A review by Julia Mooi
Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga has just published this new study on Omoseye Bolaji’s literary profile. As someone who has published a similar work on Bolaji, I was very excited about this new book. Soqaga selects certain works of the author which he comments on.
I was particularly happy that Soqaga dwells in length on the novel, People of the townships which is a favourite of mine. There is some disagreement on the way Bolaji portrays women in his fiction; but I think that it is obvious he enjoys portraying most central women in his books as the so-called femme fatale. This is particularly clear in the Tebogo Mystery series.
From Susan in Tebogo Investigates (2000), to Neo in Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009) these “irresistible women” often cause havoc, and Tebogo’s weakness towards these women (though he is happily married) can hardly be concealed.
In the latest Tebogo book, Tebogo and the bacchae (2012) we have at least two examples of femmes fatale that stand out. Lolita, early in the book; and then of course Thobeka. There is thus nothing to suggest Bolaji would change this approach in his works in general.
Hence, People of the Townships (not a Tebogo adventure) is intriguing in his own way. The protagonist, John Lefuo has been rightly described as a misanthrope. This negative approach seems to affect even his “romantic” life, or the lack of one. His erstwhile girlfriend, Alice Memela has a child by him but despite this John certainly does not like her.
So can we then assume (though never stated) that Alice was a sort of femme fatale too?; or how else could a man of apparently high moral values like John have been attracted to her initially? The problem in the narration is that John’s (now) strong dislike for her colours the way she is presented. If it was true that she was piling up boyfriends so easily, does this not suggest that she was a lovely, charming lady?
And there are other questions we might still ask. Why is the baby being brought up in the Lefuo household? What was the real reason that made John break up with her apart from her “promiscuity”?
Many readers, especially we females of course, were not happy that John Lefuo kills Alice in the end; mainly because of the possible future plight of their child. It is a concern critic Ishmael Soqaga shares in this new study. Soqaga writes:
“It is very sad John would have to go to jail for the murder he had committed against Alice the mother of his daughter. To many, it is extremely unbelievable that a person like John will do such a horrific, malicious act against a woman. John in the first place was a decent man who dislikes “immoral” acts, he is brilliant and he always has a good vision about the spread of literature among the blacks in the township. He likes to read and is quite frank that he knows lots of things but is quite surprising at the very same time how John decided to end the life of his ex-girlfriend...
“It might be argued that John was supposed to let Alice live and ignore her as he did with other girls like Rose and so on and allow her to live the life of “fun” as she preferred. What is the point here? John, as his mother worried about him when she was still alive, and knew very well that he was only partially accepted in his family house. Also, what about his daughter who will be in care of John’s family? One hopes that John will continue with his ambitious adventure of reading and writing books in jail...”
