Yema Lucilda Hunter’s Redemption Song

Yema Lucilda Hunter, already the author of two successful novels Road to Freedom and Bittersweet, has, in her third novel, Redemption Song, produced a work that is, in the opinion of the present writer, about the most compelling and readable Sierra Leonean war novel to date, though the timeline is a-historical and the narrative unfolds in an unnamed country. The war novel, dealing with various aspects of Sierra Leone’s horrendous civil war of 1992 to 2001, has almost become a genre of itself, witness the productions of writers such as Delia Jarrett-Macauley and Ishmael Beah. Redemption Song is one of the most accomplished of the genre because it is unpretentious and eminently readable, yet quite sophisticated artistically, very well structured, very lucidly written, and, in spite of its apparent slightness, covers almost every aspect of the war. It deals with the causes and complex motives that propelled the various participants, the destructive impact of the war on the country as a whole and on the lives of ordinary people, the sufferings of women in particular, and the moves towards reconciliation and forgiveness. The reference to it as unpretentious derives from the fact that it is written in a style that makes it accessible to reasonably educated Sierra Leoneans, who must increasingly be brought to read works about their own environment; works with which they can identify. This is particularly important with regard to a war which hardly left a single Sierra Leonean unscathed. And yet, characteristically, Hunter has not compromised on artistic sophistication. Her clever manipulation of point of view, adroit deployment of images and motifs, thorough presentation and analysis of character, and masterly handling of plot and structure combine to make this an extremely effective novel.

The novel takes the form of a diary kept by the main character, Emmanuel (Manny) Martin, beginning in the year the rebels embarked on their campaign when he is just fourteen. His accounts alternate with third person omniscient narration giving information and presenting events at which the diarist could not be present. This completely eliminates the need for hearsay and lends immediacy and credibility to the proceedings. The careful balancing of the points of view as we move from Manny’s own description of events, to events as seen through the eyes of the rebels, and then to the omniscient author’s presentation, ensures credibility, objectivity, and fairness; it creates a sense of distancing as well as of involvement. Indeed, the decision to use the mind and consciousness of a young boy as a reflector of events was a brilliant one and very convincingly done. A number of Sierra Leonean readers, who have gone through the same processes in their schooldays, will identify with this obviously intelligent boy as he muses about illness, religion and the nature of evil. Through his experiences and observations, we are made aware not only of what various groups think about the war and how it affects the lives of ordinary people, but also of their emotional states and anxieties, such as whether schoolboys will be drafted by the government to fight the rebels.

The presentation of a war in which so many perished or were cruelly maimed, and which thus had an impact on the lives of almost every Sierra Leonean must pose tremendous challenges of objectivity and fairness for any writer. Hunter rises to the challenge. She shows great dexterity in the balancing of the point of view. For instance, when Manny gives a report in his diary of Colonel Cobra’s appearance on the BBC’s “Focus on Africa” programme and of his declaration that, unless the Sierra Leone government stops using mercenaries the rebels will continue terrorizing villages, the reader would have seen him as a thoroughly vicious and bloodthirsty individual, had we not been privileged to see Colonel Cobra from the inside, as it were, through the omniscient narrator’s presentation at the rebel camp. Similarly, had we only Manny’s reporting, we would have wondered how it was possible for the very young boys who were drafted into the rebel army to be so callous and vicious as to commit the atrocities attributed to them; however, not only have we been taken by the omniscient narrator inside the rebel camp, we have also been kept quite close to the consciousness of one of these boy soldiers and seen that they regard the rebel movement, the PRA, as their new family, and some of the officers as their heroes. They are therefore prepared to do anything to please them. This balancing of the point of view, providing both distancing and involvement, is much more effective than some war narratives where one of the boys merely reminisces in a memoir. The alternation of reports by the diary and the omniscient narrator not only results in the skillful balancing of the points of view, but also provides mutual confirmation of what each has said. The whole is powerfully and realistically done and generally conforms to the historical facts as we know them. For instance we get information through the diary about the imposition of a curfew, about the people being forced to subsist on whatever they could, of the indiscriminate burning of buildings by the rebels, and of the ultimate merciless revenge taken on the PRA.

Unlike many war novels, Hunter’s does not plunge straight into the gruesome details of the war. Indeed, it begins with the ordinary experiences of Manny and his family as they struggle to eke out an existence in the difficult circumstances pervading Sierra Leone even before the war. We see the boy’s experiences at school, the friends he makes, and the pastimes he engages in. We see him going through the tribulations of puberty and his growing interest in girls; we see his infatuation with a beautiful young girl whose mother pairs her off with a much older, wealthier man and the pangs the boy suffers; and we see his growing love for Hamida, the sister of one of his best friends—a love that is eventually reciprocated. We are with him as he discovers the first hairs on his chin, studies hard for his “O” level examinations, and eventually passes with flying colors. This adroit move reinforces the fact that the war had a deleterious effect on the lives of ordinary Sierra Leoneans who were merely trying to go about the business of living.

Hunter also presents in some detail the lifestyle of a typical Creole, Western Area family before the disastrous rebel attack. The society enveloping the boy and his family is skillfully presented and Sierra Leonean readers will see much to admire and relate to in the presentation of its customs, mores, and rituals. Hunter’s reasons for giving this detailed presentation of the boy, his family, and his environment before presenting the devastations of the war are, in fact, twofold. First, she must show that the war destroys the lives of ordinary people, lives that are changed forever by the savage rebel onslaught. Secondly, she must confront the charge, often leveled at the time, that the people of Freetown and the Western Area went about their normal business as though a war was not going on a few hundred miles away, and were completely insensitive to and oblivious of the sufferings of their countrymen in the rest of the country. As we read of the people of George Town going about their normal business, we might feel that the charge is justified, and yet, so skillful is Hunter’s presentation that the war is not kept completely out of sight. In the first place, she incorporates the arrival of the Liberian refugee, Togbah Shephard, into the activities at this point as a reminder to the reader and the people of the Western Area of a disastrous civil war going on in a nearby and very similar country. Indeed, the title of the novel, “Redemption Song,” comes, not only from the activities of the People’s Redemption Army, but also from the one Bob Marley tape the Liberian refugee has in his possession. Then there are the numerous arguments between Manny and his father about the justification for the rebel invasion. There is also the anxiety of schoolboys like Manny that they may be drafted to fight and have their education interrupted or brutally terminated.

Another reason for this detailed presentation of the background and the society before delving into the horrors of the war is that, although war is the central issue in the novel, Hunter has other concerns in this all-embracing work. Yet they are all concerns that, in one way or another, impinge on the war. Thus, this is a novel of social comment that explores the incompetence and unfairness of those in power, one of the contributory causes of the war. It also details the harsh conditions in which many people are forced to live, another contributory cause of the war. It explores the conditions of women in this society—women, like Manny’s mother, having to cope with jobs both inside and outside the home; women having to face the consequences of their husbands’ infidelity; women who are forced into relationships with men against their will; women who are abused with the tacit acquiescence of society. All this must be thoroughly documented, but it also serves as a fitting prelude for the presentation of women as sex slaves, or as slaves of labor in the rebel camp.

One of the most important aspects of this compelling novel is the way in which Hunter explores the causes of the war and suggests that the conflict and the devastation brought on the Sierra Leonean people were due, not so much to the privations of a suffering people or to the government’s incompetence and repression, even though that was a major factor, but to the greed of those who saw war as an investment that could bring huge profits, and who wanted to lay their hands on Sierra Leone’s most precious resource, her diamonds. This is the significance of the prologue and the conversation between Malik, an unscrupulous businessman and drug pedlar and Kelli Kanekeh, a former lowly private in the army who is enraged at the way in which the government has treated him. It is to present events from Kanekeh’s point of view that Hunter switches from the diary form to the third person omniscient in chapter four of the novel. The events to be detailed now will, of course, not be known by Manny, the author of the diary, so a different form of narration is necessary. However, although the third person omniscient is used, Hunter keeps us close to the consciousness of Kanekeh. With the use of masterly language and imagery, she presents the real motives for the war. The brilliant characterization of Malik at this point and in the rest of the novel shows that some people believe that a civil war is an investment and that its prolongation is good for business. We also see Kanekeh, the rebel leader, gradually evolving during the course of the novel into a very complex character. Starting as a man driven by the need for personal revenge, he becomes an idealist determined to liberate his country from the depredations of a greedy and repressive government, then morphs into a most brutal terrorist, largely driven by the promise of personal gain for himself and his financial backers.

In the second part of the novel, Hunter, while still using the third person omniscient, presents many of the events from the point of view of Samu, a young boy who, like many others, is abducted from his village and forced to join the PRA. The brutality of the rebels as they burn, pillage, rape, capture, brand their conscripts like animals and commit the most unspeakable acts , is effectively and graphically depicted through Samu’s eyes. The decision to use him as a reflector of events was a shrewd one, because it results in a balanced and objective exploration by Hunter. And yet, in spite of being drawn to feel sympathy for the boy, the reader is never allowed to forget the brutality of which he is capable. There has been a tendency to glamorize the child soldiers, particularly those who were restored to a normal life after the war. Hunter is not unaware of the fact that, in a sense, they, too, were victims, but we are never made to forget the great human tragedy that took place; there is no romanticization or idealization here.

The reader is also given valuable insight into what goes on in the PRA camp and the various motivations that impel young men to join the rebel movement and fight so ferociously. We see their organization, their deprivation and hardihood, their drug taking, and their respect for their leaders. Hunter convincingly portrays the scenario that reveals the PRA becoming a kind of family for the young conscripts. For instance, we see the way in which young Samu becomes drawn to his commander, Major Leopard, and almost idolizes him. This explains the strange nature of the relationships within the rebel camp, and we begin to understand the readiness and determination with which the young conscripts would later fight.

It soon becomes clear that Hunter Implies and intends a counterpointing of the careers of Manny and Samu. Manny is from the Western Area, a highly resourceful and brilliant boy who passes his first school leaving examination with flying colors and seems destined for a stellar career. However, during the massive rebel invasion of the Western Area, including Sewa City ( the capital) and George Town village, his entire family is destroyed and his once promising future put in jeopardy. Samu is from up-country, and his erstwhile secure family background is similarly destroyed. He, too, is resourceful and clever and demonstrates commendable aptitude on being taught military skills by his rebel commander. It is clear that Hunter is moving towards a confrontation between the two. The first happens during the vicious rebel attack on George Town and the second when Samu, having left the PRA , is living in a rehabilitation camp in the Western Area.

And so the novel moves towards the concept of forgiveness and reconciliation after the traumatic events of the onslaught on Sewa City and the devastation and the destruction of the lives of ordinary people. We feel the full force of the devastation and destruction although, unlike some other war novelists, Hunter is not repetitive and does not go over the same gruesome events again and again and again. After a period of initial suffering, Manny is able to begin to pick up the shattered pieces of his life and start putting them together again and with the help of his uncle Eku in the United States, and friends and neighbors like Mister Togbah and Gramma Cobola. Indeed, one of the highlights of the novel is that in the midst of all the brutality and carnage we see much humanity and fellow feeling. Under the tutelage of the Christ-like Brother Bob, Manny now gradually moves towards forgiveness, and the move towards forgiveness becomes therapeutic. In this connection, the chapter entitled,“Face to Face with Killers”, is extremely important because it actualizes the need for forgiveness that comes through seeing things through the eyes of a sufferer, not just of a reformed killer. It is significant that the boy soldier Manny is asked to forgive is Samu, the very person who destroyed his life. All this is convincingly done by Hunter, particularly because she does not facilely make forgiveness immediate; she shows that it is a process. Hunter realistically shows that reconciliation and forgiveness will happen, but they will both take some time.

The novel’s conclusion confirms one’s view that Hunter has eschewed the temptation towards romanticization or sentimentality. We now see the events partly through the eyes of Samu who, though now in the rehabilitation camp, is horrified by Manny’s attack on him as the destroyer of his life and family. Although tremendous sympathy has been generated for Samu, it is clear that a logical outcome in the novel for him is tragedy, not reconciliation and forgiveness. He is a typical tragic character who, to a large extent, has been redeemed, but still cannot avoid the consequences of his actions and the brutal activities of the camp in which he once existed. The conclusion of the novel is a-historical, in so far as Kanekeh is concerned, but it is a logical and fitting end to the events of the novel as we have seen them.

Hunter’s characterization is sure in this novel. Apart from the solid depiction of people like Manny himself, his parents, Hamida, and others like his best friend, Khalid, there is the presentation of the complexity of Kanekeh who, as we have seen, is a combination of idealist, religious devotee, terrorist and materialist.

Tribute must also be paid to Hunter’s adroit use of images and symbols. Prominent among these are images related to madness. Thus, there is the mad Mr. Danso who is driving Manny crazy; action also has to be taken against barking dogs who, similarly, are driving Manny crazy; the rebels are referred to as mad dogs; and, after the attack on George Town, Hamida’s mother behaves as if she has gone crazy. The implication is that the whole war is a kind of madness. Of course, images of madness are also linked with animal imagery, thus suggesting the bestial level to which humanity has descended. Combine all these devices with Hunter’s use of language and superb descriptive power and one can easily see why Redemption Song is such an accomplished novel.

Professor Eustace Palmer

***Editor’s note: Redemption Song was first published in 2006 in the Sierra Leone Writers Series (SLWS). A second edition has just been launched. It is available in electronic version from www.amazon.co.uk . A hard cover version will be available shortly from SLWS.