37 pages • 1 hour read
Akwaeke EmeziThe Death of Vivek Oji
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
In Chapter 16, an omniscient narrator introduces a new character Ebenezer, a vulcanizer. This story, too, takes place before Vivek’s death.
Though Ebenezer married his wife, Chisom, partly for her independence and her commitment to her work as a trader at the market, after six years he resents her for not giving him a son—though he himself won’t deign to see a doctor and only insists that Chisom see one (a hypocrisy Chisom points out to him). Ebenezer’s family looks down on Chisom for her independence and blames her for not producing children. Ebenezer tells his family about his marital troubles, which also worsens the rift in his marriage.
Ebenezer becomes interested in other women, including a tall woman with long fine hair who Ebenezer’s colleagues speculate is “half-caste” (a derogatory term for “multiracial”). Ebenezer begins an affair with a woman, Mama Ben, who runs a food stall. When violence erupts at the market, Mama Ben urges Ebenezer to seek safety with her. Instead, Ebenezer fights through the stampede of people to find his wife at the market. On his way to Chisom, Ebenezer passes the tall woman being shaken by a man who is holding her arm. The man yells to her that they have to go, telling her she isn’t safe. (The man and woman are Osita and Vivek.)
After finding Chisom unharmed at the market, Ebenezer is filled with renewed appreciation for her determination and tenacity. The market burns to the ground, and the government takes several years to rebuild it.
Chapter 17 Summary
Vivek narrates, recalling one of his favorite memories with Osita, laying naked together in Vivek’s bedroom:
Vivek tells Osita that he dreamed he was their grandmother Ahunna and that when he looked in the mirror, she spoke to him and told him, “Hold my life for me” (185). When Vivek asks Osita if he believes in reincarnation, Osita says there is gossip in the village about Vivek being born on the day of Ahunna’s death, and Osita’s and Vivek’s fathers quarreled over naming Vivek after Ahunna if he hadn’t been born a boy. Vivek asks Osita what he thinks about the connection between himself and Ahunna, to which Osita replies, “Who are we to define what is impossible or not?” (186). He then tells Vivek that only he can decide what feels right and that somewhere deep inside of him, there is a compass that tells him. The couple make love again.
Chapter 18 Summary
An omniscient narrator relays events after Vivek’s death:
While Chika languishes in grief three months after Vivek’s death, Kavita continues her search to find out the truth about what happened to Vivek. She sleeps in Vivek’s room, and she thinks she can hear Chika sobbing through the wall as she herself sobs, but she does not go to him. Though she is angered by his affair with Eloise, she maintains that Eloise can have Chika. She secretly hopes that Chika will never leave his bed again.
When Kavita visits Somto, Somto confirms that Vivek had pancake breakfast at their house the morning of his death. Kavita is filled with rage when Somto begins to cry over Vivek, finding it disrespectful that the girl cries in front of Kavita for Kavita’s own lost son.
When Kavita goes to Maja’s house to question Juju, Maja refuses to allow Kavita to speak to Juju since Juju has been distraught and silent since Vivek’s death. Kavita is angry to have her investigation thwarted. Juju is surprised by her mother’s defense of her privacy and mental health, having assumed that Maja would exploit Kavita’s questioning to break Juju’s silence. When Kavita leaves, Juju calls Elizabeth to tell her that she thinks it is time Kavita knows the truth.
Chapter 19 Summary
Osita narrates the time following Vivek’s death:
Elizabeth writes to Juju offering comfort but also expressing anger at learning of Juju and Vivek’s kiss. Elizabeth had told Juju that she loved her, and while Juju felt the same way, she told Elizabeth about her kiss with Vivek instead. The confrontation occurred a week before Vivek died, and the pair had not been speaking ever since.
Juju calls Somto, Olunne, Elizabeth, and Osita to meet at a restaurant. She presents a set of mysterious photos of Vivek and insists that they show them to Kavita so that she can at least ask the right questions about Vivek’s death. While Somto and Olunne think it is a bad idea, Juju and Elizabeth insist that Kavita know the truth. Osita is the deciding vote and, after slight deliberation, agrees that Kavita should see the photographs.
Juju invites Osita to stay at her house, and while he initially refuses, he’s at her doorstep later that night. Juju and Osita cry together before falling asleep. When they wake in the middle of the night, Juju plays Mariah Carey’s 1995 album Daydream, which the girls and Vivek used to dance to. Osita is pained by the memory, but Juju comforts him. The pair eventually have sex—but during, Osita imagines Vivek behind Juju.
Chapter 20 Summary
Vivek narrates, confirming that he was, in fact, watching over Osita and Juju as they had sex and that he kissed Juju’s neck and Osita’s stomach. He maintains, “They were keeping me alive in the sweetest way they knew how […]” (222).
Chapters 16-20 Analysis
This section draws the connection between the market burning down, Vivek’s death, and Osita’s secrecy about the circumstances of Vivek’s death. Chapter 16 starts with the introduction of Ebenezer, a character the reader never sees again. His narrative also highlights one of the novel’s greater themes of changing gender roles, as Ebenezer both pushes back against and affirms traditional gender roles: His chapter begins with his admiration for his wife, Chisom, for an industriousness uncommonly ascribed to women in their society. However, Ebenezer soon falls back into restrictive gender expectations, resenting Chisom for not having children, and he is angry when she suggests he himself see a doctor about their fertility. Her assertiveness—he previously admired—causes Ebenezer to question his choice of a partner, and he pursues his extramarital attractions. However, when he finally finds his wife unharmed amidst the riot at the market, Ebenezer realizes his admiration for Chisom’s tenacity; once more, this admiration is for her characteristics not traditionally considered feminine.
Chapter 17 deepens the mystical connection between Vivek, his grandmother Ahunna, and the fluidity of Vivek’s gender. Osita reveals to Vivek that there had been some village speculation that Vivek was the reincarnation of Ahunna; Vivek and Ahunna have twinned foot scars.
In Chapters 18 through 20, the narrative again jumps forward to the immediate aftermath of Vivek’s death. Seeing Kavita’s pain in not knowing what happened to Vivek, Juju urges her friends to reveal the photographs of Vivek—which, the reader soon learns, show Vivek wearing dresses and make-up. Osita and Juju have sex, but the passion seems partly founded on their shared love of Vivek, reaffirming the strong role that he played in both of their lives. From beyond the grave, Vivek admits to watching them during the interaction, revealing his kindness towards and love for them even after death. Vivek’s onlooking in this chapter recalls his voyeurism in Chapter 13, where he secretly watched Osita and Elizabeth have sex. However, his intentions are different this time; instead of seeking arousal in the physicality of their act, he takes pleasure in the metaphysical aspect of their love.
Related Titles
By Akwaeke Emezi
