Table of Contents
Brief summary of the work
The book tells how the life of a young girl by name Regina was destroyed and chattered. Regina was a student of UNISAMBA. She was a good and devoted girl and also very intelligent. Her life was first destroyed by a man by name Jeremiah popularly known as Jerry. She was tricked by this young man and was lured to bed. Regina suffered this pain and for months, she was taken to different hospitals for treatment by her parents. It took her months to fully recover and get back to her normal senses. She started living her normal life again.
When Regina get back to school, she returned to her normal self and was also devoted. A young man by name Johnson from his village came back from America. When he saw Regina, he loved her and went for her. Regina was so happy and the family started preparing for their marriage. Johnson gave Regina all she asked for and she was elated. Things continued to move well until that night the hostel was invaded by the cult boys-Batholomew and his group. That night was a bad one for Regina, she was raped simultaneously by those men. The pain she passed through that night made her go insane she kept on saying and mustering words that was surprising to everybody.
She went to a reverend father for confession and asked him thus: “God where did i go wrong”. That was her words. She ran out at once and cried bitterly. Father Fabians later searched for her but he didn’t see her. He later met her at the police station where she was held to say her business with the cast members (rapists). Because of the shock she passed through in the hands of the rapists.
Plot
The chronological arrangement of the novel. The novel started by introducing the priest of Batenor by name father Fabian. He imagines how death has stung to the community. He wishes that this death would stop. He was just coming from confession and was very friend.
The University of UNISAMBA was shown with the girls running from their hostel. They were running from the rapists and was raping the girls there, they ran to the father’s house and stayed in hiding. A scene was opened when Regina sat down laughing rather than crying of what had happened in her life for the past 8 days she had been in that mood since morning and sympathizers were trooping in and out.
Jeremiah, Regina’s friend had succeeded in luring Regina to bed and had sex with her. Regina hated him so much and had wished she had never met him. She fell sick and was taken from one hospital to another to treat herself. She later got well and came back to school. Johnson came back from America and fell in love with Regina. They intended getting married to each other until that night, Batholomew and his group had invaded the hostel and raped the girls there
Batholomew grew up in a family where the father maltreated the mother so bad and used her as a punching back. Batholomew grew up to hate the father and was brutal in the society. He constituted the rape which was carried out that night.
Setting
The novel was set in Batena and also in UNISAMBA.
Diction / Language
The language used by the writer is simple to understand.
Point Of View
The writer adopted the omniscient point of view in his writing.
Mood / Tone / Atmosphere
The mood of the writer was a sad mood which constituted to the tone of his work. The atmosphere created was that of sadness and pity.
Themes
- Theme of death
- Theme of rape
- Theme of cultism
Theme of death: There was constant death in the novel. Starting from the beginning of the novel where father Fabian was in the church and he learnt that there was another death, he felt very bad and almost shed tears on the altar. He had to leave the church premises and rushed to his house. He even said that if he had the power, he would stop all this death, meaning that many had died before.
Theme of rape: there was constant rape in the novel. The protagonist of the novel “Regina was made useless because of the rape. The cult members especially Bartholomew made a point of duty to always go in and rape students. He said the derived pressure in the waiting and shouting of the sight of the policemen, they would run away and would still come back the next time. The dominant theme in the novel is rape.
Theme of Cultism: This is also rampant in the novel every university has cult groups in them. It is more or else like a natural phenomena or a must have. This cult guys molested and made the welfare of the girl in UNISAMBA very difficult. They made them pass through a lot. All the raping that happened in the school was from the cult members and they never planned on stopping
Characters and Characterizations
The characters were introduced in an expository and description in the life of the main characters Regina, she was described as a very devoted person and intelligent she keeps to her mother’s word though she was later lured to do bad.
Major Characters
- Regina
- Jeremiah
- Johnson
Minor Characters
- Father Fabian
- Bartholomew
Regina: she is the protagonist on the novel. She was described as being devoted and intelligent. She kept to her mother’s introductions and advice. She was lured to bed by her boy friend by name Jeremiah who used her and dumped her. She later fell ill but was treated. Johnson came back from America and intended marry her. She was amongst the girl that were raped the girl’s hostel. The torture and pain left her almost insane, and was hold at the police station because of the things she continued saying about the cults members which was that they were her friends.
Jeremiah: Jeremiah was one of the antagonists of the novel. He constituted and played his own path in ruining Regina’s life the first time. He was known as a big in the campus and he brain washed Regina into believing that he took advantage of her and made away.
Johnson: Johnson was the man who came back from America. He was said to be very rich and famous. He was given a chief fancy title when he was still in America. He came back to Batena in search of a wife. Amongst all the girls that flaunted around him, he chose to get married to Regina. Regina accepted to marry him and they planned their marriage.
Minor characters
Father Fabian: this is a priest in Batena from the descriptions of the writer, he was emotional and hated hearing the death of people. He was the person Regina came to confess to before she leaped without saying anything pertaining to her sin except where have I done wrong. He later saw her and tried his possible best in helping her out of that situation.