His Only Wife

Elikem “Eli” Ganyo is a primary, static character, meaning that though he does show signs of change throughout the novel, and he ultimately proves immutable. He embodies the challenges that Ghana’s strongly patriarchal society creates for the Dynamics of Arranged Marriage and the Empowerment of Women. Afi agrees to marry him in Chapter 1 because she wants to satisfy her mother and mother-in-law. Despite her sacrifice, Eli excuses himself from the ceremony due to allegedly “pressing overseas business that required his attention” (13). When Eli marries her in absentia and fails to show up at their house in Accra for several weeks, Afi’s fears and anxieties grow. Her fears have a good basis, as Eli’s choice to skip the wedding foreshadows his unwillingness to take on any sacrifice or personal inconvenience in their marriage.

As a Ghanaian man, Eli has fewer expectations placed on him than Afi has as a woman. His mother favors him and thus does everything in her power to protect his reputation despite Eli’s shameful relationship with a Liberian woman named Muna. Indeed, Aunty goes as far as to arrange the marriage between Eli and Afi in hopes that Afi will draw Eli away from Muna. The arranged marriage is Aunty’s way of protecting and controlling her son, who ultimately proves impervious to his family’s frustrations with him. The privileges afforded to men are reflected in the positive reputation Eli has in the community despite carrying on a relationship his mother disapproves of and his own absences. Whenever Afi vocalizes her concerns about being married to him, “people have only nice things to say about him” (24). He is known for being reserved, kind, and generous. He is often away on business overseas, which means that Afi has had little contact with him. Eli’s wealth, power, and gender are all he needs to secure a good reputation in the community, though these traits tell Afi little about who he is as a person, let alone as a partner.

Eli falls in love with Afi but is incapable of choosing her as his only wife. Having never been made to give up something he wanted before, Eli feels unable to do so at the critical moment. Furthermore, Afi realizes that Eli is also in love with Muna after she runs into him at Muna’s house and scrolls through his phone shortly thereafter. Afi had willingly accepted the rumors that Muna has manipulated Eli’s mind and that Eli is spiritually incapable of leaving her because she does not want to believe anything negative about her husband. However, she soon discovers that Eli is not as malleable as the family has led her to believe. Rather, like Afi, Eli also wants to make his own decisions outside the family, and thus to pursue his own desires. The stories were meant to shift blame away from Eli and his actions to scapegoat a woman—another piece that the privileged patriarchy affords to Eli. Although his character does not change over the course of the narrative, Afi’s impressions of him do. His true nature emerges rather than develops from the novel’s beginning to its end.

Aunty Faustina Ganyo is Eli’s, Richard’s, Fred’s, and Yaya’s mother. After Afi marries Eli, Aunty becomes her mother-in-law. Aunty is well-known in the Ho community for her influence, generosity, and power. Afi and Olivia feel particularly indebted to her because she took them in when they lost their house and work after Afi’s father died. Olivia is desperate for Afi’s and Eli’s marriage “to work out perfectly” because Aunty has “done so much for” them (6). Aunty understands her power over Afi and Olivia and uses them “to get back her son” from the Liberian woman he is in a relationship with (6). Aunty arranges the marriage between Afi and Eli and tasks Afi with drawing her son away from Muna and back to the family. Afi does not at first question Aunty’s desires, opinions, and methods. She has grown up respecting Aunty, and demurring to her needs and demands. Over time, however, she comes to see that Aunty uses her power in the community to protect her son at the expense of the lives of the women around him, including Afi, illustrating the way that women uphold their patriarchal society.

Afi’s opinion of Aunty starts to change after she gets to know Evelyn. The closer the women become, the more Afi agrees with Evelyn’s assessment of her mother-in-law: “Aunty is controlling” and does indeed behave “like she is God” (167). She not only “wants to tell everybody what to do, how to live,” but responds with anger and hostility when she doesn’t get her way (167). For example, after Afi returns to Ho and refuses to leave until Eli comes to get her, Aunty gets so angry that she punishes Olivia for Afi’s behavior. She does not like when people rebel against her and directs her frustration on Afi’s helpless mother when Afi refuses to comply. She reduces Olivia’s hours and pushes her out of her church group. Over time, she makes Olivia’s home and work life increasingly miserable. Aunty’s character is thus one of the novel’s primary antagonists. Afi convinces herself that Muna is the real enemy when she first marries Eli, but eventually realizes that Aunty’s selfish, greedy, and dominating nature is compromising her happiness more than Muna ever has. If Aunty had not meddled in her son’s relationship with Muna, Afi would never have been caught up in Eli’s complex romantic and familial conflicts.

Olivia Tekple is a secondary character. She is Afi’s mother and Eli’s mother-in-law. Olivia has been beholden to Aunty Faustina Ganyo and her family ever since her husband died 10 years before the narrative present. Olivia loved her husband but found herself with nothing after his death. As a result, she had no choice but to rely upon Aunty’s generosity to take care of herself and her daughter. She became particularly dependent on Aunty because she did not have her own house or job, and because her brother-in-law, Pious, failed to support her.

Olivia encourages Afi’s marriage to Eli because she values tradition over personal happiness. Olivia and Afi are indeed close with one another. However, Olivia knows that if she agrees to Aunty’s marital plans for Afi and Eli, she might repay her debts to Aunty and reestablish her reputation in the community. Olivia’s inability to stand up to Aunty conveys her character’s fear of defying convention. Unlike Afi, Olivia does not subvert the expectations of her gender or class, protecting herself by conforming to the hierarchies her society places her in. She tries to abide by her cultural and familial duties to maintain personal stability.

For these reasons, Olivia disagrees with Afi’s frequent rebellions. She does not like that Afi defies Aunty and Eli because she fears that Afi will squander the opportunities and luxuries her arranged marriage has afforded her. However, by the end of the novel, Afi’s boldness inspires Olivia to claim autonomy over her life, too. She moves out of Aunty’s house and tries to start a new life for herself on her own terms.