‘My God, my
God! Why have you forsaken us?’ Paralleling the words of Jesus Christ when on
the cross, the plea of three African widows sentenced to death seemed to go
unheard by their God. Just as the psalm from which those words arose, Psalm 22, ends by re-affirming God’s
care and protection, so does this powerful novel give its readers hope that
God’s will shall be done, and it shall be to the good.
The author has set out to show the terrible injustices
heaped upon women who become widows in certain backward areas of the country.
As the story unfolds, the reader is struck by the multitude of foolish beliefs
held by the members of such communities. One can only hope that education and
Christianity can off-set the terrible influence of certain tribal traditions.
As such traditions are displaced and replaced,
allowance must be made for the impacts of those changes on the lives of those
who have been faithful to their early upbringing. Here, a man with four wives
must separate from three of them to fulfill his Christian duty, but the
remaining three are cast into the base status of widows. In advanced societies,
such woman are not discriminated against, but in parts of Africa, they still
are, and their fates can be horrible.
Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu deserves much
credit for bringing the plight of such widows to the attention of his audience
in a novel that is enlightened, enlightening, and engaging. These women should
not, shall not, be forsaken.
Douglas Winslow Cooper, Ph.D.
Walden, NY, USA
Thank you Dr. Douglas Cooper for bringing the foreword of Widows in the Web of Grief by Fortune E.C. Nwaiwu here. One can read this powerful writing and be motivated to read the main text as to feel the intense suffering and pains that a certain society has heaped upon widows. I think, Dr. Douglas has done what Napolion could not do by letting us know much about "Widows in the Web of Grief" with a fine-tuned and well-articulated writing. Many thanks to you, Dr. Douglas Cooper.
ReplyDeleteMr. Douglas Cooper 's foreword to WIDOWS IN THE WEB OF GRIEF by Fortune Emerence Chinemerem Nwaiwu reveals the sufferings, pains and fears of widows in Africa. Our society seriously needs to abolish such a practice. I am glad someone is speaking for them.
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