The Other Side of Truth

The novel is a story about an individual family, but the positions its members are put in revolve around the issues of speaking and disseminating truth and standing up to unjust government and structures. The family’s situation was prompted by Folarin’s refusal to be quiet when many other journalists were too afraid to speak out against the Nigerian government, especially in the wake of high-profile executions. Folarin knows his life is in danger, but he believes that remaining loyal to the truth is more important than his own life. However, he never anticipated that his wife would be killed as a result of his choices; she was killed by assassins trying to kill him. Little is revealed about Folarin’s internal state, but he never expresses regret for speaking out against power, even though it had such catastrophic consequences for him and his children.

Sade is forced to confront a situation that parallels her father’s, but she chooses a different path. While her father spoke out against the government at his family’s expense, Sade chooses to steal from her friend’s store in order to protect Femi. She considers telling her teacher or Auntie Gracie about what Marcia and Donna are doing to her, but she is afraid that it will make the girls angrier and will cause more trouble for her brother. She does not appear at any point to regret making the decision to steal and keep quiet about the abuse, but she feels guilt nevertheless. She constantly hears her father’s advice in her head about standing up to bullies and refusing to stay silent, but in the situation Sade and Femi are forced to live in, any decision can have dire consequences.

The children’s decision to go to a news outlet further demonstrates the family’s commitment to speaking out against injustice, as well as the effectiveness of using the media to share one’s story. Because the children are able to get Folarin’s story on the news, the English government cannot easily deport him to Nigeria. Folarin also tries to get the public’s attention through his hunger strike; this action can protect him by highlighting his case, but it also helps draw attention to the government corruption he fled. In the end, these combined tactics get him released from prison with permission to stay in the country for at least six months.

Both tragedy and triumph result from speaking out in the novel, and this reflects the nature of such acts in the real world. Negative consequences can come from speaking truth to power, but sometimes that same truth sets people free and prompts transformation. If no one is willing to speak out, nothing can change, but the novel emphasizes the stakes of these actions and ultimately points to the need for other powerful entities, such as foreign governments, to use their authority to protect those who are vulnerable. When confronted with the possibility of going to America to speak out, Folarin chooses to stay with his children. This demonstrates his newfound practice of moderating his impulse to speak out when it conflicts with the needs of his children.