The Palm-Wine Drinkard: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Palm-Wine Drinkard" is a classic West African novel that explores the journey of a palm-wine lover, known as the "drinkard," who sets out on an adventurous quest following the death of his palm-wine tapster. This journey takes him to the realm of the dead as he seeks to bring back the tapster and navigate various fantastical challenges. The major characters in the story include the narrator himself, who embodies both human resilience and a mix of traditional beliefs, and his wife, who possesses prophetic abilities but whose cryptic predictions often come too late to be useful. The Curious Creature, a humorous and sinister figure, represents the dangers lurking in the bush, while the Faithful Mother offers sanctuary, reflecting themes of care and respite. Notable also are the Red-king and his daughter, who symbolize the consequences of breaking taboos, and the Invisible Pawn, whose diligent work highlights the contrast between visible and invisible contributions to society. Throughout his experiences, the narrator undergoes significant character development, ultimately emerging as a protector of his community, having learned to balance his desires with greater responsibilities. This narrative combines humor, adventure, and moral lessons, providing insights into cultural beliefs and human experiences.
The Palm-Wine Drinkard: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Amos Tutuola
First published: 1952
Genre: Novel
Locale: Nigeria
Plot: Folklore
Time: Indeterminate
The narrator, the palm-wine “drinkard” of the title, who cannot imagine life without a steady supply of palm-wine. After his palm-wine tapster falls from a palm and is killed, he takes his dead father's jujus (magical implements) and sets out to find the tapster in the town of the dead. One of his first adventures is the rescue of a young woman from a bush creature who has lured her into captivity. He marries her and with her traverses a variety of dangerous areas in the bush, sometimes using his jujus to change his wife into a wooden doll that he carries in his pocket and once changing himself into a canoe to earn money ferrying people across a river. The journey seems to be a test of his character as well as serving to form it. He does not gain materially from his experiences, but he maintains his humanity and Christianity, even in the face of terrible dangers and awesome creatures. When he and his wife return home, he no longer seems to depend upon palm-wine, and he becomes the savior of his people by negotiating the conclusion to a feud between Heaven and Earth, thus ending a famine.
The Palm-Wine Tapster, who now resides in Deads' Town. He cannot go with the narrator or allow him to stay, because the dead cannot coexist with the living. He gives the narrator some palm-wine and a marvelous egg, with which the narrator later combats a terrible famine. Someone later carelessly breaks the egg.
The narrator's wife, who is by his side from the moment they are thrown together in the adventure of the bush creature called the Complete Gentleman or Curious Creature. She has the gift of prophecy, but her predictions are so cryptic that the narrator never understands them until it is too late to affect the course of events.
The Curious Creature, a skull that dresses itself in the rented body parts of several human beings, appearing in the marketplace to lure young women, including the narrator's wife, to its home in the bush. The creature appears in the didactic and humorous tales of several West African peoples.
The Faithful Mother, who ambushes people as they pass by her tree if she sees that they need rest, food, help, or solace. Once inside the land entered through the tree, they experience no unhappiness or deprivation, but they may stay only three months or until they are ready to leave, whichever comes first.
Dance, Drum, and Song, a trio who lure away the monstrous child born from the thumb of the narrator's wife. Later, Dance appears again as The Red-lady in Red-town, where she and her two companions make music until they disappear, leaving only their names behind in the world.
The Red-king, the father of The Red-lady and the leader who broke a taboo and thus delivered his town into the power of two red creatures.
The Invisible Pawn, the chief of all bush creatures, who hires out to the narrator as a laborer on his farm in Red-town. All the other farmworkers toil during the day, but he works during the night, accomplishing more than all of them together, often accomplishing too much, as, for example, when he produces so much firewood that the townspeople wake up to find that they must clear the wood away in order to walk about.