46 pages • 1 hour read
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
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Themes
The Effects of Abuse and Subjugation on Women and Girls
Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of sexual assault, gore, violence, war, and slavery.
Throughout the novel, strict gender norms subjugate Ya Ta and the other women and girls in the story. Long before Ya Ta is kidnapped and taken into the Sambisa forest along with her friends, she lives a life that is different from the boys in her family. This life, in contrast to what is to come, seems wonderful, but Ya Ta was always aware that her place as a girl is expected to be socially lesser than her male counterparts: “Back at home, the men and boys know everything, but here in school, I know more than all the boys” (5-6). Ya Ta has to do all of the chores and care for her siblings. She expresses deep shame and embarrassment about her period, calling it “disgraceful and dirty” (38), and she and most other girls stay home from school when they are menstruating. Ya Ta knows she is lucky to be one of few girls who goes to school at all and spends most of her days thinking about her scholarship because she knows what it means for her and for all Nigerian women.
The prospect of marriage presents both positive and negative aspects for the girls. For instance, though Aisha is Ya Ta and Sarah’s age, she is already married and pregnant. Unlike her friends, she is forbidden from attending school anymore and must rely on Sarah and Ya Ta to tell her what they learned each day. Still, Ya Ta observes that Aisha seems happy and loved by her husband; Ya Ta too wishes to have a husband of her own someday. When dreaming of this possibility, Ya Ta worries that her chances of marrying Success hinge on whether she can attend university and earn a degree. This is an exception in her culture, as the women in her community usually only complete high school before becoming mothers and wives. Ya Ta knows, too, that once she is married, she will be obligated to her husband and no longer be as free as she is now. Contrastingly, Sarah hopes to be a doting wife one day and admires a woman in a romance film who does everything for her husband.
While Ya Ta and her friends faced subjugation based on rigid gender roles before, they are kidnapped, after Boko Haram takes them, they experience abuse. After being captured, all of Ya Ta’s fears come true to an even greater extent than she could have imagined. She and the other girls are trapped in the middle of a dangerous forest and surrounded by men who threaten to kill them. They are raped, starved, and beaten on a regular basis and expected to do nothing more than cook, clean, and attend Quranic classes. The goal of the Boko Haram men is tobreak the girls’ spirits and convert them into submissive women who will marry and obey them. They exert force, power, threats, and all forms of abuse against the girls in order to break them down and mold them into an acceptable image.
This abuse affects each of the girls differently. Though Aisha tries to cooperate, she is raped and dies giving birth without medical care. Ya Ta resists but is eventually married to a brutal man who rapes her every night. At this point, she realizes she is a slave: “Life of a Wife: […] I am no longer a slave of Boko Haram. I am the slave of only one man” (198). Sarah falls into the mental trap set by Boko Haram and becomes indoctrinated. She loves her husband, defends their ideology, and reports Ya Ta’s blasphemy. The three girls’ different responses represent only some of the ways survivors of trauma and abuse cope with their situation. Each represents an attempt at self-preservation based on the girls’ previous beliefs and experiences. The novel does not judge any of the girls for their actions—not even Sarah. Rather, it underscores the kidnapping’s tragedy and the fact that thousands of girls endured the same conditions and had to make the same choices.
Oppression, Terrorism, and Religious Extremism
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden” (52), is a real-life religious extremist militant group that operates in Northern Nigeria with the goal of creating an Islamic state. Their actions in the novel do not represent the religion of Islam; rather, they represent oppression, terrorism, and religious extremism. Through Boko Haram, the novel demonstrates what happens when a group bent on violence and tyranny twists religious ideals to justify their cause.
When Ya Ta first hears about the group, it is only through friends and school and on her father’s radio. It seems like an elusive, distant myth at first, and Ya Ta wonders if they are human at all: “Are their voices huffish and gruffish? Do they eat human flesh? Are their ears long and sharp?” (84). Ya Ta’s papa warns the children of Boko Haram members, and her teacher laughs at the danger, believing they could never possibly take over. Boko Haram soon comes to Ya Ta’s village and what started out as a distant fear became an instant and grave reality.
Being captured and enslaved by the Boko Haram group is an experience shared by thousands of girls (and boys) since the group’s beginning in 2002. In the novel, the Nigerian government is presented as ineffective at stopping Boko Haram. President Goodluck Jonathan—who was the real-life Nigerian president at this time—goes as far as firing the army, a risky move in an uncertain time. Though they rescue the girls at the camp, Boko Haram remained undefeatable throughout Jonathan’s 2010-2015 presidency.
Ya Ta and the other girls experience oppression and terrorism from Boko Haram when they are forced to convert to Islam and threatened with murder if they do not comply. Despite being Christian, Ya Ta and most of the others decide to convert because it is the only way to stay alive. The girls are forced to wear niqabs, which Ya Ta finds unbearably hot and confining and are trained to learn the Quran and their place as women in Boko Haram’s version of Islam. The men’s smell, which so disgusts Ya Ta, is both the result of being filthy and killing dozens of people while also representing their moral corruption. The girls continue to face oppression as are confined to an unprotected area of the camp and forced to cook food that they cannot eat. Starvation is one of Boko Haram’s control tactics because it keeps their victims distracted. For many chapters, all Ya Ta can think about is whether she will be able to eat. Other forms of oppression include changing the girls’ names to erase their previous beliefs and identities and marrying off to Boko Haram soldiers.
The novel makes it clear that Boko Haram practices religious extremism rather than true Islam. Aisha’s refrain that “this is not Islam” (156) underscores this as she, a young woman who follows Islam, witnesses them torturing and killing the other girls in the camp. From everything she saw before being captured, and from what she has since learnt in her Quranic classes, Ya Ta observes a deep hypocrisy in the group that claims to be fighting for the religion: “Slaughtering innocent boys and decapitating elderly men is certainly not the Islam that I have known and seen” (116). Islam, which is a religion that promotes peace and acceptance, is not what Boko Haram promotes.
Gratitude in the Face of Adversity
Ya Ta’s life is shaped by the adversity she experiences both before and after being captured by Boko Haram, but her focus on gratitude and dreaming gives her hope. The first chapter details the importance of dreaming: “That is the good thing about dreaming with my eyes wide open. It’s like molding a calabash from wet clay. Some other time, some other day, I can always continue from wherever I stop, or even start from the beginning all over again” (2). She has dreams of being a teacher, becoming the first person in her family to hold a degree, and of marrying Success. When the possibility of fulfilling these dreams comes under threat or doubt, such as when she must wait over a month for her exam results, Ya Ta catastrophizes, knowing how crucial her education is to her future. While dreams remain a largely positive thing in Ya Ta’s life, she does note one downside of achieving success: “One of my sweetest dreams is about to become reality, and yet my heart aches. It aches for the life I will leave behind” (91). Still, she hopes that by leaving, she can one day return and provide more for her family than they have now. When Ya Ta is captured and taken to the camp, she wonders if her dreams will ever be fulfilled. Eventually, Ya Ta starts to give up on her future and feels like her “dreams of a different life are just a waste of time” (249). She begins to fear the idea of leaving the forest. When she is rescued, her dreams and aspirations come flooding back to her.
Along with dreaming about her future, Ya Ta is taught by her mother to be grateful for the present despite any hardships or sacrifices she may have to make. Ya Ta’s mother lost several of her children and yet continues to be grateful for the ones who remain. When Ya Ta is captured, she reminds herself to be grateful despite being in the worst possible circumstances. Determined to focus on the good, she reminds herself that her brother, Jacob, is still alive and hopes that her mother is too. She is also grateful to be with Sarah and Aisha, rather than alone. The more time that Ya Ta spends at the camp, the more she becomes grateful for things she once took for granted, like tasty food. After being rescued, she notes, “I have never been more grateful for a meal” (189). When Ya Ta is told that her mother is still alive, she is grateful for the fact that she will soon be called ”Ya Ta” again.
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