The Other Side of Truth

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-20

Chapters 21-30

Chapters 31-36

Chapters 37-42

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Background

Historical Context: Political Corruption in Nigeria

Nigeria gained its independence from the British Empire in 1960. Numerous regimes have ruled the country since, and for much of that time, Nigeria’s government has been accused of political corruption. The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Nigeria 150 of the 180 countries it assesses, placing it among the most corrupt governments in the world (“Corruption Perceptions Index.” Transparency International, 2022). This is the primary issue that is fought against in The Other Side of Truth. The novel was written in and set in the culture of the 1990s. At that time, Nigeria’s government was going through numerous changes. In June 1993, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola won a democratic election, only to be pushed out 11 days later by then dictator Ibrahim Babangida. An interim government was introduced but overthrown by General Sani Abacha, who ruled for five years until his death in 1998.

Corruption was prevalent through numerous regimes and is often tied to the wealth that Nigeria generates due to its oil. Abacha’s regime was accused of stealing $5 billion from the Nigerian people; this money was laundered and directed to financial institutions worldwide. The US government has returned over $300 million to Nigeria through forfeiture agreements related to these accusations (“United States Enters into Agreement with Nigeria to Repatriate Over $23 Million in Assets Stolen by Former Nigerian Dictator General Sani Abacha.” The United States Department of Justice, 23 August 2022). The embezzled funds could have been used to advance infrastructure and provide for other needs in the country, where approximately 40% of the population lives below the poverty line.

The Effects of Political Corruption is one of this novel’s key themes: General Abacha was president when the novel was written, and it is set in the time period after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a nonviolent environmentalist from a Nigerian ethnic minority. His main qualm with the government was that it did not enforce the environmental protections that were put in place to protect Nigerian land from the oil industry. Protestors in the novel push for Nigeria to be removed from the 56-nation Commonwealth that consisted of Britain and its former colonies. Because of Saro-Wiwa’s execution, the country was removed from the Commonwealth for three years.

Critical Context: Postcolonial Literature

The postcolonial time period refers to the time after a country is freed from the rule of an empire. Most postcolonial literature evaluates the effects of colonialism and its demise on the formerly colonized countries and people. The British Academy states:

Postcolonialism often also involves the discussion of experiences such as slavery, migration, suppression and resistance, difference, race, gender and place as well as responses to the discourses of imperial Europe such as history, philosophy, anthropology and linguistics (Quayson, Ato. “What Is Postcolonial Literature?” The British Academy).

This theme of resistance is directly explored in The Other Side of Truth.

Among the most well-known writers who compose postcolonial works are Salman Rushdie and Chinua Achebe. Rushdie’s best-selling 1981 novel Midnight’s Children, which won the Booker Prize, explores India’s transition from British colonialism to independence. Achebe was a Nigerian writer whose works include Things Fall Apart, which has been translated into over 50 languages. His works often explore characters’ navigation of both their Indigenous culture and Western culture.

The Other Side of Truth can be read as a postcolonial young adult novel because it deals with the political corruption that had overtaken Nigerian life. Its characters speak out against injustices and have inherited the legacy of colonialism. The Solaja family is directly affected by the corrupt military regime. The effects of colonialism are also evident in the novel through the attitudes of the children in Sade’s London school. They hold negative stereotypes of African people and try to force Sade to rob her friend from Africa. They have no respect for anyone from Africa solely based on racist ideology and ethnocentrism. This demonstrates a lack of care on the part of England for formerly colonized people and countries.

Authorial Context: Beverley Naidoo

Beverley Naidoo was born in South Africa during apartheid. This was a severe form of legal segregation that separated Black people from white people in the country. Thus, Naidoo went to all-white schools; according to her website, living in this era as a white person was like being raised with blinders on. Naidoo began to do anti-apartheid work when she got older and was jailed in solitary confinement because of this activism. Like her character Folarin, she spoke out, even though it meant great personal sacrifice on her part.

Ultimately, she had to leave South Africa in exile and went to live in England. She wrote numerous books for children, including Journey to Jo-burg. This novel is about apartheid and its effects on children. As a result, it was banned in South Africa until 1991. She wrote two other novels for children about apartheid: Chain of Fire and Out of Bounds. She states that her novel The Other Side of Truth was inspired in part by the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Naidoo won the Carnegie Award for Children’s Literature, an award given to the best book of the year by a British subject, for The Other Side of Truth. She wrote a sequel to it called Web of Lies. Web of Lies continues the story of Folarin, Femi, and Sade as they wait for asylum to be approved.