Lonely Days: Literary Devices; Language and Style of the Author

Literary Devices

The novel has some poetic elements. Adebowale, as a poet starts the story with an entrance verse titled: “The widow’ which summarises the story. Pg. 13.… where heavy thuds of pestles always punished the mortar on the earthen floor’.  This is the use of personification whereby pestles are portrayed as human beings having the ability to punish someone pg. 14…. with bush meat, snakes, and snails all dancing ….”, bush meat, snakes and snails already in a cooking pot dancing as if they are human beings.  Ajumobi’s demise being referred to as “The jar has been broken and the water inside spilled….”pg. 46.  This is symbolic so also in pg. 112 “We picked new caps….” The caps are the new husbands of the widows which they must pick following the dictates of tradition pg. 50. I have the power to sit on the skin of an ant “pg. 51 “ It is easy for me to dig a deep trench round Kufi village with the point of a needle”. These overstatements (hyperbole) are made by Ajumobi who boasts of his skills as a hunter. Kufi men are full of overstatements especially under the influence of wine.