This turmoil is reflected by different characters. It is reflected mostly in the life of Vivek. In a conversation with Osita, he claims to be homeless. This is a claim that only makes sense against the backdrop of the reincarnation myth present in this text.
Ahunna has not been acknowledged or welcomed by her family, hence she has no home to settle into. Her presence in the body form of a male sparks off feminine traits and sexuality that tugged at the order of society.
…“My God,” she said. “He was dressing like a woman?” “He said he was dressing like himself,” Somto interjected, her face resolute.
While there are reincarnation that exist with a breech of consciousness, the reincarnation in this text does not follow that order. Vivek behaves and dresses like a females and sees it as his true self because of the consciousness of Ahunna.
This is a characteristic of metempsychosis, which is referred to by Jung as a “transmigration of souls”. Vivek’s rebirth conforms to the element of metempsychosis that concerns one’s personality, whether or not someone remains the same person after being reborn.
Archetypes are not just in existence without purpose, they always function in ways that directly affects an individual. This archetype functions at a psychosocial level as a drive towards individuation and wholeness through a process of separation and return. This archetype acts as a catalyst in the psyche for a deep psychological and spiritual transformation that Jung termed individuation. Individuation is “the process whereby a part of a whole becomes progressively more distinct and independent”.
It follows an individual’s journey to self independence away from the society. From a general perspective, individuation may be viewed as the gaining of wisdom by a person, it is sometimes designated as maturity. A struggle ensues between the individual and the society during the individuation process, this is because the individual seeks independence while society seeks to keep the individual within its boundaries. In most classic tale this struggle is usually won by the hero who after a series of adventure while on his journey can navigate how to profess his identity in ways that does not chatter the illusion of order in the society.
Reincarnation poses a problem because an already mature consciousness can be transported to a young hero who without going through the journey (hero’s quest) identified as necessary by Jung would not know how to wield such individuality in the face of an unyielding society. Vivek cannot navigate how to safely express his individuality and be resilient despite communal rejection.
The struggle between individual and society in the individuation process is one that alienates Vivek instead of empowering him. The hero is made to gain maturity in his quest, during this journey they get to understand their selves as well as the society. For Vivek maturity is handed down to him from his grandmother, he cannot understand why he is the way he is or how he became that way. Vivek’s individuation process is holistic and since he cannot understand it, explain it or rationally defend it, acceptance from the society becomes almost impossible.
… I’m not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn’t have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn’t even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?
As has been said before, archetypes transforming to archetypal images are conditioned by experience. This archetype of reincarnation and the hero’s individuation process is expressed here in ways that have been conditioned by the Nigerian society.
Vivek’s death is informed by fear. This fear is one that characterizes a society of religious fanatics, myopic values and narrow minded individuals. Osita in a moment of fear tries to help Vivek but ended up being the catalyst for his death. Osita was just a knot in the chain of the society that opposed the individuation of Vivek Oji.
…Kavita said, “if he’d felt safe enough to be himself in our house, instead of walking around like that. How could we protect him if we didn’t know? And he told them not to tell us because he couldn’t trust us, and he was right not to. Can you imagine what we would have done?”
Vivek’s mother, Kavita expresses how unwelcoming they had been and would have been if Vivek had opened up. His parents represent the societal base and their opposition towards Vivek’s being. They were even the first set of people to deny him the name, Nnemdi.
The idea of a community standing against a fully formed identity is one that can be seen in the story of Jesus Christ. In the story of his birth and life, he had a fully formed consciousness as the son of God before he began his journey, this led to multiple confrontation between him and the society in which he performed miracles, at the end he was murdered like Vivek was.
