Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The Cain and Abel-esque story of a childhood in Nigeria
The Fishermen
What you need to know before your trail
Told by nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fisherman is the Cain and Abel-esque story of a childhood in Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his absence to skip school and go fishing. At the forbidden nearby river, they meet a madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of the book’s characters and readers.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Nigeria with The Fishermen
Nigeria is under military rule at the time of the novel. The rule of General Sani Abacha is harsh and raw. The country and its people are going through many changes politically and socially. There is a strong current of national unrest. Add to this the waves of westernization and modernity then you have a country undergoing a large transformation.
“When the British left in 1960 and Nigeria gained independence, the people immediately saw their differences….(three major tribes with nothing in common, cohabiting to form a ‘nation’)…and that they could not exist as a nation, but it was too late. I intend Abulu as a metaphor for this entity that infiltrates the lives of others, creates chaos through mere words, and causes suffering among the people, while the family of four boys is a metaphor for the major tribes of Nigeria.” – Chigozie Obioma
Akure
Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. This is where the nvoel is set and where the boys play by the river.
Yola
Yola, meaning ‘Great Plain’ or ‘Vast Plain Land’, is the capital city and administrative center of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Located on the Benue River
The landscape of this novel looks at how much of our lives occur because they are roadmapped by others.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Fishermen
Destination: Akure, Nigeria Author/guide: Chigozie Obioma Departure Time: 2000s
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