A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF MAURICE UDOM’S THE BLIND GODS

Etim, Ebuk Patrick

Department of Linguistics, University of Uyo, Uyo
ABSTRACT
This paper. “A stylistic Analysis of The blind gods, by Maurice Udom examines how the author has used the resources
of language to project the feminist concerns of the liberation of women from the strangle-hold of patriarchy in the
African societies. The linguistic theory applied is Hallidayan Systemic Grammar model, with the literary theory of
Feminism serving as a backup approach to the analysis. In the introduction, we have looked at what the situation was
with earliest male writers before the advent of the new breed, the latest of whom Maurice Udom represents. This is
followed by statement of the problem which necessitated this exercise. We have also sampled the few available
critical positions of experts on The blind gods. The study has revealed that the author has employed a number of
linguistic as well as stylistic devices to project how certain cultural practices, particularly male-dominance in
phallocentric African societies, have acted to prevent women from realizing their full potentials as a human beings.
For example, the male-constructed institution, Ekpo Nkagwo, executes unfair judgment against the women.
Linguistically, Udom has used hypotactic and paratactic clause types in constructing the message of his text. Equally,
many stylistic devices such as proverbs and foreshadow are employed to deliver his theme. Finally, it is hoped that this
effort should be found worthwhile by those who may wish to do further linguistic study of The blind gods.

INTRODUCTION
Femininity, language and style in The Blind gods.
This paper’s objective is to examine in what ways Maurice Udom has deployed the resources of language and style
in deconstructing patriarchy (male dominance) in the African societies as seen in the literary works of earliest
Nigerian male writers such as Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Wole Soyinka, Elechi Amadi, etc. Maurice Udom is
a member of the group of younger Nigerian writers whose thematic pre-occupation, like others before them, is to
hold a mirror to the society to see itself by highlighting such social ills that stifle the society and stunt its growth,
and by so doing, point up a way for the society to realize its mistakes and adjust itself in order to achieve the full
potentials of development and advancement.
Feminist perspectives before Maurice Udom
Female writing in Nigeria, which began with Flora Nwapa’s Efuru (1966), was a response to male-created
literature which represents the woman as a second-class citizen, a second fiddle to be seen, not heard. Eko (In:
Ekpa, 1997:1 56) captures this depiction of the female image in male literature as follows:
The female portraiture at the time was restricted to these writers’ valley of idealization, rigid conventionality,
functioning either as symbols or as instruments for the elevation of the hero’s ego, or as pets to satisfy his whims.
Women were usually assigned certain menial and demeaning roles in line with the society’s perception of woman.
In fact, women, as stated above, were a thing to be seen, possessed and used at the pleasure of men and never to
be heard. They were to be “stored” in harems by men to be used for their pleasure and for procreation. This state
is again portrayed by Oko (In: Eko, E., Oko, J. and Oko, E. (eds): Flora Flora Nwapa: Critical Perspectives, 1997:42)
thus: “where women were not wives or mothers, they were prostitutes, temptresses, seductive concubines or
money-lovers”.
Feminism as a literary theory was thus introduced by women to reverse these wrongly constructed concepts of
women in male literature, and to redefine the position of women in the order of things, particularly in patriarchal
societies which celebrated male pre-eminence and dominance.
The need for the study
Since there is an acute dearth of critical study on Maurice Udom, being a very young writer, this has thrown up
three imperatives to do the following:
To establish that in the feminist tradition, which is largely populated by women, Maurice Udom has come as a
refreshing male voice.
To see how the work, The blind gods has contributed to the portrayal of institutionalized patriarchy in the typical
Annang, or any African traditional society.
To apply a linguistic stylistic approach in investigating samples of discourse taken from the text.
Theoretical framework
The study utilizes Halliday’s Systemic Grammar framework for its linguistic analysis while employing the literary
theory of Feminism in examining the author’s projection of feminist concerns in the text.
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE BLIND GODS
As a young writer, Maurice Udom has not received the required critical attention that older writers have enjoyed.
What we could glean was from the foreword and the blurb of The blind gods. In assessing the feminist dialectics of
the text, Rev. Thomas S. Ebong (2004) says:
The blind gods, without mentioning the words African Feminism for once has qualified as a strong voice for the
silenced voices of African women, it has dared them to dream big. it has dared them not just to see things and ask
why but to dream of things and ask why not, why can’t we do it?
He adds: The blind gods is like a mirror of the silent struggles of the African women and the dream of their will to
regain their full freedom and the right to express themselves in society: a right to opine that when a woman dies at
childbirth, the reason may be medical rather than adulterous, a right to seek same moral codes and equal justice
for men and women.
Equally, Udondatta, (2004) on the blurb of the work, attests to the feminist bent of the text:
If the issues of chauvinism and dominance are tackled by feminist philosophers, there is yet another dimension of
the female condition in Annang traditional society.... the traditional practice of Ekpo Nkagwo is as real as it is
portrayed by the author, but how soon will the practice be rid of the Annang traditional society is another matter.
In the same vein, Susan Udoka (2004) sees The blind gods as “flashing the pictures of the attempts by women to
stamp out an obnoxious practice which is indeed a re-enactment of the modern-day Sharia”. The summation of
these critical positions on the author and the text is that it is far more than average, intellectually satisfying and
fascinating to read. The text is particularly said to be ‘a heartrending drama for all ages”- the blurb.
The message
The blind gods is a portrayal of an institutionalized patriarchy in an imaginary Annang Community called Afon. In
this community, the men have instituted a traditional god of infidelity to mediate and moderate the conduct of
married women who defy the tenets and sanctity of the marriage institution by committing adultery. This god of
infidelity or Ekpo Nkagwo metes out maximum punishment by killing, during child-birth, any married woman
who engages in extra-marital sexual acts.
This Nkagwo deity is instituted by men so as to establish their strangle-hold on the women and subject them to
their whims and authority. Whereas the woman who commits adultery is killed by Ekpo Nkagwo on birth stool,
the lover (the male accomplice) is allowed to go unpunished or given a free license to prowl the community and
“haunt down” other married women for their early graves. Whatever comes in form of punishment for the male is
usually a few miserable items of food stuffs and drinks which, of course, the male elders gleefully cook, eat and
drink at the shrine after the women have departed. In fact, it is literally giving a pat on the back, as it were, to one
of their own for a job well-done.
This injustice of summary death for such women forces the women as a group, led by their leaders, to launch a
powerful protest with a threat of destroying the deity if the men do not see the need to abolish the god or at best
make it give equal punishment to the two parties invoked in the practice, since it takes two to tangle in any
situation of adultery. Instead of the men seeing reason with the women, they conspired and send the women
leaders into exile for eighteen months. While in exile, however, the women leaders, through their contact, Adiaha,
back home, come in possession of a fact that Ekpo Nkagwo attacks the women because at the time of its
institutionalization, the men who did it made it carry the facial appearance of a man, so that whenever it rises, it
attacks the opposite sex; and that if the women could alter these facial marks of the Nkagwo deity to that of a
woman, then, they would have succeeded in turning the deity against the men, since on waking up, it would now
attack the men who engage in adultery with married women.
This alteration is secretly carried out by the women. A confirmation comes when Mkpa, the only bachelor in the
community, dies suddenly after committing adultery with Adiaha, a married woman, who deliberately submits
herself for sex with Mkpa in order to test the efficacy of the action they have just taken. With the women
successfully turning the table against men. The men have no choice than to hurriedly convene an elders’ council
meeting where the gods eventually abolished thus granting the women their much desired freedom from an
unjust and needless death.
That Maurice Udom has used this medium to call for an abrogation of an obnoxious traditional institution is a
strong voice calling for the relaxation of the strangle-hold on the woman in the match for self-realization.
Certainly, the gods “must be blind”, for to be fair, just and equitable means that the gods are “sighted”, a blind god
punishes one party for a crime of two.
STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED DISCOURSE IN THE BLIND GODS
3.1 Graphology: Under graphology, the system of symbols which have been devised by the author to communicate
his language is examined. In doing this, we are guided by the postulations of Crystal (1982:194) that italics,
boldface, capitalization, colour and other graphic variations are the major ways of showing semantic contrasts in
print. Elements of graphology that have special noticeable stylistic significance found in this work a capitalization,
ellipsis, interruption and repetition. Examples are:
Ellipsis: The text is replete with this stylistic device. A few examples will suffice. Ede (Stammering): “She... she is... I
was preparing some cassava foofoo for your breakfast”.
P.1
papa... p.2
Ede, (shivering): She.., she is dressing. P.2
Ikwo: Dear I say no! no... no.. no.. p.4
Blinded by another lover, the Drink? P.44
Think, my daughter, think! P.29
In text 1, the speaker, Ede, is frightened by her father’s glaring and hungry eye as he asks where she has been that
his breakfast is not ready at such a time. The ellipsis used is indication of swallowed words to avoid unpleasant
reaction. Consequently, he changes the subject to what would probably please the father. In text 2, the same girl is
apparently gesturing with her hands after uttering the word “Papa. . .“ and is hushed up by her father who is still
angry with her. In text 3, still Ede, is the focal point, the father is not yet done with her. Ede, afraid of what her
father’s reaction would be, stammers. The ellipsis indicates the state of this confusion in Ede. In text 4, Chief
Anwana’s wife, Ikwo after listening to the conversation between husband and their daughter, storms out to
express her anger at her husbands insinuation about her when conversing with their young daughter. Her first
statement is an exclamation which carries the weight of her deep feeling. The following “no.. .no. . .no” indicates
congested heart where she does not know what to say immediately. In text 5, this is a case of capitalization. The
focus here is on the noun “Drink”. The use of capital letter “D” to begin the word transforms it from common noun
to a proper noun, to give it the necessary prominence. Finally, in text 6, we notice the repetition of the word
“think” and this is done for emphasis.
Foreshadow
. . .1 am happy Ekpo Nkagwo is keeping his eyes wide open. This time it is coming after people like you. You will..,
you will pay for your lecherous iVe style. This time the women will sacrifice a hen, not a rooster, which people like
you have forced the women to use... in exchange for the man who commits adultery ...p.11-12.
In the extract above, Akpan Utere uses this ominous and cryptic statement to foreshadow the truth that will
eventually come to pass in the life of the addressee, Mkpa, the only bachelor in the community. Ekpo Nkagwo as
instituted by men carries the facial appearance of a man, and therefore when it rises, attacks the opposite sex. This
truth was revealed to the women by Akpan Utere, the drunk, through his wife, Adiaha.
To test the efficacy of their action, after altering the facial appearance of the Nkagwo deity to that of a female,
Adiaha submits herself for sex with Mkpa. On rising Ekpo Nkagwo strikes Mkpa to death. The sudden nature of
Mkpa’s death forces the men to find out why, and divination reveals that Mkpa had committed adultery with a
married woman. This confirms the prediction foreshadowed in the extract above.
Parallel structures
In the text, a number of parallel structures are attested as a stylistic device deployed by the author to project his
message. Writing on linguistic parallelism, Yankson (1994: 14) says:
By linguistic parallelism is meant the use of pattern repetition in a literary text for a particular stylistic effect.
Parallelism operates at two levels of linguistic organization. At the phonological, pattern incongruity may take the
form of alliteration, internal and end-rhyme; or stress isochronity in two or more structures. At the semantic level,
lexical items that occur in the same grammatical slot may be either related synonymously or anonymously.
Let us see how this has been applied by the author in the text under examination.
O Great One! Guardian of our marital vow,
And the ensurer of fidelity in marriage! P.8
You, this drunk! P.10
The women leader, Mama Koko, tall, with an imposing figure, dressed in a fashion most women there could not
afford. P. 20.
In extract 1, the invocative “0 Great One” is paralleled with the two other succeeding structures “Guardian our
marital vow” and “the ensurer of fidelity in marriage”. The noun phrases “Great one”, and “guardian of our
marriage” are in paradigmatic relationship with each other and are also synonymously related with the semantic
feature (+ holy). In text 2, the pronoun “You” is also used vocatively to refer to the individual equally referred to as
“this drunk”. The structure “this drunk” is used as a parallel structure to the subjective pronoun “you”. Both the
word “you” and the phrase “this Drunk!” are paradigmatically related to each other. In text 3, the phrase
“The women leader...” and the word “Mama Koko” are parallel structures which are also paradigmatically related
as well as being synonymously related with the semantic feature (+ HUMAN). The adjective “tall” and the phrase
“with an imposing structure” are both synonymously as well as paradigmatically related with the semantic feature
(+ HEIGHT). The verbal elements “dressed” and “could (not) afford” are in paradigmatic relationship and are also
in antonymous relationship with each other. “Dressed” is contrasted with “could not afford”, where the complete
utterance could have been “could not afford to dress”.

Use of proverbs
Proverb imbues our speeches with colour and beauty and carries with it the wisdom of the ancient. Igboanusi
(1995:177) says “among the Igbos, proverbs is seen as the oil with which words are garnished”. Norrick (In:
Afunanya, 2007: 48) while analyzing proverb, posits that the proverb carries the image of:
Concrete description of scene, which can be generalized to yield abstract truth. Proverbs are usually influenced by
the cultural background of the user Proverb is one of the fixed socio linguistic choices that every writer is duty-
bound to submit himself How a writer handles proverbs determines a critic’s assessment of it as whether
successful or not.
Some writers simply force or drag in proverbs in unfitting and improper places. In this work, the author laces his
discourse with profound proverbs and this article aims to assess their overall impact in the dialogues they are
used in. Samples of the proverbs are:
It is really true that a person’s worst enemy is that of his household. P.4
A frog does not fall into the pit the same day it is dug. P.5
It is often said that it is easy to give a mad man palm wine to drink but difficult to retrieve the gourd. P. 23.
You don’t scratch your ringworms with force else you spill blood. p.25
How do you handle a prey that is rounded and thorny? P.38
In proverb 1, Ikwo uses this in reply to her husband, Chief Anwana, who predicts that his wife would be caught by
Ekpo Nkagwo like her dead friend, Mama Titi. In proverb 2, Chief Anwana is dismissing his wife’s protestation that
she is innocent of his accusation of fidelity. The meaning is that his wife can feign innocence since she is not yet
caught by the all-seeing Ekpc Nkagwo. Mama Koko uses this Proverb 3 to warn the women of the inherent danger
of attacking the Ekpo Nkagwo and its shrine without adequate leg-work. The action suggested b some women
amounts to giving a mad man palm wine with the attendant problem of how to retrieve your gourd. Any action to
be taken should be well thought out. In 4, Ikwo, the Chiefs wife is offended by the decision of the women to attack
the craft image of Ekpo Nkagwo to ensure their freedom. She and her daughter are walking out but Udoro, the
woman who uses this proverb, calls her back to her seat and advises; “you don’t solve a problem by approaching it
with force” which is the essence of this proverb. In proverb 5, Chief Anwana is in a confused state over the action
of the women in turning Ekpo Nkagwo against men. He does not know the extent to which these women have
gone and what solution to proffer. The only sensible thing to do is to abolish the deity completely with
repercussive consequence of the death of many elders in this circumstance, the aptness of this proverb cannot be
faulted.
Figures of speech
Figures of speech are expressions that writers deploy to de-automatize language and shock us into a fresh
awareness of the linguistic resources. Tropes add something new, something surprising to the way and manner
language is used. In The blind gods, the author has made use of a few figurative expressions. For instance, verbal
transference is employed on a few occasions. Examples are:
Marriage is a cult. p. 13
Our husbands would make their hammer of anger fall on us without mercy, without love p.42
We quickly rest on the breast of our hope... p.53
The three extracts above are examples of verbal transference.
In this figure, a comparison is normally made between two objects of dissimilar natures but which retain some
resemblance without the use of “as” or “like”. In text 1, Atete compares “marriage” to “a cult”. Marriage is an
institution established by God for procreation and continuity of the human race. Therefore, it is positive. This is
against an evil or negative institution of cultism. The only resemblance they share is that it is when you are willing
and ready that you are initiated into them. The statement is used to repel Mkpa, the bachelor who wants his kind
to be allowed to take part in the ritual of cleansing after a woman dies of adultery.
In extract 2, the phrase “hammer of anger” is a verbal transference. Here, the abstract, “anger” is compared to a
hammer in terms of hardness in order to concretize it. Lastly, in text 3, “resting on the breast of hope”, quickly
brings to mind a baby blissfully sweeping on the breast of its mother. Here, hope provides the platform on which
their travails and tribulations are mitigated.
Deviation
Deviation is a pragmatic way of using language to achieve an expedient communicative need. Generally, its usage,
most of the time does not conform to what can be termed standard usage. Its acceptability lies in its uniquely
striking and arresting features. Eka (2004:77) posits that “deviation refers to a difference in usage from standards
usage which may not necessarily be negative. He adds: “deviation is productive and adoptable in a given
environment”. In stylistics, especially in literary stylistics, deviation is synonymous with foregrounding. A few
cases of deviation are observed in the text.
These are:
Yes, oh yes o! p.21
But we must tighten up our loins. P.21
Why are you shouting on my name. p.43
For better or for worse I am your husband. P.44
Text 1 is reminiscent of a typical local idiom. The speech mannerism of the people in the local mode is here
transliterated into English. In standard English, this answer would have been “Yes!”, with possibly a nodding of
the head for further confirmation. In text 2, “... tighten our loins” is a local variant of the standard expression “...
gird our loins”. For the author, it makes no difference since the needed information is passed. In text 3, there is an
introduction of the unnecessary preposition “on” into the sentence. In text 4, this is clearly a Nigerian use of the
axiom, in Standard English, the expression is “for better or worse”. The introduction of ‘for” is again in keeping
with the Nigerian addition of prepositions in expressions where they are not needed, (see Jowitt, D. 1991: 116).
Some other Nigerians talk about “discuss about or on”, “stress on” “emphasize on”, “order for” etc. This, perhaps,
informed the writer to use this non-standard expression. Stylistically, it is meant to evoke a realistic Nigerian
speech background.
Sentence structure
Under sentence structure, we look at sentences in line with Halliday’s Systemic Grammar framework of
“transitivity Choices” and “Theme and Rheme,” as well the general linguistic theory of Hypotaxis and parataxis.
Transitivity choices
In his ideational framework, Halliday, (1985:185) says transitivity choices are choices between different types of
process, between different roles for participants and circumstances, between different numbers of participants
and so on. Choices could be made between three main types of process, a physical or material process, a mental
process or a relational process. Each clause chooses between a number of different types of process. In The blind
gods, we have, for example.
Ikwo: Thank you for this precious gift. p.34 - material process. Only husbands buy such expensive clothes for their
wives. Parents don’t do it. p. 34- materials process.
Akpan Utere: God bless you Chief, you are my strength. p.39- Relational process.
Mkpa: . . . what are you trying to deduce from that gesture of sympathy. p.11 - mental process.
Mama Koko:Great women of Afon. Let’s come to think of the consequences.p.23Mental process.

Theme and rheme

Another way of looking at a clause is to see it as a message. Following Halliday’s clause analysis, the Theme is one
element in a particular structural configuration which when taken as a whole organizes the clause as a message.
The theme is that which the clause is concerned with. It serves as the starting point of the message. The message
consists of a Theme combined with a Rheme. The Theme is what the Rheme is going to be about.
The blind gods we note the following examples:
Uyai: . . . We forget about the male ones but take the female ones along with us. p.22.
Ikwo: That’s right! You have finally done it.
In text 1, the sentence being a compound one, has two clauses which can be analyzed Into Theme and Rheme as
follows: clause 1 can be analysed as follows:
“We” - Theme.
“Forget about the male ones”- Rheme.
Clause 2: We Take the female ones along with us.

Theme Rheme
Text 2, also contains two clauses and their analyses are as follows:
That’s right

Theme Rheme
You have done it finally.
Theme Rheme
Hypotaxis and parataxis
To really study the relationship that exists between the clauses to establish their functional semantic relations, we
shall look at the system of their inter-dependence through the linguistic model of paratactic and hypotactic
structure clause analysis. Hypotactic structure is a relation between a dependent clause and its dominant clause in
a clause-complex. Paratactic structure i the relation between two or more clauses of equal status, one initiating
and the other(s) continuing, otherwise called compound sentence. In a paratactic structure, the dominant clause is
usually referred to as clause 1. The secondary clause is the continuing clause in a paratactic structure and the
dependent clause in a hypotactic relation. In a paratactic structure, the prima’” clause is clause 1 and 2, 3 for the
subsequent clauses as they may occur. In the paratactic arrangement, the clauses are of equal status, they stand
together as a functioning whole.
hypotactic structure, the dominant clause is free but the dependent element is not free. There a instances of
hypotaxis and parataxis in the text:
If you had nothing in your mind, why were you smiling as she swaggered her Hypotactic
buttocks away from you?
No woman prays to die at birth stool / no woman wants to experience it / yet
sometimes some are not able to make it / yet we still graciously accept to be Paratactic
the channels of life... p.21
Sentence 1 can be represented or shown as:
Clause 1: why were you smiling....
Clause 2: as she swaggered her buttocks away from you, Clause 3: if you had nothing in your mind
Sentence 2 can be shown as:
Clause 1: no woman prays to die at birth stool
Clause 1: no woman wants to experience it
Clause 1: yet sometimes some are not able to make it.
Clause 1: yet we still graciously accept to be the channels of life....
For the hypótactic relation there is always a dominant or an independent Clause(s). The dominant clause shall be
represented by a (alpha), while the dependent clause shall be represented by a (beta). Examples from above are:
a: why were you smiling?
B: as she swaggered her buttocks way from you
B: If you had nothing in your mind;
a: No woman prays to die at birth stools; a: no woman wants to experience it.
a: yet sometimes some are not able to make it;
a: yet we still graciously accept to be channels of life...
From the analysis above, sentence 1 shows a hypotactic relation clause, with the dependent clause 2 and 3
nestling and continuing in a clause complex. Sentence 2 shows a paratactic relation in which the clauses are of
equal status with one initiating and the others continuing but all standing as a functioning whole.
The two clause types are attested in the text but there are more paratactic structures. Stylistically, the author has
probably deliberately made his characters to use more of paratactic structure since they are easier to handle in
conveying their ideas given the society he is dealing with. The society in question is barely literate although
everyone, including the drunk, Akpan Utere not only speak good English but do so in hypotactic rendering as
evidenced in the extract one above. The second example shows the authors attempt to spice up the text
stylistically with such devices as repetition of “No woman...” and “yet...” which not only foreground the structure
but also project the idea canvassed in the dominant clause one.

CONCLUSION
In this paper we have examined the stylistic devices deployed by the author, Maurice Udom, in projecting his
message in The blind gods. We have also shown how he has applied the literary theory of feminism in presenting
his message. We have stated the necessity for this study and how significant this exercise is to the scholarly world.
Expert opinions on the text have also been examined. The theoretical framework applied was Halliday’s Systemic
Grammar model. The study also has revealed the application of stylistic devices such as graphology, foreshadow,
linguistics parallelism, use of proverbs, figures of speech and sentence structure, where issues as transitivity
choices, Theme and Rheme and finally, hypotaxis and parataxis were dealt with.
The study has also shown that the author has used these linguistic resources to portray how certain African
cultural practices especially male-dominance in phallocentric African societies have acted to prevent the woman
from realizing her potentials as a human being. Male-constructed institutions such as Ekpo Nkagwo has done a lot
in executing unfair judgment against the women. From announcing its deadly presence in the eponymous title to
its actual role in the text, Ekpo Nkagwo looms large until the women themselves rise up to form a united front
thereby turning the table against the unfeeling male over-lords. Here again, Udom is advocating positive
resistance as the ultimate means of extricating oneself from strangulating cultural modes and customs.
Linguistically, Udom has used systemic Grammar structures of hypotactaxis and parataxis in constructing clauses
and sentence types that have helped to advance the message of his text. Equally, many stylistic devices such as
proverbs and foreshadow were employed to deliver this theme. Proverbs were applied with all the wisdom
usually associated with it, in suitable and fitting circumstances, while foreshadow was used to make pregnant
statements with ominous futuristic consequences. Finally, it is hoped that this effort should be useful to others
who may wish to carry out further linguistic of the study of The blind gods.

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