SOCIAL AND MORAL VALUES IN AFRICAN

LITERATURE: A STUDY OF IKECHUKWU

ASIKA'S TAMARA

Ifeoma Ezinne Odinye

Abstract
Literature is a medium through which people's experiences,
life styles and other social issues are documented; whether in
drama, prose or poetry. Thus, literature does not develop in a
vacuum but reflects the norms and established social, cultural
or moral values of a given cultural milieu. African literature
performs the didactic function of representing African beliefs,
culture and existing social or moral values in order to correct,
enlighten, and teach morals. This study explores the African
family value systems and morality as documented by Asika in
his novel, Tamara. The novel deals with some social and
moral issues which are interwoven around people in
contemporary African societies This is achieved by placing
the characters in an African setting in order to explore these
values. Hence, the values are identified to uphold existing
positive social or moral practices that encourage good
behaviours and condemn social vices.
Key words: Literature, Social and Moral Values

…Literature is part of a social situation and must be

approached primarily as a mode of collective belief and
action. (Nnolim, 16)
Introduction

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Literature exists in different societies to entertain, correct and

instruct. It has values as a result of its basic functions in a
given society. Literature performs different functions in
society and these functions are useful in understanding the
world, people and their different cultures. Thus, the
followings are the basic functions of literature:
· Literature is entertaining and aesthetically pleasing.
· It broadens our knowledge and intellectual horizons by
making us more aware of the varied and complex
nature of human experiences.
· It serves as the mirror of society, because it depicts
real life activities.
· It criticizes, corrects and educates us through the
universal truth or philosophical view explored by the
literary artist in his or her fictional work.
· Literature is affective. It gives an opportunity for the
expression of emotions while reading a fictional work.
· Literature is fictional and plausible. A good literary
artist makes his/ her work plausible. The term
'plausible' means 'true to life'. This simply means that
the stories and characters are invented, but the
experiences reflect the reality of human existence.
In essence, literature helps to improve man's behaviour for the
general good of society. Literature is a humanistic discipline
composed in prose or verse form to represent experiences,
feelings, emotions and thoughts of an individual or groups of
individuals in a given geographical or cultural setting. It
heavily draws from imagination but presents some truth about
human life. This is to say that literature is useful because it
delights and teaches. Philip Sidney in his “Defence of Poesy”
elaborates on the moral and social functions of literature. He
argues that

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Literature imitates both to delight and to teach,

and delight, to move men to take goodness in
hand, which without delight they would as
from a stranger; and teach, to make them know
that goodness whereunto they are moved-
which being the noblest scope to which ever
any learning was directed…(938)
Thus, literature performs the didactic function of entertaining,
instructing and correcting. Hence, the audience or readers are
presented with issues of morality which are judged based on
the concept of right and wrong. As an embodiment of culture
and belief systems of people, literature never lacks moral
issues. Enukoha observes that
The question of morality is not trifled with in
any society. From the traditional society
through modern periods, social morality is held
overwhelmingly high. Literature is an
undisputable social force known for exposing
evil or commending good… Every society that
overlooks the quest for good morals, heads
towards extinction. Literary artists condemn
the vicious attitude predominant in their
environment. (12-13)
Generally, the social relevance of literature as a mirror of
society cannot be overlooked. Literature reflects the activities
of people in a given society as well as the relationships
formed by these people in the same society. One of the most
effective values of literature is its ability to expose or reveal
the good, bad and ugly attributes in human nature, and subtly
presents models to follow. This particular function of
literature however deals with the social and moral values
inherent in a literary work. In African literature, the issue of
morality has been a recurring theme. African writers have
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written their literary works to correct vices and uphold virtues

in order to guide the behaviours of people in society. African
literature in its written form relies heavily on oral literature
such as folk songs, folk tales, proverbs and idioms. As an
embodiment of culture and belief system of African societies,
African literature never lacks moral issues. In oral traditions,
stories are narrated orally during a storytelling section, and as
such moral lesson are taught using the experiences of different
fictional characters in the story. Achebe explains that stories
play important role in guiding people. He writes,
So important are such stories to mankind that they are not
restricted to the account of initial creation, but will be found
following human societies as they recreate themselves through
vicissitude of their history, validating their social
organization, their political systems, their moral attitudes and
religious beliefs, even their prejudices. (112)
Chinua Achebe more than Cyprian Ekwensi, Amos Tutuola
and other African writers stimulates literary work in Nigeria
because of his theme, “the impact of colonization on African
tradition” and the use of folklore. Achebe however employs
folktales in his novels, Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God to
pass moral judgments on his characters, especially those ones
who have erred. Thus, such tales that adopt characters like the
tortoise and vulture are used to teach morals in most African
societies. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe uses tales to make
disparaging remarks about Okonkwo, the protagonist of the
novel whose actions reflect in the character of the vulture and
tortoise.
Literature cannot be divorced from social and moral values.
African literature is no exception since literary genres record
people's experiences, moral and social values of a given
society, and how these values affect society negatively or
positively. Thus, African writers are conscious of some issues
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that affect their societies and as such, employ themes that

reflect past and present events.

Ojaide and Obi observe that “social issues and the way people
relate are subject of literature, whether in drama, fiction or
poetry. How individuals interact, man and woman in love,
friendship, the individual and the large society, human
relationships in short, are the sine qua non of literature. Ethics
and morality develop in the way people relate” (5).
In the beginning, African literature presents the picture of
people who lament over the pains and wounds inflicted on
them through slavery, colonization and imperialism. However,
in contemporary times writers have focused their attention on
issues that affect every sector of their society directly or
indirectly. Contemporary African Literature goes beyond
conventional literary studies. It deals not only with purely
literary issues of canonization, language, aesthetics, and
scholar-poet traditions that have barely been addressed
directly in recent studies but also with diverse
interdisciplinary topics in literature such as gender , migration,
globalization, environmental and human rights. Thus, the
uniqueness of African literature lies in representing the life
and experiences of people, especially on issues that have
become new concerns for writers and the general African
populace. The term 'African literature' refers to the literature
of the African people which has a lot of prospects in the
contemporary times. Poetry, prose and drama as genres of
literature perform the role of expressing and documenting the
culture, beliefs attitudes and social reality of African society.
Certainly, it cannot be denied that African writers consider
and reflect these social, political and cultural experiences that
affect their society.

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African literature as a body of literature has defied definitions,

but it still refers to all national and ethnic literatures of Africa.
This is to say that African literature merits its existence since
it performs the role of educating, entertaining and correcting
people. Literature as a mirror of society explores past and
current issues which affect society in general. Hence, the
literary artists assume the role of documenting these issues for
the purpose of sanitizing society. Ngugi rightly observes that
A writer responds, with total personality, to a
social environment which changes all the
time. Being a kind of sensitive need; he
registers, with varying degrees of accuracy and
success; the conflicts and tensions in his
changing society. (46)
The relevance of African literature to the growth and
promotion of moral and social values cannot be debated
because literature is didactic in function. Thus, literature
cannot be divorced from values since it records human
experiences through the rich resources of language. This paper
discusses the relevance of African literature to the promotion
of social and moral values using Asika's Tamara. It attempts a
brief evaluation of the novel with the aim of identifying and
exploring these values. Thus, the discussion presents literature
as a reflection of people's experiences and a useful medium
for correcting social vices. Generally, literature awakens and
shapes people's consciousness for the sole purpose of
condemning social ills or upholding morals. According to
Nnolim:
Literature still tills its crops in many virgin forests, and art
continues to speak in many voices. It is now commonplace
knowledge that contemporary African literature cannot be
properly understood and appreciated as an isolated expression

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but must rather be viewed as part of the totality of human

experience.(Approaches to… 16)

Issues in African Literature

African literary arts are primarily pre-occupied with the ways
and life of the Africans. In essence, they explore and express
the authentic life and experiences of the African people.
African literature is a branch of world literature with its
unique characteristics and features. It is an autonomous
literature which addresses itself to the issues that face African
society especially those problems of human existence which
Africans share with the rest of the world.
However, these works are imbued with Africanness and
originally draw their materials from the realistic past and
present conditions (values) of the African people. Critics
generally believe that Africa's contact with Europe in the 19th
century was not a happy one; this is why Nnolim asserts that
“it was a weeping literature, a literature of lamentation over
the wounds inflicted on all Africans through slavery and
colonialism” (Morning Yet on Criticism Day… 9).The Berlin
conference (1884-1885), which empowered the Europeans to
exact areas of influence, brought Nigeria under the British rule
.Based on the above mentioned view, Nnolim further explains
that
This was a mixed blessing: Nigeria became a
subjected people under colonial rule but
gained a world language that gave us a shared
heritage with Europe and the rest of the world.
With the English language came its literature
and with its literature we gained access to
world civilization. And with access to English
and European literatures came knowledge of

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their critical skills and methodology.(Morning

Yet on Criticism Day…, 1-2)
African literature is not mostly a 20th century phenomenon
which has been influenced by both western literature and
African oral tradition. O.R Dathorne observes that “a critical
assessment of African literature does the subject a great
injustice if it assumes that it begins in the twentieth century.
African literature relies heavily on oral literature, and this oral
literature, is still very much present”… (ix) Some early
western literary works such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of
Darkness, Joyce Cary's The African Witch and Edger Wallet's
Scandals of the River portray Africans, in a bad light, as
barbarians, savages and people who lack inventive ingenuity.
Many of these western works are not based on factual events
but on the imaginary account of the African continent. As a
result of this, the consciousness of some African writers is
awakened to restore the distorted image of the African people.
To this end, they reconstruct in their literary works the various
misleading and derogatory pictures painted about Africa by
some British novelists. Thus, African literature emerges from
the ashes of her past to documenting contemporary
experiences as seen in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Ngugi's
Weep Not, Child, Armah's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet
Born and Adichie's Purple Hibiscus etc. African literature is
part of world literature with its own distinguishing marks and
characteristics. It is an authentic and autonomous literature
which addresses itself to the predicament that faces the
African people. It is imbued with Africaness and draws its
content or materials from the realistic living conditions in
African societies as well as the past and present African value
systems.
Criticisms by African critics have also led to the growth of
this literature and this is to say that African critics have
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contributed positively in achieving this great task. Nnolim

notes that
Criticism has given direction and purpose to
African literature in the twentieth century
following the emergence of gifted and serious
writers led by Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and
many others. Critics like Emmanuel Obiechina
drew attention to the idea of cultural
nationalism in African literature culminating in
the part the negritude movement played in the
rehabilitation of the African
personality.(Morning Yet on Criticism Day…,
8)
Common debates have ensued about what constitutes African
literature. One major disagreement is on the use of language.
Some critics are of the view that literary texts should be
written using indigenous languages; while others support the
use of foreign languages (English/ French) for wide
readership. However, critics generally agree that such
literature should emanate from African cultural background
and should therefore deal with the problems of Africa.
Thus criticism by African critics has succeeded in exploring
and reviving the African aesthetics, its orature, mythology and
folk tradition. Though criticism has succeeded in achieving all
these; the problem of language use still raises great concern
for most African critics like Chinweizu, Jemie , Madubuike
and Emenyonu et al , who argue that African literature must
be written in African languages so as to end all foreign
domination of African culture. These radical voices are of the
opinion that the uniqueness of African literature lies in
exploring and representing the culture and experiences of the
African people not as an extension of the European literature
but as a unique body of the world literatures. Achebe however
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has contrary view in writing his novels in English. Writing in

English, the language of the imperialist conquerors of Nigeria,
Achebe's stated goal as documented in “The Novelist as
Teachers” is to create “new” African English. According to
Achebe ,
Here then is an adequate revolution for me to espouse—to
help my society regain belief in itself and put away the
complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement.
And it is essentially a question of education, in the best sense
of the word. . . . I would be quite satisfied if my novels
(especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach
my readers that their past—with all its imperfections—was
not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans
acting on God's behalf delivered them.(45)
Currently, the issue of language is still unresolved as most
contemporary writers document African experiences in
English language instead of indigenous languages, arguing
that indigenous languages limit their creative works to African
audiences. However, contemporary writers no longer dwell on
the humiliation of the past but have dedicated themselves to a
new form of imagination and invention which takes into
account the current issues that affect Africa as a nation.

Social and Moral Values in Literature

Generally speaking, the social and moral functions of
literature in society cannot be ignored since literature
broadens our knowledge by making us more aware of the
extent and complexity of human experiences. Literature
makes a realistic depiction of life and at the same time offers
an interpretation of the real world. This is to say that literary
artists do not just make a documentation of human
experiences but also interpret these experiences through the
actions of the characters, thereby reflecting the totality of
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human nature and the relationships that exist between people

in society. Thus, literature performs many functions such as
teaching morals, criticizing evil and correcting social vices.
One of the most effective values of literature lies in its ability
to reveal both the good and bad attributes in human nature and
subtly presents models to follow. This particular function of
literature deals with the moral and social values inherent in a
literary work.
The term 'moral' according to the Oxford Advanced Learner's
Dictionary (7th) is “concerned with the principles of right and
wrong behaviour or the standards or principles of good
behaviour. It is also defined as a practical lesson that a story,
an event, or an experience teaches you” (953). Moral and
morality can be used interchangeably since they basically deal
with the intrinsic values or attributes of people in connection
to their society. Hence, the term 'morality' according to the
above mentioned dictionary denotes “a system of moral
principles followed by a particular group of people”
(953).This is to say that the standard of human behaviour can
be judged, evaluated or criticized based on what is socially
accepted in a given cultural milieu.
The term “social”, according to the Oxford Advanced
Learner's Dictionary (7th), “is connected with society and the
way it is organized: social issues/problems/reforms. It is also
connected with activities in which people meet each other for
pleasure” (1398). Literature is not written in isolation; it
documents the lives and experiences of people in society
which cannot be divorced from social values. Similarly,
African literature as part of the world literature documents the
experiences of people in order to enlighten and educate the
readers on the existing African values.
The word, 'value', is connected to the belief system of people
in society. It is a general belief about what is right and wrong
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and what is important in life. Values do not force people to act

rightly or wrongly; rather, they serve as guidelines for people
in society. This implies that they help in checkmating people's
behaviour for the good of society. Every society has some
acceptable behaviours which must be respected and
recognized. These values vary from society to society or
culture to culture based on the existing norms. However, there
are values that are universal among different societies such as
obedience, honesty, patience, respect, love, hospitality,
discipline etc. Therefore, writers take the responsibility of
exploring these values in their literary pieces in order to
correct, enlighten and teach morals. The absence of these
values breeds corruption and other vices which affect society
negatively.
African writers are very conscious in reduplicating
experiences in their societies; thus, they do not just write to
entertain but to portray the existing social norms in a society
which also have consequences when they are not observed. By
presenting characters who live and interact with each other,
the writer gives the readers a good sense of reality to enable
them to evaluate themselves and adjust to the existing social
or moral values.

Social and Moral Values in Ikechukwu Asika's Tamara

Ikechukwu Asika is a contemporary Nigerian literary artist
whose novel, Tamara depicts some existing social problems
in different societies. The novel is written using the epistolary
style: a mode in which a narrative is structured in a letter
writing form. The novel explores varied and complex themes
such as love, fear, hopelessness, freedom, prostitution,
materialism, lack of parental care, marriage and brutality etc.
The novel serves as a warning note to young girls whose
broken parental background and quest for liberty blind their
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sense of morality and values. It also comments on the selfish

and materialistic nature of parents who pursue wealth to the
detriment of their children's well being. The novel revolves
around a young girl named Tamara, who is also the heroine.
Asika captures a young female who comes from a wealthy
home but lacks attention and family love. Tamara, her mother
and Kizito, her bother are three individuals whose lives are
marred by the action of an abusive, authoritative father and
husband. These individuals live in a wealthy home but their
lives are unhappy and miserable. Tamara's mother later dies of
depression (heartbreak) and her death devastates her children.
Kizito runs away from home while Tamara takes decisions
that later ruins her life.
In writing Tamara, Asika succeeds in presenting a man who is
obsessed with material wealth. Tamara's father believes that
money fills an important gap in people's lives. He lavishes his
household with material gifts without offering his love, advice
and moral support to them. In essence, he rarely spends time
with his family but only subjects them to strict monitoring. As
a result, their lives become suppressed in fear and insecurity.
On this note, the wife advises him to spend more time with his
children for a better future.
…the children…they love you…All of them
but you are too far from them …you are
pushing these children away. There are more
things they need you, they need your love, your
attention, your care, your encouragement. They
wish to know you… (32)
Tamara like other African novels is not written in a vacuum
but reflects the experiences, values and social norms of an
existing society. In essence, these experiences are meant to
correct and teach morals. In the novel, Asika asserts the

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protagonist, 'Tamara', as one of the voices that satirizes her

father's unacceptable behaviour. She laments:
We are not allowed to visit anyone and no one visits us. Alone
you confined us in a big house…lavishing all sorts of
wealth, If only you realized that there is more to this than
wealth. (27) You will never know what it feels like to be
locked up in this building. With little or no care, just money as
if money can substitute for Love and kindness. (104)
In African society, parental love and support are highly valued
and appreciated by close relations. In Tamara's family, the
opposite is the case because it is deprived of paternal love.
Though Tamara's mother tries her best to love, protect and
nurture her children; but she is also a victim of the same
circumstance which enslaved her children. In search of love
and moral support, Tamara and Kizito take decisions that ruin
their lives. Tamara searches for love in the face of every
available young man. In search of love, she engages herself in
immoral acts (sexual acts) with Dunga, his father's driver, who
is later sacked by Tamara's father when he finds out about the
illicit relationship. She falls again for Obed, the guy she meets
in the bus. The fact remains that Obed never loved her but
exploits her for his own selfish purposes. Again, Tamara seeks
for a way of regaining her freedom; she believes that gaining
admission into a higher institution would help her escape from
the horrors of her home. The statement below confirms her
thoughts:
My only option was an escape, the escape that would come
when I gain admission into the university. At least for once, I
could live among people and allow them recondition my mind
set and help me grow. I waited as days turned into weeks,
weeks into months, my escape drawing near. At last the news
came. (Tamara, 82)

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It is so unfortunate that her father frustrates her dreams by

insisting she attends her university lectures from the family
house. This decision shatters her more and leaves her
completely helpless and frustrated. Her desire to be free lands
her into complicated relationships which further shatter her
future. Her friendship with Senorita exposes her to the
realities of human experiences. Tamara confesses:
Father, the more I went close to Senorita, the more I knew I
was drawing away from you forever. Days later, she offered
me a ticket to escape. She offered to take me to Italy where
she resides. The offer was much for me to reject. I would have
the chance of escaping from you, for a very long time, not
forever as I thought…I would escape that lonely house, mix
with real people, pick a new identity, start a new life, be
myself, make my own decisions, and my own money, work
and cater for myself and find a nice man who would love me.
(102)
Even though Tamara gets her desired freedom, she later
regrets the high price of such freedom which has enormous
consequences. In arriving Italy, she becomes aware of the
nature of her job and wishes to return back to her prison
home. She receives threats from Senorita who warns her never
to escape. Senorita comments:
If you ever leave the walls of this compound, you will be
arrested and thrown into jail forever. She (Princess) is going
to set you up, with drugs, illegal material, and all. You will
never escape alive and no police will believe you're innocent.
It is better you don't even try…You see, she has everything
about you and you can't do anything you like… (116)
Tamara remains in Italy as a prostitute and experiences a
different level of imprisonment. She seeks for freedom and
wishes to return to her home. Asika in writing the novel,
Tamara, stresses on the importance of building the family in
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love which is one of the strongest virtues in life. He warns

parents to love themselves and train their children in love so
as to avoid hatred, division and immoral behaviours from
disintegrating their families. Asika also points out that the role
of training the children is not left for mothers alone. Fathers
should exact their good influence as the head of the family. He
points out that providing material wealth for the family
members is good, but being close and supportive (morally) is
better. Asika in writing this novel exposes the fact that the
family plays a role in shaping the personality of an individual.
In essence, a man who has a wrong family foundation cannot
perform magic in raising his own family. Tamara's father's
action is simply a reflection of his parental background and
upbringing. His attitude is interpreted as the consequence of
his childhood experiences. As a young boy, he is rejected and
abandoned by his parents after birth. He faces many
challenges before becoming wealthy. His loveless childhood
and experiences change his perception about parenting and
this affects his wife and children negatively. He consoles
himself when his son, Kizito leaves his house. He is not
bothered because he believes that Kizito could take care of
himself. He is not afraid of the consequences of his son's
action but remains adamant over his plight. He comments:
I started fending for myself at the age of fourteen… He is
quite a lucky chap; at least he knows his parent's faces. (38)
It is evident that Tamara's father lacks proper upbringing and
parental care. From the forgoing, it clear that Asika explores
the family as the pillar of the society. In commenting on the
fallen standard of family, Asika adopts Tamara's family as a
satirical portrait of the contemporary Nigerian family; he
exposes the failures of parents in raising their children with
good moral virtues. He therefore laments that broken homes,
marriages and family lead to a broken society. A family is not
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just about people living together but about people who are
united in love while caring for one another. Onyerionwu
explains that:
Tamara's father misarticulates his responsibilities as a parent,
father and husband; much the same way Eugene Achike in
Chimamanda Adichie's Purple Hibiscus does. He is totally
dictational, crushing his family in the weight of iron-fisted
legislature, even while showering them with everything good
money can buy. But his family does not need all the luxury;
they need that family milk of loving kindness. (ANSU
Journal, 127)
In essence, Asika uses the story of Tamara's family to pass
moral judgment on people who abandon their families in
pursuit of material things or pleasure. He warns that this very
act has grave consequences and at the same time poses a big
threat to the unity of the family and society at large.

Conclusion
This paper presents the view that African writers do not write
in a vacuum but represent the life and experiences of
individuals in a given cultural milieu. This is to say that they
imbue their works with moral lessons which serve as socially
accepted values in societies. The novel, Tamara, deals with
some social and moral issues which are woven around
families in societies. The novel aims at exposing those factors
that are responsible for disintegrating the family and so affect
society negatively. Asika presents characters whose words and
actions represent the image of people in contemporary
Nigerian society. This simply means that he is concerned with
practical issues that affect society and not merely the aesthetic
qualities of his work. `Asika is of the view that the loss of
moral values such as get rich quick syndrome, selfish desires ,
prostitution, and endless search for freedom are responsible
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for the decline of moral values in contemporary society. The

author blames the parents for failing in different ways,
especially in performing their roles as parents. He presents
characters that are morally depraved and marked by the
absence of virtues. The consequences of their actions however
result in a huge tragedy that ruins their lives, family and
future. In creating fictional characters like Senorita, Tamara
Tamara's father and Kizito, Asika explicitly exposes the
reality of human experiences in order to educate and expose
the readers on the consequences of these characters' actions
and decisions. He presents varied human experiences in order
to create moral awareness as well as expose some societal
problems for better society. To achieve this task, Asika
presents the fictional story of Tamara, a young girl, who is
lured into prostitution as she searches for moral support, love
and freedom which are absent in her immediate family. Her
father's attitude subjects her to emotional torture and sends her
in an endless search for freedom. In search of love, she loses
her virginity to Dungan, their family driver at the age of
sixteen. The same quest pushes her to have sexual relationship
with Obed which results in an unwanted pregnancy. Tamara's
broken home creates a vacuum for an outsider (Senorita) who
lures her into prostitution. She becomes addicted to hard drugs
and alcoholic drinks, in order to boost her sex drive. Her
dreams are shattered when the doctor reveals that her kidneys
have been badly damaged as a result of cancer. Though
Tamara marries Carlos, and gives birth to a baby girl; her
future, hope and dreams are marred by her past life style. She
only remembers her lonely childhood and blames her father
for her mistakes. It is thus important to note that Tamara's
actions and experiences lead to her tragic end. She only stays
in her sick bed waiting for death to strike. The characters in
Tamara are thus employed in order to condemn social vices
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such as excessive materialism, prostitution and sex trafficking.

Tamara, does not only highlight social values inherent in
African societies, but presents such values that contribute to
the formation of human personality. Characters like Tamara
and Senorita serve as reference points in creating moral
awareness, which contribute to shaping the moral behaviours
of the readers. Senorita's job as a prostitute in the streets of
Italy has robbed her of all moral consciousness. She helps
Tamara commit abortion and later lures her into prostitution.
She claims to love Tamara, but conceals the truth about the
nature of her job in Italy. The story of Tamara reflects the
experiences of young girls in African societies. In Africa and
other parts of the world, sex-trafficking and prostitution have
become common issues that debase and dehumanize
womanhood. Hence, contemporary writers like Ikechukwu
Asike, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Akachi Adimora
Ezeigbo have crafted their literary works to explore the above
mentioned issues in order to expose the complexities of
human experiences and their consequences.

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