Eniiyi Falodun Character Analysis: Breaking the Curse, Claiming Herself

Overview: The Daughter Who Would Not Be Defined

Eniiyi Falodun is the daughter of Ebun Falodun and a central figure in Oyinkan Braithwaite’s Cursed Daughters. From birth, Eniiyi is burdened by the family’s supernatural curse—a multi-generational affliction that causes the women of the house to suffer in love and identity. More specifically, Eniiyi is often perceived by her family as the reincarnation of her aunt Monife, who drowned herself in the Prologue. This expectation threatens to overwrite Eniiyi’s individuality. Her arc traces a movement from claustrophobic entrapment to radical self-ownership, culminating in the symbolic destruction of the curse in the Epilogue.

Plot Role and Narrative Function

Eniiyi’s primary role is that of a protagonist who must confront the inherited trauma of the Falodun women. The story uses her perspective—especially in chapter XIII and the Epilogue—to dramatize the struggle between superstition and autonomy. Through her, the reader witnesses the curse’s pressure to repeat the past: to love destructively, to be seen as a vessel for Monife’s spirit, and to surrender bodily agency. Eniiyi’s final victory over the curse positions her as the first Falodun daughter to break the cycle, making her a symbol of hope and generational healing.

Motivations and Traits Through Actions

Eniiyi’s actions reveal a powerful desire for freedom and self-definition. When she feels suffocated by her relationship with Zubby and the family’s expectations, her immediate impulse is physical escape. In chapter XIII, she packs for the UK “feeling claustrophobic and desperate to escape Zubby,” insisting on an Uber to the airport despite tearful goodbyes. This shows determination, a refusal to be caged, and a willingness to hurt others to save herself.

Her traits include:

• Resilience: Even after seven years away, when she encounters Zubby again in a Lagos restaurant, the narrator notes they “locked eyes, unable to look away.” Yet Eniiyi does not return to the old pattern; she has grown.
• Courage: In the Epilogue, she engages in an “underwater battle with the curse,” fighting a beast-like entity until it dies in her arms. This is not passive suffering but active combat.
• Self-awareness: The final line of the book—that “Eniiyi alone is the owner of her body”—indicates a hard-won understanding that her identity is not handed down but claimed.

Chronological Arc

1. Before the Narrative: Eniiyi is born into a family where Monife’s suicide (from the Prologue) has already cast a long shadow. She grows up absorbing whispers that she is Monife reborn.

2. Early Story (inferred from later references): Eniiyi becomes entangled with Zubby, a man who perhaps embodies the dangerous love the curse predicts. Their relationship is intense but suffocating.

3. Chapter XIII – Escape: Eniiyi makes the decisive choice to leave Nigeria for the UK. The narrator reveals that within twenty-four hours of her departure, her grandmother Sango dies peacefully, Oba proposes to Ebun, and Ebun moves out. Eniiyi’s flight triggers a dissolution of the old household.

4. Seven-Year Gap: Eniiyi lives abroad, presumably building a life separate from the curse’s immediate influence.

5. Epilogue – Liberation: Years later, Eniiyi symbolically fights and defeats the curse in an underwater battle. Simultaneously, she boards a plane (seat 52A) that skims the ocean. The shadow of the curse remains below, but she does not look down. The narrative affirms her bodily autonomy.

Key Relationships

Eniiyi and Ebun (Mother-Daughter Conflict)

Ebun, as revealed in the “Falodun Family Curse” chapters (e.g., chapter 35), was herself an illegitimate child raised by her mother Kemi after being thrown out. Ebun’s trauma manifests in her attempts to protect Eniiyi, but also in perpetuating the belief that Eniiyi carries Monife’s spirit. In chapter XIII, Ebun apologizes as Eniiyi leaves, hinting at guilt. Their conflict is central to the mother-daughter conflict theme.

Eniiyi and Zubby

Zubby is the figure Eniiyi flees. The relationship is not described in detail in the outline, but his reappearance in the epilogue suggests unresolved tension. The narrator’s future reveal—that they will lock eyes seven years later—implies that Eniiyi must confront the past without being consumed by it.

Eniiyi and Monife (Symbolic Twin)

Monife’s shadow looms over Eniiyi’s identity. Where Monife drowned out of despair, Eniiyi learns to swim against the current. The Epilogue’s underwater battle directly inverts Monife’s passive drowning; Eniiyi fights.

Eniiyi and the Falodun Ancestresses

The curse chapters feature a long line of women: Feranmi, Wemimo, Yemisi, Afoke, Bunmi, Fikayo, and others. Eniiyi is the culmination of their suffering. Her victory retroactively redeems their struggles.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The decision to leave is practical; the decision to fight is mythic. Together they form a complete arc of liberation.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Reincarnation and Identity

Eniiyi is explicitly seen as Monife’s reincarnation. The reincarnation and identity theme is central: Eniiyi must prove she is more than a vessel for a dead woman. Her victory affirms that identity is chosen, not inherited.

Generational Trauma

The curse is a metaphor for trauma passed down through daughters. Each Falodun woman struggles. Generational trauma is analyzed through Eniiyi’s break with the pattern.

Autonomy Versus Superstition

The book pits individual will against fate. Autonomy versus superstition is resolved when Eniiyi rejects the curse’s power.

The Falodun Family Curse

The curse is both real and symbolic. Eniiyi’s battle shows that curses are only as strong as the belief in them.

Mermaid Imagery

Monife is described as “mermaid-like”; Eniiyi is also described as a mermaid in the Epilogue. Water represents both death and rebirth. Eniiyi’s underwater fight reclaims the mermaid image as a warrior rather than a victim.

Five Book-Specific Questions

1. Why is Eniiyi considered the reincarnation of Monife?
   The family, especially Ebun, sees parallels between Eniiyi and the deceased aunt—both are beautiful, both attract intense male attention. The curse narrative encourages this belief, but Eniiyi ultimately rejects it.

2. What triggers Eniiyi’s decision to leave for the UK?
   Feeling claustrophobic and desperate to escape Zubby, Eniiyi packs and insists on an Uber. The narrator notes that within 24 hours her grandmother Sango died, suggesting the departure was both timely and fateful.

3. How does Eniiyi defeat the curse?
   In the Epilogue, she engages in a symbolic underwater battle, wrestling a beast-like curse until it expires in her arms. Simultaneously, she boards a plane, and the narrative declares her the sole owner of her body.

4. What does the shadow of the curse represent at the end?
   The shadow remaining underwater indicates that while the curse’s power is broken, its history cannot be erased. Eniiyi chooses not to look down, focusing on her future.

5. How does Eniiyi’s relationship with her mother Ebun change?
   Ebun apologizes as Eniiyi leaves. The subsequent revelation that Ebun moves out and Oba proposes suggests Ebun also breaks free. Their relationship evolves from conflict to tacit understanding.

Explore more:

• Full book overview
• Ending explained
• Questions and answers