Global Journal of Human Social Science, H: Interdisciplinary, Volume 22 Issue 7

Bodiere is angry that a little girl of her age could be coaxed by her parents to mimic such life of waywardness that she doesn’t want to toe. She vents her anger on her lazy parents: Papawey and Mama for stressing her beyond her boundaries at her age. It is evident from the text that Bodiere does not have any serious job she does expect to search for sugar Daddies who can pay. This is the reason she does not like the initial idea of her parents, parting with Amatu for chief Bogos because according to her, Amatu pays more. More so, he is more generous than chief Bogos: “Chief Bogos is like a pit in my stomach. I don’t have an ounce of feeling for him. I can’t bear the thought of hanging out forever with a croaking frog” ( FOB , 12). From the above, it is obvious she does not really cherish the idea of double-dating but she has to mimic such a lifestyle to get approval from her parents like Oduche and Nwoye in Arrow of God and Things Fall Apart . Bodiere’s parents want her to continue in her life of promiscuity so far as it is putting food on their table. They are ready to hand her over to any man that has the cash to pay for their bills. The ambivalence in her case is her occasional venting of anger. She really wants to imitate such a bogus lifestyle but is obvious it is not part of her. The more she tries to be like her objects of mimic, she only becomes a blurred copy that is ‘almost the same but not quite in the words of Bhabha (86). She writes: “My pain is that they are only concerned about stepping up their comfort at my expense. Unfortunately, I seem to be their only bailout option. I constantly, hear unspoken words-- -go ye into the world of men and make money for us. ‘Nothing else matters to them. They make me feel like a prize monkey…Amatu is just fond of me and he does not bore me. He’s at my beck and call and doesn’t assume the air of importance of typical men of his age, who pick up your bill…” (13). Like Pauline in Louise Erdrich’s Tracks who made a serious effort to look like the colonial masters by becoming a Nun. Pauline tries hard to get salvation and she feels she needs to try harder than the other Nuns. She wants to suffer like Christ; therefore, she decides to wear her “shoes on the wrong feet” (Olsson 9). The psychological pressure, the family of Bodiere, puts on her to become like others makes her feel she needs to prove to them that she can be like them, and the only way to do this is to exaggerate her ways. Her struggle to become like them places her in situations where her efforts to reach her goals are impossible. She will never become like them. Bodiere’s efforts become ridiculous as she is trying to mimic someone or something else without success as Bhabha puts it: “a subject of a difference that is almost the same, but not quite (Bhabha, 122). In another instance, she reveals her disappointment in trying to please her parents, especially Mama: “I don’t find this funny mama”, Bodiere said…Just a week ago, I gave you three thousand nairas for the fish because we have foodstuffs and ingredients. Now you’re telling me you have nothing left to cook today”. And to make things worse, you are supporting your son for squandering the money I gave him” (FOB, 25). Bodiere is a mimic by all spheres. She is only doing whatever she does to measure up to her family’s expectations. Although, it does not flow down with her feelings but the constant pressure from her family leaves her with no option. She acts big to impress people around her. In summary, she wants to be another person. And of course, it landed her in serious trouble. There are indications that the disease she contracted is Hiv/Aids. The narrators say this about her: Binara (sister), you would not believe who I saw today at the hospital” …Who? Bodiere! She looks like Bonga fish. I almost missed her face...she is very sick…but suspect Hiv/Aids… what else can emaciate a person that quickly? Her big eye has put her in trouble ( FOB 195). It is true that Bodiere has a big eye. She is not satisfied and more importantly, wants to be like others. Thus, she mimics their behavior and pattern of life so she can be counted among the comity of big girls (upper class). Another female character that is a mimic is Ovie. Ovie is an intimate friend of Bodiere. She is also a product of her environment. Like Bodiere, she also mimics the life of others to appear good and please a similar pressure to meet up her challenges. Ovie was driven out by her mother because she vehemently advised her mother against an immoral affair with Tuowei. There are clear indications that she too, like Bodiere has been responsible for the upkeep of her own nuclear family. She finds succor in the hands of Bodiere who gives her shelter. Ovie has also had countless relationships with men. She expresses her regret for dating guys who cannot pay her bills. She laments the treatment from Tolumonye, one of her boyfriends she has always washed clothes for and even iron. She expects him to take up her responsibility as a girlfriend but it seems Tolumoye does not cherish her oval butts and gives her the needed attention like other men do when they see butts. She also complained about Kunle, who seems to give her the needed attention but does not pay her bills. The narrator writes this about her: Life had not been fair to her at all, she thought. She had always been a pawn in the hands of people who claimed to love her…The other day, Tolumoye whose clothes she always washed and ironed-the one from whom she had, at least expected some form of reciprocation in love, snubbed her before a skinny, busty Yoruba girl named Toyin”. A girl she was sure, was not half as beautiful as she was…Why were people so blind to her good side, she wondered. Many men praised her for round butt-an asset some girls would kill to have, but for her, it seemed slow in yielding the desired dividends ( FOB , 32). © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 9 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 H Mimicry in Ted Elemeforo’s Fountain of Betrayal