The River (Symbol)

Throughout the book, Ogola repeatedly uses the symbol of a river and its source to depict Akoko's bloodline. When Akoko is born, her father describes the value of women in a household in the following way: “a home without daughters is like a spring without a source.” This ends up being very true, as Akoko is a pillar of support for her children, nephews, and grandchildren, settling political disputes in her tribe and earning money through farming and raising livestock. Ogola uses this symbol again when she notes that the family's "river" nearly petered out until Elizabeth had seven children. In this way, this water imagery represents the strength and continuity of the family's bloodline and shows how they all rely on women as the foundation for this continuity, in much the same way a strong river needs a source.

Great Snaking Metal Road (Symbol)