Akumu Character Analysis in Dreams from My Father

Akumu is one of Onyango’s wives and the biological mother of the Old Man. From the very beginning, she resented her marriage to Onyango—she’d been promised to another man whom she would have preferred to marry. After having Sarah and the Old Man, Akumu ran away. Though this wasn’t the first time she ran away, her parents and Onyango let her go this time. However, her choice to abandon her children affected the Old Man deeply. He adopted Granny (the third wife who was younger than even Akumu) as his mother and only vaguely reconnected with Akumu. Aunt Sarah, meanwhile, remained loyal to her biological mother, which forms the basis for some of the animosity between Aunt Sarah and the rest of the Old Man’s family in the years after his death.

Akumu Character Timeline in Dreams from My Father

The timeline below shows where the character Akumu appears in Dreams from My Father. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...she says that he should be caring for her. Then, in English, Sarah spits that Akumu, not Granny, is Barack’s grandmother and asks why he isn’t helping them. Zeituni and Sarah... (full context)

...she doesn’t know the whole truth, but Sarah was always closer to her real mother, Akumu, while the Old Man adopted Granny as his mother after Akumu left. She says that... (full context)

...a photo of the Old Man as an infant with little Sarah and their mother, Akumu. There’s one photo of a dreamy white woman, whom Granny says is a Burmese woman—another... (full context)

...that it was Onyango who was infertile. After this, Onyango set his sights on taking Akumu as a wife. Akumu was beautiful and promised to someone else, but Onyango paid a... (full context)

Granny pauses for lunch. Auma asks Granny and Dorsila if Onyango raped Akumu. Granny says it was traditional for women to play hard to get, necessitating the woman’s... (full context)

...strictly and rejected Christianity. He eventually converted to Islam. Onyango’s hardness is why he and Akumu had so many problems. (full context)

Granny was 16 when she married Onyango. Akumu already had Sarah and the Old Man, and they lived with Helima in Kendu. Granny... (full context)

...to Alego, where his family used to live. Granny didn’t resist, but both Helima and Akumu had family in Kendu and refused to go. Onyango forced them to move anyway. Having... (full context)

Akumu, however, remained proud and scornful. Onyango beat her often. Finally, when the Old Man was... (full context)