Chapter 105: The Father Revealed – Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 105 opens with Grandma West’s funeral at a historic cathedral built in 1865 in Lagos. The Falodun family has long attended this church; Grandma East still worships there occasionally. Eniiyi delivers a tribute as Grandma West’s granddaughter, describing her as fierce yet soft, heartbroken by the time Eniiyi was born but still full of love. Bunmi is laid to rest in Ikoyi Cemetery beside Monife. Standing before Monife’s grave, Eniiyi feels as though a hundred ants are crawling on her skin—the grave is poorly tended, and she senses Monife’s spirit is restless. Eniiyi, now twenty‑five, whispers to Monife that she must move on and declares she is done being Monife’s vessel.
Zubby appears at the cemetery, dressed in grey. He compliments Eniiyi’s shaved head and calls her an African goddess. She thanks him for coming but says she needs space to think. Returning home, Eniiyi finds the house hollow without Grandma West. She kneels beside Grandma East, who has, for the first time in memory, no red nail polish. Grandma East strokes her hair and calls her “ọmọ mi.”
Voices rise from her mother’s bedroom: Ebun is arguing with a man. Eniiyi hears Osagie shout, “She is my daughter!” She freezes, then enters the room. Ebun explains that she and Osagie dated after university, the relationship ended, and she never told him she was pregnant. Osagie says he would have come if he had known. Eniiyi accuses her mother of hiding the truth not to protect her but to protect herself. Osagie insists he would not have abandoned them, but Ebun replies, “You may not have had a choice,” alluding to the family curse.
Key Events
- Grandma West (Bunmi) is buried in Ikoyi Cemetery next to Monife.
- Eniiyi gives a eulogy and later whispers to Monife that she is done being her vessel.
- Zubby appears at the funeral; Eniiyi tells him she needs space.
- Grandma East is seen without red nail polish for the first time.
- Eniiyi overhears Osagie claiming paternity and confronts her mother.
- Ebun reveals that Osagie is Eniiyi’s biological father and that she kept the secret to protect her from abandonment.
Character Development
Eniiyi undergoes a significant shift in agency. By telling Monife she is “done being your vessel,” she claims ownership of her body and identity. She also begins to challenge her mother’s narrative, asserting that Ebun’s secrecy was self‑preservation rather than protection.
Ebun is forced to confront the consequences of her choices. Her admission that she wanted to “save you from the abandonment” reveals her deep fear of the curse, but Eniiyi’s rebuttal forces her to see her own role in perpetuating family patterns.
Osagie emerges as a sympathetic figure, distraught that he missed his daughter’s life. His tears and insistence that he would not have abandoned Eniiyi contrast with Ebun’s guardedness, planting doubt about whether the curse is inevitable or self‑fulfilling.
Grandma East appears in a vulnerable, unguarded moment (no red polish), hinting that the protective armor she wears is cracking in the wake of her sister’s death.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Curse is explicitly named and debated. Ebun uses it to justify hiding Osagie’s identity; Eniiyi questions its power; Ebun’s final line suggests that even Osagie might have been powerless against it.
- Vessel and Agency – Eniiyi’s declaration to Monife rejects the idea that she exists only to carry the unresolved lives of the women before her. The image of ants on her skin symbolizes her discomfort with being possessed.
- The Cathedral and Cemetery as symbols of history and containment. The 1865 cathedral represents tradition and the weight of family legacy; the poorly kept grave of Monife suggests unresolved spirits cannot rest.
- Grandma East’s Missing Red Polish – The red polish has been a mask of strength. Its absence signals that even the family matriarch is affected by loss.
- The Haircut – Eniiyi’s shaved head, noted by Zubby, is a visible act of transformation and rejection of old expectations.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 105 is a turning point in the novel. Eniiyi learns her biological father’s identity, shattering the story her mother constructed. The curse is debated openly, shifting from an inherited fate to a pattern that can be examined and possibly broken. Eniiyi’s demand that Monife release her shows her reclaiming agency. The chapter also deepens the mystery of Monife’s death and her connection to Eniiyi, while setting up possible reconciliation or conflict with Zubby and a new relationship with Osagie.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Eniiyi tell Monife she is “done being your vessel”?
Eniiyi has sensed Monife’s spirit clinging to her throughout the novel, manifesting as discomfort and possession. At the grave, she explicitly rejects that role, asserting that she will not be controlled by a ghost’s unfinished business. It marks her first active step toward independence from the family’s tragic legacy.
2. How does the revelation of Eniiyi’s parentage challenge the idea of the curse?
Ebun believed hiding Osagie would protect Eniiyi from the curse of abandonment, but her secrecy instead caused the very estrangement she feared. The novel suggests that belief in the curse may be a self‑fulfilling prophecy. Osagie’s willingness to be present questions whether the curse is absolute or whether human choices shape outcomes.
3. What is the significance of Grandma East not wearing red nail polish?
Throughout the book, Grandma East’s red polish has been a symbol of her unyielding strength and control. Its absence indicates that the death of Grandma West has shaken her foundation. It humanizes her and shows that even the most stoic characters are vulnerable, reinforcing the theme that grief strips away false armor.