Tomorrow Is Too Far
VATE Inside Stories 2014
This is the other story in the collection, which is told in the second person and it is considered the more powerful one by many reviewers. This story looks back eighteen years to an incident in the narrator’s childhood, one which has had a major impact on her whole life. The narrator reflects on the last summer before everything changed – her parents divorced, she never returned to Nigeria or saw her father’s family again. The memory begins eighteen years earlier in Nigeria at grandmamma’s place where the American-Nigerian narrator, her older brother Nonso and her cousin Dozie were all staying. Grandmamma favoured Nonso as the eldest grandson and the only one to carry the ‘Nnabuisi name’
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Dozie asks if she dreams of Nonso like he does, but she says no. He leaves her weeping by the avocado tree.
Tomorrow Is Too Far
TSSM Text Guide
Setting
Tomorrow Is Too Far starts as a reflective piece. The main character is reflecting on her last summer in Nigeria. When the story moves to present day it is still set in Nigeria, with the main character returning to the country for the first time in eighteen years. The story gets its title from a snakeskin that the main character finds during her last summer in Nigeria. Grandmama called it “echi eteka, ‘Tomorrow Is Too Far’. One bite, she said, and it’s over in ten minutes.” (P. 188).
Narrative Voice
Second Person Narrative
The story is written as a second person narrative. This style puts the reader in the position of the main character. We are never told the main character’s name, making it easier for the reader to relate to the character. Writing in the second person also challenges the reader, putting them in the position of the main character.
Plot Summary
The story begins with the main character reflecting back on her last summer in Nigeria, eighteen years ago, before her parents were divorced. She remembered Grandmama’s house with the tree-filled backyard that was moist and warm. The trees were all entangled together. In the evenings Grandmama let Nonso climb the trees and shake the fruit free, even though you were the
The novel also explores the negative impact that inequality has on the lives of Nigerians. Characters experience both gender inequality and inequality between different classes of society. In the story ‘Tomorrow Is Too Far’ the author highlights that how her grandmamma treats her and brother differently. Her grandmamma taught her brother Nonso how to pluck the coconuts but not her. Because ‘girls never plucked coconuts’. Nonso was always given the first sip of coconuts and grandmamma cooked meals with him in mind, not his sister. Nonso’s sister was told instead ‘this is how you will take care of your husband one day’. And also her mother used to end her brother’s nightly goodnight ‘ho-ho-ho’ laughing, but never left her room laughing. That’s all because Nonso is grandmama’s ‘sons only son, who would carry on the Nnabuisi’ name. This demonstrates that the importance of name and that these beliefs lead to gender inequality. The author also shows the negative impact of gender inequality.
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In “Tomorrow is Too Far” the unnamed woman is recalling events from her childhood and all of the times she felt invisible next to her brother. At the age of ten, in Nigeria growing up with her brother and cousin, the nameless girl unaware of her social role as a woman tries to become equals to her male family members. The grandmother wanted Nonso to be the first to go in the ritualistic sipping ceremony of the coconut over Dozie. Dozie, despite being older than Nonso, was only the son of her daughter so she did not care for him as much. The coconut sipping is symbolic because despite not following the traditional values of their culture it is evident that Nonso is the favorite of their grandmother.
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