ZIKORA, CHIMAMANDA'S SHORT STORY.
We are presented in this short story the experience of Zikora a pregnant lady experiencing the initial signs of birth pangs. She is not alone. Although the physical presence of her mother is not necessarily that of the tenderest kind you expect of most mothers who are both petting and encouraging, going through whatever best they know how to, to ensure there is a safe delivery.
Zikora is alone even though her mother is there with her. While the nurses expects her mother to help pin her daughter down on the bed while the epidural expert examines her, she says she can manage.
Through flashbacks, we see the possible reasons for the aloofness her mother maintains. Zikora's father marries a second wife because his first wife (Zikora's mother) has only a daughter after three miscarriages. The second wife has sons whom Zikora's mum describes to her as your half brother, widening the unspoken rivalries that is typical of a polygamous family. The strain in their marriage begin to gain ground when one of Aunty Nwanneka's son is misbehaving. To checkmate this, Zikora's father decides going to live with his second wife. His excuse: He needs to see me every morning when he wakes up. Boys can so easily go wrong,but girls don’t go wrong this didn't go down well with his wife who felt betrayed by her husband. This decision further widens the gap in their relationship and is perhaps responsible for her mother's nonchalant attitude . Every woman must be strong and not appear vulnerable to the menfolk.
However, Zikora does not succeed in this admonishment when she texts and calls her estranged boyfriend who vacates as it were his involvement in the pregnancy. She misses him and waits in vain for his text or his calls. She even text him after she delivers the baby that it is a boy to see if that will make him change his mind.
As it is with other works of Chimamanda, the treatment of feminism finds a strong foothold in this short story. The men in this story come under the wheel criticism for the roles they play in the lives of their respective women.
Zikora expresses shock at her cousin, Nmiliaku who admits that Emmanuel, her husband waits for when she is fast asleep before penetrating her. This leaves her sore and tired the following day. To Zikora, it is nothing short of being raped.
Zikora too experience s rejection from Kwame her boyfriend who is younger than she is. Kwame sees nothing wrong in having sex with her but argues that she didn't bring up the discussion about her intention to become pregnant like they always do for every other matter. He blames her too for not using protection during the sexual acts as at other times. He does not show up in the hospital nor does he come after the birth of his baby. This further portrays the menfolk as users and dumpers. They shelf their responsibility when pregnancy surfaces even though they play active roles and in most cases they are the initiator of sex.
Her father breaches his agreement with his wife regarding staying with the family and only visiting his second wife. His firm decision to relocate to his second wife's apartment lends weight to the importance African men ties to sons. He would do anything, even breaking his promise to his wife on account of an erring son from his second wife. This betrayal, Zikora's mother finds hard to stomach and which is also unconnected to her lack of empathy for her daughter while at the hospital.
However, there is shift at the birth of her first grand child; a son. She moves in with her daughter to perform the necessary mothering for the newborn son. Even Zikora expresses fear that she wouldn't know what to do if her mother leaves. She reassures her,"My visa is long stay, she said. I’m not going anywhere yet.”
Thank you again for visiting. Let us catch up later.
I am Yours Truly,
Julius Topohozin.
