Narrating the Untold: A Review of Mark A. C. Ogbodo’s Untold
Title of the Book: Untold
Author: Mark A. C. Ogbodo
Reviewer: Maria Ajima, PhD
Publishers: Bookholics Publishers
Year: 2022
Pages: 113
Genre: Prose [Novella]
ISBN: 978-978-970-4231
Ogbodo’s Untold is a novella that explores the fierce battle between traditional and modern health practices. Narrated through the third person, Ogbodo weaves his narrative around a couple, Ojang and his wife Ukanyohe, whose firm belief in traditional medicine is such that even their daughter’s near death situation hardly puts them in a compromising situation. The portrayal of their daughter, the young, innocent, intelligent and loving Ahinyohe, as the grass which undergoes intense suffering when two elephants engage in a fight, makes the narrative a haunting one. Although the closure is unarguably painful and better imagined, it peculiarizes the novella and illuminates Ogbodo’s didacticism: “Endeavour to see a certified medical doctor whenever ill-health befalls you” (109). One fundamental question is: How does Ogbodo assemble his creative tools to arrive at this beautiful narrative with this clearly defined moral lesson?
One fascinating trait that Untold exhibits is its appropriateness in terms of structure. As a novella, the author puts in great efforts to cut down the length of the narrative. The characters are also not extensively developed as in a novel. This is also true of the themetisation which portrays a major theme with few less developed ones, as well as a single major plot. These traits, typical of a novella are all deployed in Untold, making it an appropriate body for Ogbodo’s narrative. It can be observed that getting the right format for the narrative and staying close to its tenets, is one right artistic step that Ogbodo takes in achieving this feat. The character of Ukanyohe, who grows from childhood to adulthood before our very eyes, makes the narrative a Bildungsroman. Thus, the narrative wouldn’t have swerved from its goal even if titled: Ukanyohe. Nevertheless, the looming secret behind the death of the warrior and the consequent curse by the hunter which must have informed the title: Untold, is equally appropriate as it emblematises the source of all the actions carried out in the novella.
In the novella, Ogbodo does not only demonstrate his knowledge of the right body for his narrative but the appropriate tools to make his narrative gripping by deploying a unique plot. One powerful tool he uses in achieving this is suspense. At the beginning of the novella, we are introduced to an enthralling encounter between the warrior and a hunter. This is an encounter that breeds curiosity in the minds of the readers but we are suspended here and a narrative that appears new emerges. Interestingly, more curiosity is likely to be built in the minds of the readers as they are expedite their reading pace, looking forward to connect the dots. This suspense is greatly aided by Ogbodo’s deliberate delay in revealing what transpired between the warrior and the hunter, which ultimately leads to the forbidding marriage between Adigwu and Onyila clans. This ignorance is expressed by the couple, Ukanyohe and Ojang, who belong to Adigwu and Onyila clans respectively, when asked by a native doctor: “No, Sir. We were only told that both clans never intermarried” (30).
Ogbodo is so glued to his craft that even when he reveals this information through the native doctor at last, he withholds another vital part: “On the strange illness of your daughter, the gods will grant the answers you seek at the right time. Now, go home and return on the twenty-first birthday of your daughter. On that day, the answers you seek will be granted…” (30-31). This is one piece of information that has a final compelling urge to push any reader to the very end of the novella, and this is interestingly its core objective. Suffice to say that, any reader who desires not to see the end of Ahinyohe’s epileptic seizures has not begun to engage the novella meaningfully.
Ogbodo must be commended for his thematic contemporaneity and relevance. Some contemporary might have felt that the likes of Achebe, Soyinka, and others have done exploring the conflict between tradition and modernity, and that nothing new can be explored from this angle. It is therefore, not just with the heart of a committed writer but also a spirit of boldness that Ogbodo confronts this vexing issue in Untold. The clash between traditional and modern health practices remains the major theme that has been exhaustively treated. Throughout the novella, the author demonstrates clearly, his side of the argument as he keeps portraying the failure of traditional medicine against the efficacy of modern medicine. The death of Ahinyohe at the end of the novella casts a dark shadow on traditional medicine and brings what seems to be its end in the narrative. The novella is a salient reminder that despite the advance in modern medicine, some people still cling to traditional medicine. The author does not in anyway, clothes his outright condemnation of traditional medicine. However, His Royal Majesty, Adirahwu N’y Igede’s abolition of only “harmful traditional health practices in his domain” (103) can be seen as Ogbodo’s call for this collaboration for a whole effect. Other minor themes such as envy, typified by Adii, education, love, and tradition among others, are all evident in the novella.
Another fascinating feature of Untold is the author’s artistic dexterity displayed in the way he realistically handles his characters. For example, Ogbodo presents Ojang and Ukanyohe with such powerful and convincing character traits that we can easily identify with them in their struggle to find solution to their daughter’s strange illness in a typical way loving parents do in real life. The novella’s realistic touch is further enhanced by the use of dialogue and striking description of places and characters, especially the native doctors consulted by Ojang and his wife, Ukanyohe. While these powerful descriptions concretize the novella’s sense of reality, the pictures they paint, leave lasting impression in the minds of readers which is undoubtedly an interesting goal a successful narrative will ever achieve. Places such as Obi, Otukpo, Oju, Obarike-Ito, Makurdi, and Benue State University Teaching Hospital among others where the actions in the novella take place, are real physical places that complement the novella’s realistic stance.
As a creative work, Ogbodo’s novella is unique in its use of what critics like Austin Warren, Rene Wellek, and Terry Eagleton call ‘peculiar language’. One way this is achieved is through the author’s use of figurative devices such as personification which is the dominant one. Expressions like: “…tears welled up, pushed together, and threw themselves over the rim of her eyes and bitterly kissed her cheeks and drenched her shirt” (49) and “Death looked at the doctor, contemptuously, but gave him thumbs up for saving Ukanyohe from its sting” (78), and the simile: “Ojang sat on the ground, crying like a baby” (77) are typical examples of this figurative language. The novella uses Standard English as its narrative language, and extends it to the characters’ language, with a mixture of local Igede dialect. While this language is commendable for educative purposes, it can’t be used to measure the characters’ level of education in the novella as native doctors, ordinary village people, students, and certified medical doctors like Dr Ohaha speak using Standard English. While this would have been considered as being too Western, Ogbodo infuses his narrative with Igede dialect to give the novella a local colour. It is thus, not strange that Igede words such as: “ugada” (18), “Obe’ okpukpu”, “Ob’ owuwu” (23), “Nolehi, Anyinyam” (39), “Obe choo” (46), “alegwu” (84) etc. are scattered all over the narrative. It is interesting to note that these Igede words are intalicised for easy identification and well explained at the glossary page of the novella for easy understanding. Ogbodo’s cultural commitment here cannot be overemphasised. As a medical doctor, the medical jargons appropriately deployed in the novella is only a confirmation of the author’s proficiency in his the medical field. These medical terms which range from “cardiac massage” (7), “ingestible analgesics” (59) to “cannula” (56) are educative, to say the least.
Though a novella, Untold is a thought provoking narrative with the potential to compel a lot of critical interpretations using different theoretical models. This is one great achievement that Ogbodo must be commended for. The novel’s surrealistic descriptions, the exploration of Ahinyohe as a reincarnated child, the cyclical nature of the plot, and the superstitious beliefs of the village people are all traits that a magical realist critic will find fascinating. While the great attention given to nature as can be seen in the various scenes where nature is described in detail will constitute a good study for an eco-critical critic, a feminist will find useful, the portrayal of women, particularly the quest to attend motherhood in the novella. There is a new study that explores the synergy between literature and medicine. This field will also find Untold, a useful site to explore. What else can be more fulfilling than to craft a work that will compel criticism from different theoretical bases?............
On the whole, Ogbodo’s Untold is a wonderful narrative that explores a serious issue in our society, especially now that the world is quickly advancing in medical practice. The novella is therefore, timely, educative, and at the same time, entertaining. The author’s handling of the techniques of setting, language, characterisation, and themetisation is quite commendable. This demonstrates the truism of Wale Okediran’s comment that these attributes portray Ogbodo as having the “mind of a writer who will go far if given the right support and direction” (Foreword).
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