Liminality and the Narrative of Turbulences in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty

Abstract

Since its emergence on the literary scene, Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty
(1976) has engaged many critical discourses from both African and nonAfrican critics. These literary critics have examined the novel from diverse
theoretical leanings in order to expose the upsetting conflicts that
differentiate the turbulences intrinsic in wars. These theoretical methods have
markedly helped to explain some of the opinions and situations which
pervade the novel. However, it seems that Okpewho’s critics are yet to survey
satisfactorily into the anguished psyche of the major character, Mr Mukoro
Oshevire, which is singularized by liminality. In narrowing this gap, this article
contends that Okpewho’s The Last Duty (1976) is steeped in psychological
dislocations that trapped the protagonist at margins of insanity which inhibits
his reintegration back into the society he lived before the war. Employing Kali
Tal’s trauma theory of liminality through which this article is interrogated, the
paper reveals that some persons who encounter trauma during the war find
it difficult to resume their normal lifestyle they lived before the war. They are
stuck at the borders of humanity, thereby making their reintegration into the
society a herculean task both to themselves and the entire community