The Famished Road

Certainly, in a book entitled The Famished Road, roads and pathways will feature prominently, not to mention the pervasive hunger for food, fame, freedom, and dignity that stalks the characters throughout the novel. The roads and pathways that Azaro wanders are, at turns, dangerous and wondrous; they offer entry into other worlds and a familiar passage back home. Azaro is on a personal journey to find himself, understand his world, mature, and gain independence—all recognizable elements of the archetypal coming-of-age tale. But he is also on a macroscopic journey, along with his family and the community as a whole, to regain (national and personal) self-determination in the postcolonial moment and to heal the wounds inflicted by many decades of poverty and oppression.

The road symbolizes the journey undertaken to discover one’s identity, to learn to distinguish “home” from “abroad.” Indeed—and ironically—one must travel far from home to fully understand what defines it. This is Azaro’s subconscious project, as he wanders, gets kidnapped, learns to enjoy being lost, and revels in finding his way home again at last—multiple times. When Azaro is taken in by the corrupt policeman, he thinks, “I had no idea who I was and even my thoughts seemed to belong to someone else” (20).