Death as Psychoredemptive in Margaret Ogola’s Place of Destiny

Abstract

This paper evaluates deaths that take place in Margaret Ogola’s third novel Place of Destiny (Ogola, M. 2005. Place of Destiny. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.) — particularly those of Amor, the novel’s protagonist, and Magu Igana — as redemptive. The redemption needed here is more psychological than physical, because the families involved are doing well in terms of material wealth and, for most of them, career satisfaction. This paper employs Freudian arguments about death instincts versus life instincts to argue that without these deaths, these families have a bleak future. Amor is a maladjusted person who must die, first to salvage herself from this maladjustment and, second, to rescue her husband who is obsessed with scholarly endeavours. Similarly, the couple’s twins, Pala and Hawi, who may be equated with Freud’s id must be rescued from both their egocentrism and Oedipal complexes. Malaika, the family’s idealist and perhaps the family superego, will grow but not fully recover from her idealist perception, while Imani, the couple’s oldest daughter and perhaps the family’s voice of reason — the ego, helps both the parents and her siblings to go through Amor’s illness and death. Imani also partly assists Dr. Igana Mago to work through his rejection, which emanates chiefly from his mother’s death. Magu Igana’s death reconnects her grandson, Dr. Igana Mago, with his paternal side of his family.