Few people would expect a 12-year-old child to comprehend what it means to be poor. However, just because someone is a minor does not mean they cannot have an impact on how that person’s life is changed, for better or worse. Young Okenwa, an essential character in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Apollo,” is a perfect example. Apollo narrates a tale from the viewpoint of Okenwa, a Nigerian adult who, after visiting his parents, is brought back to his first love. Okenwa’s parents inform him of the difficulties Raphael, their former houseboy and friend, faces as the leader of a gangster ring (Adichie 2). Okenwa falls into a depression of sorrow and guilt just at the mention of Raphael’s name. Even though it is a short story, Adichie retells a childhood memory from an adult perspective, showing the force of maturation and how one person’s lack of awareness can affect many lives.
Okenwa’s first-person viewpoint is used throughout the short narrative by the author to explore the complicated emotional effects of Okenwa’s lonely upbringing. During trips to his parents’ “small furnished flat,” Okenwa has developed the ability to distance himself from them in the present narrative (Adichie 1). Okenwa spends those afternoons with his parents “submerged in the foggy lull of their storytelling” (Adichie 2). He does not anticipate that their stories will be realistic or have any bearing on or significance for his life. Okenwa is therefore shocked into “the sharp awakening of memory” when his mother brings up Raphael’s name in connection to a tale of a recent spate of “armed robberies all over the east” (Adichie 2). His first-person narration lets the narrator suddenly detour into his past while still carrying the reader along.
The setting of the short story “Apollo” is quietly present throughout the entire narrative. The excellent author expertly described the incidents to maintain interest while escalating the tension. The protagonist, Okenwa, gives an early indication of how he relates to his parents. The narrative is set in Enugu, where Okenwa’s family resides in a modest but excessively equipped apartment. When Okenwa visits them infrequently, his parents relate strange tales that alter their perspective of him.”Fifteen years earlier, my parents would have scoffed at these stories”. As a result of Raphael’s tale of a previous houseboy, Okenwa is compelled to recall his early years.
The central theme of this story is guilt. Okenwa, the protagonist, is guilty of lying to his parents about slipping down the stairs, which is wrong. Furthermore, Raphael, their houseboy, was disgraced by Okenwa’s parents because of this secret. The way Raphael’s life ultimately unfolded may also be related to this. After robbing, Raphael and his group were saved by the police from mob injustice. Lingering guilt is a recurring theme in the novel as Okenwa frequently visits his parents because he does not have a family of his own.
Various symbols advance the plot and make the story more vivid. Childhood is symbolized by the supernatural stories Okenwa’s parents narrate in the fictional present. Okenwa observes his parents’ reversion to childlike behavior as an adult. Their earlier obsession with reason has been replaced with a fascination with tales characterized by magical qualities. Their altered ways of speaking and perceiving serve as visual cues for the reversal of roles. Okenwa transforms into the adult they once were while his parents change to the child Okenwas was formerly. At the beginning of the narrative, Okenwa talks about his bimonthly visit with his parents and how he has seen significant changes in them as they have aged. They have developed a greater interest in magical and supernatural stories rather than concentrating on science, books, and logic. Okenwa entertains his parents with an almost dismissive tone, although he cannot understand this evolution. This statement reflects how Okenwa’s parents treated him as a child when he played imaginative games and examines the role reversal between them.
The psychoanalytic approach employs several techniques to account for the causes of fear and anxiety in people. It may require patience and a long time to find the root of the problem successfully. The psychoanalysis approach bases its belief on the concept that all humans have deep, unconscious desires, memories, thoughts, and unconscious beliefs that can be seen in their personalities. Okenwa’s rigorous upbringing throughout the novel enhances his reclusive personality, enabling him to separate from the world shaped by his upbringing. He says, “I did not care for books. I sensed my parents’ disappointment…when I spoke about a book…I found badminton boring…” Okenwa is shown at the start of the story as trying to win over his parents because they continuously express their disdain. Okenwa then started reading books and participating in sports he disliked as a way to fight this. He did care deeply about one thing, though, and that was kung fu. Kung fu represents Okenwa’s escape from reality and what he loves. For Okenwa, hearing the word “kung fu” makes him feel liberated. On the surface, Okenwa appeared to be the affluent, disciplined son of a wealthy Nigerian family. However, Okenwa enjoys pursuing a pastime in his spare time to unwind from the stresses of his daily life. The author uses Okenwa’s escape from solitude to establish a foundation for her future connection with Raphael, the family’s houseboy, filled with the emotional absence of space created by Okenwa’s parents.
Raphael’s and Okenwa’s misunderstandings of one another are also motivated by the mistreatment of Raphael. A reader of this story may regard the instances in which Okenwa caught conjunctivitis from Raphael as the pair’s most intense displays of affection; yet, doing so would necessitate ignoring the dramatic differences in how they were handled when ill. Okenwa’s parents go to the bother of getting eye drops for Raphael, but afterward, they keep him locked in his room and do not come back to check on him( Adichie 6). Raphael would not have recovered if Okenwa had not defied his parents’ wishes to give him the eye drops. They cared too much for Okenwa’s health to let him be left alone, so they did not restrict him from going outside, as Raphael did. Raphael, who is instead treated as filthy and undeserving of assistance, can imagine this kind of care. Raphael is constantly insulted by Okenwa’s mother, who also accuses him of infecting her son by questioning, “Why did you bring this thing to my house? Why?” (Adichie 8). Raphael is treated by her as if he intentionally intended to infect Apollo by conspiring with him to infect her child. Raphael observed that Okenwa never questions this treatment as being unfair. When he reminisces on his upbringing, Okenwa laments his reluctance to raise concerns to his mother over how she treats Raphael and his desire to be his friend in secret. These factors are likely what strained their connection.
Adichie’s use of an adult viewpoint and voice enables the story to delve much more profoundly than juvenile romantic storytelling about a child’s first relationship. This point of view helps demonstrate Okenwa’s growing maturity and the power of one person’s ignorance to transform lives. Okenwa’s earlier judgments differ from his current judgment. He is now aware of the profound social class and treatment disparities between him and Raphael. In these instances, Apollo emphasizes the significance of understanding one’s rights to keep others safe, a lesson everyone should learn and follow.
Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi “’Apollo.”’ The New Yorker, The New Yorker,19 June 2017,
www, newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/13/apollo
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