Death of the Author
by Nnedi Okorafor
Contents
2: The Wedding
Overview
At her sister Amarachi's multicultural wedding in Tobago, Zelu is fired from her adjunct teaching job over a confrontation with an entitled student and learns her novel has received its tenth rejection. After enduring family slights, a humiliating masquerade encounter, and a brief beachside affair with Jackie's cousin Msizi, she spirals into a panic attack alone in her hotel room.
Cracked open by despair and high on her last weed, Zelu abandons realist fiction and begins writing a new kind of story—one about rusted robots—marking the creative pivot that will define the rest of her life.
Summary
At her younger sister Amarachi's destination wedding in Tobago, Zelu, a paraplegic Nigerian American writer, joins her sisters Chinyere, Bola, and Uzo in the bridal suite. She wears a dress she dislikes for her sister's sake and tolerates her mother Omoshalewa's heavy emphasis on Yoruba royal heritage, including draping Amarachi in an heirloom coral necklace. Zelu privately rejects marriage, having turned down two past proposals.
Her phone rings: her boss Brittany Burke, head of the university English Department, fires her from her adjunct creative writing job. The firing follows a class incident in which Zelu told a smug, entitled white student that his twenty-five pages were "self-indulgent drivel," prompting him to cry and the class to file complaints, including grievances that she had ended class early twice to work on her own novel. Zelu hangs up on Brittany. She also learns via email that her novel has just received its tenth rejection, this one a form letter to her agent.
Wandering the hotel, Zelu observes the men negotiating Amarachi's symbolic bride price and is patronized by Uncle Vincent, who tells her to smile more and find a man. The wedding itself blends Zulu, Yoruba, Igbo, Christian, and secular traditions. At the reception, Uncle Jonah insults her as "crippled," and a masquerade performer, egged on by a flute player, deliberately lunges at her, humiliating her to the crowd's laughter and forcing back tears.
Zelu meets Msizi, a young South African tech entrepreneur and Jackie's cousin. They flirt, leave the reception, and have sex on the beach. Afterward, an unexpected wave of despair hits her; Msizi gently helps her back to her room and exchanges numbers. Alone, Zelu collapses under the weight of being fired, repeatedly rejected, disabled, and dismissed by her family. She fights off suicidal thoughts, smokes the last of her weed, and, cracked open, opens her laptop. Abandoning realist fiction, she begins writing something entirely new: a story about rusted robots.
Who Appears
- ZeluParaplegic Nigerian American writer and adjunct professor; fired this chapter, rejected again, breaks down and starts writing about robots.
- AmarachiZelu's younger sister, a neurology resident, marrying Jackie in a lavish multicultural Tobago wedding.
- ChinyereZelu's eldest sister, a surgeon; poised and regal, but uncharacteristically wild on the dance floor after drinking.
- BolaZelu's youngest sister, present in the bridal party; brings African American boyfriend Shawn.
- UzoSecond-youngest sister, social-media-focused, eager to post Zelu's masquerade encounter.
- ToluZelu's brother, Bola's twin; loves dancing with his wife Folashade at the reception.
- OmoshalewaZelu's mother, a Yoruba princess insistent on royal heritage; drapes Amarachi in an heirloom coral necklace.
- Zelu's fatherRetired Igbo engineer; participates in bride-price negotiations and quietly helps Zelu when she struggles.
- JackieAmarachi's groom, a South African Zulu atheist physician; kind, with deep ANC roots.
- Brittany BurkeHead of the university English Department who calls Zelu to fire her after student complaints.
- Uncle VincentZelu's uncle who urges her to smile more and find a husband, brushing off her independence.
- Uncle JonahRelative who casually demeans Zelu as "crippled," exemplifying family insensitivity.
- MsiziJackie's cousin, a young South African tech entrepreneur and grad student; perceptive lover who treats Zelu with rare gentleness.
- ShawnBola's African American boyfriend; argues with Zelu about white guilt.
- ArinzeChinyere's husband, quietly uncomfortable as his wife drinks and dances wildly.
- RichardOmoshalewa's cousin who reveals at the reception that relative Funmilayo's husband died suddenly.