She is a good example of the proverbial willing horse that is ridden to death since her own problems are ignored. Her mother even questions how she got into a financial problem after being a civil servant for so many years. The arrows of treachery pierce her heart when her cousin promises to help her and keeps her waiting in the bank all day. The fact that she even paid the cousin’s flight ticket to travel abroad does not even make her considerate. Rose stands out at the end as the giver who is given nothing in return. Here the biblical statement that God loves a cheerful giver does not imply since giving implies taking.
Trapped depicts another cheerless giver who seems fed up with what she considers her family’s exploitation. The travel motif explored by the author enhances the turmoil in the protagonist’s mind, just like the stuffy bus, she seemed to be trapped in dreary life. One in which she gives and is unappreciated. It becomes really painful when the lady observes that no one loved her. The raison d’être of her journey is to give her ungrateful family a piece of her mind. Ngongkum being the master storyteller that she is twists the plot by making the protagonist to overhear a conversation between two other passengers. The case is similar to hers since the individual is complaining about the ungrateful nature of his kids which he has given a good life to. He concludes that he will never forgive them yet his friend begs him to change his mind. Doloreen arrives home and becomes impotent in the presence of a family that seems to love her a lot. She is quite disarmed by the words of the stranger in the bus ‘vengeance is cheap, forgiveness is not’ (147).
The valiant activist is another facet of the woman that Ngongkum explores in Wen Men Nte. These are women who refuse to be daunted despite the mitigating circumstances they are facing. In Nintai Justice Bessemanyor is frustrated at the laxity of law and inequality of justice that people of the Second Syllable receive in her country. Her cousin’s case is adjourned because the presiding judge does not speak the Second Syllable. His final remarks are provocative ‘si, tu ne parles pas mon syllable, tant pis. Tu retournes en prison. Eh oui, jusqu’acequetu t’exprimesen mon patois’ (30). It is therefore clear that Okenyi is now being prosecuted for his inability to speak the First Syllable and not for the crime he might have committed. This is what incenses Bessem since she sees the justice system as a tool of marginalisation. The country has two languages of administration yet one language and those who speak it are marginalised. The attitude is terrible because it gives opportunists the right to take advantage of people’s sufferings and weaknesses and extort money from them. She refuses to bribe the judge as her cousin demands since she considers them as ‘children of one father’ (33). By circulating pamphlets during a court session and speaking against marginalisation on the basis of language during a court session, Bessem makes a point which gets the attention of those in authority. Her cousin is released and some justice is served.
In Daughter of the Gods Matichi risks her marriage to find a better place for her people. Initially she is considered a lunatic and even her husband runs away from her. Believing in her vision, she migrates and finds the dreamland wherein she works hard and gains a lot of wealth. Others come and settle in this new found land and even the husband who abandoned her realises his error and comes to be with her. Her industrious nature is evident in the prosperity and happiness that her village enjoys.
From the foregone paragraphs, one appreciates the finesse in the art of storytelling seen in the sophisticated metaphors and images that Ngongkum employs. Ngongkum is a master storyteller par excellence as she captures the reader’s attentions and compels them to travel with her through the labyrinth that constitutes her protagonists’ minds. The raison d’être of folklore is to teach a morale and this, the author does with class evident in the several lessons that the stories teach like the merit of forgiveness, the pleasure of giving, the joy of loving and being loved, the merits of fraternity among others. A reading of Wen Men Nte showcases the movement from feminist to postfeminist discourse, as the author creates a space for feminine ideas and ideologies yet invites the man to share in this feminine glory.