Chapter 2: Baba — 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

In this brief but emotionally dense chapter, the narrator catalogs the photographs of her father that are scattered throughout her family's home. Each image captures a different version of him: a formal portrait in a suit, framed and hanging in the living room; a candid shot of him with a full afro, taped to the mirror of her mother's dresser; a wedding photograph on the coffee table, where he gazes at his bride with awe; and a small passport picture kept in her mother's wallet, showing a single furrow in his brow.

The narrator admits that she prefers the older photographs—the ones of him as a serious, rounded child and as a dusty-kneed teenager surrounded by other boys gathered around a ball. These images predate the car crash that took his life before he ever had the chance to know her. The chapter also reveals the lasting impact of his death on her mother: she still sleeps on one side of the bed, deliberately leaving his side empty, as if saving his place. The sepia tones of the photographs make the father feel impossibly distant, reinforcing the emotional gap between the narrator and the man she never met.

Key Events

• The narrator describes the various photographs of her father displayed throughout the house: a framed suit portrait in the living room, an afro photo on the mother's dresser mirror, a wedding photo on the coffee table, and a passport picture in the mother's wallet.

• She expresses a preference for the older images of him as a child and teenager, which show him before the car crash.

• The chapter reveals that the father died in a car crash before he could know the narrator.

• The mother's ongoing mourning is shown through her habit of sleeping on one side of the bed, leaving the other side empty.

• The sepia tones of the photographs are noted as making the father feel impossibly far away.

Character Development

The Narrator: This chapter deepens our understanding of the narrator's relationship with her absent father. She is not merely indifferent to the photographs; she actively engages with them, noting details and expressing a clear preference for the earlier images. Her choice to favor the child and teenager versions suggests a longing for a father who was unburdened by the tragedy that would later define his life. The sepia tones make him feel distant, highlighting her sense of disconnection from a man she only knows through images.

The Mother: Though she appears only through the narrator's observations, the mother's grief is palpable. She keeps multiple photographs of her husband, including a passport picture in her wallet, and she continues to sleep on one side of the bed, preserving his space. This behavior indicates that she is still deeply entrenched in mourning, unable to move on from the loss. Her actions also suggest that she is trying to keep his memory alive for herself and perhaps for her daughter.

Baba (the Father): Although he is dead and never appears as a living character, the photographs construct a fragmented portrait of him. He is seen as a formal, suited man, a young man with an afro, a devoted groom, and a serious child. The narrator's preference for the older images hints at a desire to know him before the weight of adulthood and tragedy. He remains an elusive figure, defined by absence and the memories others hold of him.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Photography as Memory: The photographs serve as tangible connections to the past. They are the primary means by which the narrator can access her father, yet they also emphasize his absence. The different locations of the photos—living room, dresser mirror, coffee table, wallet—suggest that the family keeps him present in daily life, but the sepia tones create a sense of temporal distance.

Grief and Maternal Mourning: The mother's behavior is a powerful symbol of unresolved grief. By sleeping on one side of the bed and leaving the other side empty, she physically maintains a space for her deceased husband. This act underscores the permanence of her loss and her refusal to fully let go.

Parental Absence: The chapter centers on the narrator's experience of growing up without a father. The car crash is mentioned as the event that