Who Fears Death: A Critical Casebook

Below are the abstracts to each critical essay. Like what you read? Click the link to download the full essay.

“Influential Ideologies: An Examination of the Justification of Hate and Power in Who Fears Death” explores the ways in which harmful ideologies are accepted by both the Okeke and Nuru throughout Who Fears Death. Using concepts from both Marxist and African American critical theory this essay specifically explores how societal beliefs, such as religion, and other social norms often function as tools for the ruling class to discriminate and hold power over the lower class.

“Feminism and Violence in Who Fears Death: Embracing the Fear in the Classroom” is a work focusing on how Nnedi Okorafor's 2010 novel Who Fears Death showcases feminist characters within a patriarchal society using raw and sometimes violent visuals. Boliard's analysis of the novel and how it uses a violent narrative helps her to build her stance that novels like this do, in fact, deserve a place in our high school classrooms. While showing sensitive and controversial material like this to young adults can bring on uncomfortable feelings for students and teachers alike, Boliard acknowledges the benefits of this kind of material in the classroom for what it helps to expose students to and prepare them for.

In a world torn apart, riddled with racism and sexism, it is hard to believe that a woman can survive and thrive. However, who says a group of women cannot get through it together? In “Sisterhood of the Traveling Women: The Impact of Groups of Women in Who Fears Death,” we explore different groups of women within the novel and how they function as groups while supporting individual members. This analysis is supplemented by research on the psychological and physical benefits of sisterhood, religion, and feminist and LGBTQ critical theories. Through this paper, we find one answer to Okorafor's question: “Who Fears Death?” Not women.

In the novel Who Fears Death, Onye struggles with her own suppressors from society. In many instances, she lashes out with violence in hopes to bring change. The essay “Stop! How Dare Onye Challenge Society While Using Violence!” discusses her trauma with being suppressed by society, and argues as to whether or not her violence can be justified.

“The Kids Aren't Alright: Exploring the Effects of Age in Who Fears Death” examines how different groups of people in the novel alter their views on society based on their age. Younger characters such as Onyesonwu and Luyu are shown to be more willing to alter an internalized biases or notions than are older charters such as Aro. These older characters fear the influence that younger characters have on their power within society. This essay also notes how this social interaction is present within the real world, and how it leads to generational conflict between older and younger groups of people.

“Out of the Darkness” explores the impact that close relationships have on a person's self-esteem. Using textual evidence from the novel and outside research from psychological journals, the essay delves into Onye's relationships with her family, friends, and partner to show how she uses these connections to improve her self-esteem when the society in which she lives makes it nearly impossible for her to do so.

Nnedi Okorafor wrote Who Fears Death with many topics woven into the story. The essay “Change: The Goal That Everyone Should Strive For” argues that Okorafor included these topics to show that change is necessary. She goes about this by mixing real events that happened in time with fictional events in the book. Each topic in the story shows that if things do not change, those things will be become archaic and dark.

Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death is revolutionary in many ways. The essay “Nnedi Okorafor's Re-writing of the Great Book Through Magical Norms” argues that the author's use of gender norms in the context of magic throughout the text rivals the historical understanding of magic throughout time. This history is often presented in terms of “white” and African magic culture. On both sides of history, society has deemed magic evil and almost exclusively associated magic with women, subsequently deeming women with magical power evil. In Who Fears Death, we see the condemnation of women with magical abilities because societally men are the ones with power and magic equals power. History's depiction of women with power, whether it be magical or not, has filtered into literature to the point that the concept has been internalized and women with power are seen as evil.

“Now You Know Your A.C.E.s, Next Time Won't You Chat With Me: Trauma and Silence in Who Fears Death and Beyond” takes a deeper look into the effects of trauma on one's trajectory in life. Through close character analysis and psychological research, the reader navigates around the traumatic events of the novel and explores how they affect the characters. Ultimately, the conclusion reached is that trauma and what it carries with it is detrimental to an individual if they live in a society that uses shame to silence conversations around trauma and mental health.

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