Who Fears Death

In Jwahir, when girls are eleven years old, they go through the Eleventh Rite, “a two thousand year old tradition held on the first day of rainy season” (32). The Eleventh Rite is when the girls undergo female circumcision; the practice had been banned in Onye’s mother’s village, and in Jwahir it is considered to be optional, though many still believe it is a prerequisite for marriage.

Onye initially assumes that she will not take the Eleventh Rite; however, following her experience in the iroko tree, Onye feels that she is a stain on her family and wishes to take the Rite in order to regain honor for her mother and Papa. Further, she believes taking the Rite will help to make her normal.

When the night comes to perform the Rite, knowing her parents would not approve, Onye sneaks out of her house to the ceremony. Six elder women and four eleven year old girls are present, including Onye. The women introduce themselves first, then ask the girls to introduce themselves: Luyu, Diti, and Binta.

The elder women ask the girls who is “untouched”; only Onye raises her hand, shocked that anyone her age could be sexually active. Although Luyu and Diti tell the elders who they were with, Binta initially refuses to tell them and is visibly distraught; after the women reassure Binta that she is safe there, she admits that her father has been molesting her.