EAGLE FROM THE RUBBLE: INTRODUCTION
Eagle from the Rubble is ultimately a proselytizing story on the recovery of despised humanity. Jesus Christ concluded a parable about the kingdom of God with the quotation:
"The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous to see."
Matthew 21:42
In a way, the following story is a contemporary affirmation of this biblical mantra which Jesus himself took from psalm 118:22-23.
The world is often riddled with man-made divisions some of which place stigmas on individuals. Castes, cults, classes, status, heritage, origin and pedigree are among these divisions which deprive humanity the freedom in which it should live, move and have its being. The unfortunate deprivations in turn often predispose victims to anti-social behaviours, which, if unchecked, could make life in the world unbearable. There is a strident call on men and women to drop the tendency to stigmatize others for, indeed, from the stigmatized can emerge the blessings the world endlessly searches for, the sweet perfume that can fasten a festering world.
Eagle from the Rubble is the story of a woman, Euna, in quest of fulfilment. A disappointment to her loving mother, an embarrassment to her children and siblings, she is not a good wife to her husband and is just tolerated by members of her community, especially her benevolent brother and sister-in-law. Euna is full of surprises. She epitomizes the greed, materialism and discontent that are fast becoming creeds in contemporary human existence. Cast in the mould of a subtle iconoclast, she strives to live, although in a generally unacceptable way, above two veritable institutions of social control, society and religion. The society is the traditional one where restrictions built around taboos and superstitions ultimately limit the individual's search for fulfillment and selfhood. Religion is as practiced in the Christian Church with its subtle compulsions and sanctions. Judgement of humanity as provided by these two institutions must be with caution and sympathy for extreme positions, often adopted, destroy the possibilities of human redemption and salvation which should be the ultimate quest of the world.
Euna's husband dies and she returns to the village with her female children, one of who, Nwamaka, she deceives to bear a bastard son in a condemnable way all in a bid to have in her
household a man who will keep her husband's share of traditional heritage. Obioha is the product of this child-abuse roundly condemned by the Church and society. As a bastard and Okene, Obioha is adjudged an evil child and, in compliance with rigid tradition, it is an abomination for him to live in Nneri community. The Church also will not allow him into priesthood because of his origins. The novel fathoms Obioha's rejection as the basis of his predisposition to vice, violence, disobedience, waywardness, armed robbery and cultism. The story deploys Obioha's life to demonstrate how stigmatization can ultimately destroy human potentials to contribute to the development of the world. The situation is more regrettable when the victim is innocent of the cause of stigmatization as we find in the case of Obioha.
Even so, there are in the world those who through discipline, training and spiritual insight live above base and nadir considerations that dwarf the infinity of human knowledge. Father Richard is one of such men. Struck by a terminal disease, he still goes in search of Obioha to redeem him for the world. He works hard to reverse Obioha's decisions to kill his mother, her children and husband and indeed himself for as he justifiably reasons with Father Richard, when bugged by the problem of his identity, he has nothing to live for. In his words:
"The Church rejected me, the society nated me.To my family and relatives I am anathema. Everyone convicts me of a crime I never committed. Just tell me, was I privy to my own birth? Did I form myself in my mother's womb? I am just a victim of circumstance. Then why do I have to suffer for the mistakes of another person? Wherever I go, I see hatred and rejection trailing me and yet you want me to believe you."
Father Richard convinces Obioha to go back to school while he travels abroad for treatment. Unfortunately, Father Richard dies, but not before he has made arrangements for Obioha's full education. His death and burial become props that redeem Obioha from criminality and make him a useful citizen of the world. Obioha runs a non-governmental organization in the United States of America and later returns to build and to run Father Richard Teaching Hospital and Heart Foundation and to be loved and accepted in the community that rejected him at first.
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