Reading Guide: The Death of Vivek Oji

“Some people can’t see softness without wanting to hurt it.” — Chapter twelve, p. 113

“They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died” — One line, the first chapter. These are the opening words of a story that dares to move you in unexpected ways. The Death of Vivek Oji is a gripping tale that provokes you to flip its pages hurriedly, in search of answers because you need to know who Vivek Oji is and why you should care about his death.

This story is a powerful account of how a family mourns when their only son’s lifeless body is delivered at their doorstep unaccompanied. There is no note or sad face to prepare a family for what comes next after they lift the akwete cloth off their son’s body. The Death of Vivek Oji follows a mother’s quest for answers that will eventually flirt with insanity, and lead her to truths she willfully ignored about her son’s identity. Truths because it is hard to say Vivek kept secrets that were glaringly obvious.

Akwaeke Emezi strings together a tale that carries grief beyond mere human emotions and loss, meshing it into layered themes such as reincarnation, identity, loyalty, sexuality, and love. It starts off by unravelling a family’s history using the idea of photographs — “the old kind, rounded at the corners and kept in albums under the glass and lace doilies of centre tables,” introducing each character like a deck of cards until the second chapter ends with words that paint a powerful picture of sorrow as “the beginning and end of everything.”

“Perhaps I had just become the fulcrum, the point on which everything hinged, the turning.” — Chapter ten, p. 90

In lyrical prose, Akwaeke Emezi employs different narration techniques that alternate between the 1st and 3rd person between chapters, resurrecting Vivek Oji back to life in the minds of the reader like a ghost always lurking around his family, observing their grief and foreshadowing the tiny details that contextualize his death. Other characters such as Osita- Vivek’s cousin who he shares a very personal bond with, Juju, and Elizabeth give a well-rounded picture of a tragedy that forces you to think about what it means to make a home out of trust, and not blood or familial ties.

“I felt heavy my whole life. I always thought that death would be the heaviest thing of all, but it wasn’t, it really wasn’t. Life was like being dragged through concrete in circles, wet and setting concrete that dried with each rotation of my unwilling body…I wanted to stay empty, like the eagle in the proverb, left to perch, my bones filled with air pockets, but heaviness found me and I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t shake it off; I couldn’t transform it, evaporate or melt it.” — Chapter ten, p. 89

Reading guide questions:

1. The book’s opening line paints a picture of a burnt market, what were your first impressions and what assumptions did you make about Vivek’s death?
2. Vivek asks: “if nobody sees you, are you still there?” Think about how this line resonates with you and the emotions it evokes. Write it down.
3. Who was your favourite character and why?
4. Can you draw similarities between Kavita’s struggles with identity and her son’s struggles?
5. “Most of the market burned to the ground that day. it was years before the government got around to building it” What can you make of this statement in relation to the socio-political context of the book?
6. When Elizabeth caught Vivek watching her and Osita, what did you think about Osita’s reaction? And at what other points in the book do we see this character flaw resurface?
7. The story fails to fully explain the causes of Vivek’s fugues. Do you think this was deliberate? Do you assume it has something to do with Ahunna’s presence?
8. What did you think about Vivek and Osita’s relationship from childhood until Vivek’s death? How did you reconcile this with the emergence of Nnemdi?
9. The dynamics of the Oji family changed over the years, from Ahunna’s relationship with her daughters-in-law, to Chika and Mary, then Chika and Ekene, to Kavita and Mary, Osita and Vivek, and finally Kavita and Osita. What role does grief play in these shifting dynamics? How can this be reconciled with how religion consistently pushed the goalposts of their relationships?
10. “Some people can’t see softness without wanting to hurt it.” Akwaeke Emezi’s words tend to paint strong pictures that point towards the physical. What does this quote tell you about toxic masculinity? What is it about fragility that makes men aggressive?
11. Were you surprised by what occurred between Tobechukwu and Vivek? What did you learn from their encounter?
12. Osita and Elizabeth. Osita and Vivek. Juju and Elizabeth. Juju and Vivek. Juju and Osita. Do the dynamics of their friendship shape the way you visualize the sexuality of the characters? How does this redefine your idea of loyalty and trust when it comes to friendships?
13. All the characters dealt with grief differently, particularly Osita, Chika, Juju and Kavita. What do their different experiences say about the relationships they had with Vivek? For instance, Kavita’s search for answers suggests Vivek was somewhat her lifeline in a place she couldn’t really call home.
14. Remember Ebenezer, the vulcanizer? What were your thoughts about this foreshadowing technique? Did you feel any different about it at the end of the book?
15. Do you think Osita’s outburst at the market was justified? Was Vivek really in any danger if she wasn’t easily recognizable or do you think Vivek should have kept her true self hidden behind the four walls of Juju’s bedroom? How did this shape how you felt when you found out about the way she died?
16. What do you think about the way Vivek’s friends revealed the circumstances of her death to her mother?
17. What are your final thoughts on Osita, Kavita, Chika and Juju?