This article explores Pede Hollist's So the Path Does Not Die under the following headings:
Author's Background
Setting
Plot Overview
Character Analysis
Themes
Point of View/Narrative Techniques
AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND
Pede Hollist is a Sierra Leonean writer and academic whose work has gained recognition for its insightful exploration of diasporic identity, African cultural norms, and the challenges of reintegration and acculturation. Born in Sierra Leone, Hollist later moved to the United States, where he pursued his academic career, eventually becoming a professor of English at the University of Tampa in Florida. His transcontinental life experience is central to his writing, allowing him to offer rich, multifaceted narratives that reflect both African and Western cultural sensibilities.
Hollist’s literary emergence is marked by his 2013 novel So the Path Does Not Die, which was shortlisted for the 2014 Etisalat Prize for Literature. This novel reflects his broader thematic interests: identity negotiation, cultural conflict, migration, and the experiences of Africans in the diaspora. Hollist is also known for his involvement in promoting African literature, and his stories and essays have appeared in Kwani?, African Writing Online, and other literary journals.
His writing often captures the tension between traditional African values and modern global ideals. With his insider-outsider perspective, Hollist provides an authentic yet critical look at the African continent and its diasporic population, particularly through characters who are straddled between two worlds. So the Path Does Not Die serves as a quintessential representation of this worldview.
SETTING
The setting of Pede Hollist’s novel, So the Path Does Not Die, plays a vital role in shaping its characters, themes, and narrative progression. The novel spans multiple geographic, cultural, and emotional landscapes, primarily set in:
1. Sierra Leone (West Africa)
This is where the protagonist, Fina, is born and raised. Sierra Leone represents the roots, tradition, and cultural identity central to Fina’s internal struggles. Specific elements of this setting include:
Freetown: The capital city serves as a symbol of both opportunity and patriarchal constraint. It’s where Fina’s early life unfolds, including her first experiences with female circumcision, family conflict, and education.
Traditional villages: Though not always named, these rural areas represent deep cultural norms and are closely associated with secret societies, initiation rituals, and communal values. These environments contrast sharply with Western spaces and reinforce the tension between tradition and modernity.
2. The United States (primarily Washington, D.C.)
Fina moves to the U.S. for further education and to escape the emotional and cultural trauma of her past. America symbolizes:
Freedom and reinvention: Fina’s life in D.C. allows her to explore her individuality, professional ambition, and romantic life.
Cultural dislocation: Although freer, the U.S. also confronts her with racism, identity confusion, and loneliness. The African immigrant experience is deeply explored through her interactions with African Americans, Africans in the diaspora, and white Americans.
3. Ghana (briefly)
Ghana serves as an intermediate African setting where Fina reconnects with pan-African ideals and begins confronting her past. It functions as a spiritual and cultural midpoint between the tradition-bound Sierra Leone and the individualistic West.
4. Psychological/Emotional Landscape
Beyond the physical settings, the novel unfolds within Fina’s psychological space, marked by:
i. Memories and trauma from her circumcision and exile.
ii. Internal conflict between loyalty to tradition and personal autonomy.
iii. Emotional journeys through relationships, belonging, and healing.
SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS OF SETTING
The path in the title metaphorically represents both a literal and spiritual journey across geographies and identities.
i. Urban vs. rural settings underscore the dichotomy between progress and tradition.
ii. Transnational spaces (airports, embassies, universities) symbolize the liminal spaces Fina occupies—never fully home, yet never fully away.
The setting of So the Path Does Not Die is not merely a backdrop but an active agent that shapes the protagonist’s identity, conflicts, and transformation. It juxtaposes Africa and the West, tradition and modernity, community and individuality, all while navigating the complex terrain of gender, culture, and exile.
PLOT OVERVIEW
So the Path Does Not Die centers around Finaba Marah, a young Sierra Leonean woman who grapples with issues of cultural tradition, identity, and personal autonomy. Fina’s life is shaped by the traumatic experience of female circumcision (FGM), which causes a rift between her and her family and propels her journey toward self-definition.
The novel begins in Fina’s childhood, revealing how cultural practices such as FGM define womanhood in her community. However, Fina’s refusal to be circumcised alienates her from her extended family and society, leading to her estrangement and eventual migration to the United States. In the U.S., she seeks education and a new identity, freed from the traditional expectations that once stifled her.
Her life in the United States is far from simple. Although she finds relative freedom, she also experiences alienation, cultural dislocation, and the burden of navigating the racialized American society. Fina engages in various relationships, each revealing different aspects of her psychological struggle and her search for belonging. Her romantic involvement with an African-American man named Cotton is especially central to her journey, reflecting broader themes of cross-cultural relationships and diasporic identity.
The story takes a pivotal turn when Fina returns to Sierra Leone after years in the diaspora. Her journey back is filled with internal conflict: she wants to reconnect with her roots but also fears being subsumed by the very cultural norms she escaped. Her return is also catalyzed by the death of her aunt and the need to confront her past. Eventually, she is faced with the proposition of marriage from Mandala, a man whose traditionalist views challenge her notions of independence and cultural reform.
Through her experiences in both America and Sierra Leone, Fina confronts her trauma, reclaims her agency, and attempts to forge a hybrid identity that neither denies her heritage nor succumbs to its more oppressive customs. The novel ends with her reaching a tentative reconciliation with her past and choosing a path that honors both tradition and change — hence the title, So the Path Does Not Die.
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
Finaba “Fina” Marah
Fina is the novel’s protagonist and serves as the lens through which the story unfolds. Her development is central to the narrative. She begins as a defiant young girl rejecting female circumcision — a decision that sets her on a path of alienation but also liberation. Fina’s strength lies in her determination to define herself on her own terms, even when it means facing loneliness, trauma, and rejection.
She is intelligent, driven, and introspective. Her years in the United States afford her education and exposure to liberal ideologies, but she remains burdened by the cultural baggage of her upbringing. This duality makes her a compelling character: she is constantly negotiating between the cultural expectations of her heritage and the feminist, individualistic values she adopts abroad.
Fina’s relationships — romantic and familial — serve as crucibles that test her growth. Her romance with Cotton reveals her desire for connection but also her fear of subsumption. Her interactions with her family in Sierra Leone show her conflicting desire for belonging and independence. By the novel’s end, Fina emerges as a symbol of cultural negotiation and personal resilience.
Cotton
Cotton is Fina’s African-American boyfriend in the United States. He represents a different yet equally complex dimension of the African diaspora. Unlike Fina, who has a direct cultural lineage to Africa, Cotton’s understanding of Africa is abstract, shaped by the legacy of slavery, racism, and historical displacement.
Through Cotton, Hollist explores the tensions between Africans and African-Americans. While he loves Fina, Cotton cannot fully grasp the weight of her experiences, particularly the cultural and emotional scars of FGM. Cotton’s presence in the narrative raises questions about race, identity, and belonging across the black Atlantic.
Mandala
Mandala is the embodiment of the traditional African male — successful, culturally grounded, but conservative. His courtship of Fina upon her return to Sierra Leone reignites the cultural debates that dominate the novel. He offers Fina stability, social status, and a return to cultural norms, but at the cost of her autonomy.
Mandala is not a villain but a representation of the status quo. His character is crucial in challenging Fina to articulate her desires and boundaries more clearly. He symbolizes the cultural rigidity Fina must negotiate as she tries to find a middle ground between modernity and tradition.
Aunt Salimatu
Aunt Salimatu is a matriarchal figure who represents the complexities of tradition. Though she perpetuates customs like FGM, she also shows care and concern for Fina. Her death serves as the catalyst for Fina’s return to Sierra Leone and her eventual reckoning with the past. Salimatu’s character underscores the generational divide and the weight of inherited practices.
THEMES
Cultural Identity and Hybridity
One of the central themes of the novel is the complexity of cultural identity, particularly in the context of migration. Fina embodies the struggles of many African immigrants who must reconcile their native traditions with the values of their adopted countries. The novel portrays identity as fluid, constantly shaped by experiences and choices rather than fixed cultural markers.
Female Autonomy and Body Politics
The issue of female genital mutilation is central to the novel’s exploration of bodily autonomy. Fina’s refusal to undergo the procedure is an act of rebellion against a culture that seeks to define womanhood through pain and submission. The narrative critiques patriarchal traditions while giving voice to the silenced suffering of women.
Fina’s journey is, in essence, a reclamation of her body and voice. The theme also extends to her romantic and social life — she constantly navigates relationships where her autonomy is tested, whether in America or Africa.
Diaspora and Displacement
The novel offers a rich exploration of the African diasporic experience. Fina’s life in the United States reveals the challenges of racialization, cultural dislocation, and loneliness. Her identity is questioned both in America — where she is seen as African — and in Sierra Leone — where she is perceived as “Americanized.”
The diaspora is portrayed not as a place of complete freedom but as another space of struggle, albeit a different one. The novel challenges romantic notions of return, showing that “home” is often as complicated as exile.
Tradition versus Modernity
The tension between cultural tradition and modernity is another dominant theme. Characters like Mandala and Aunt Salimatu uphold traditional values, while Fina embodies a more progressive, critical perspective. However, the novel does not propose a binary; rather, it suggests the possibility of cultural synthesis. Fina’s ultimate goal is not to reject her roots but to redefine them in a way that upholds dignity and justice.
Love and Belonging
Through Fina’s romantic entanglements, Hollist examines the universal human need for love and acceptance. However, these relationships are also spaces where deeper issues of identity and power play out. Her relationship with Cotton is marked by cultural misunderstandings, while Mandala’s proposal becomes a test of her values. In the end, Fina seeks a kind of belonging that affirms rather than erases her identity.
POINT OF VIEW AND NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES
So the Path Does Not Die is narrated in the third person, primarily focalized through Fina’s perspective. This limited third-person narration allows readers intimate access to Fina’s thoughts, memories, and emotional world, making her internal conflict the center of the narrative.
The narrative structure is largely linear but includes flashbacks that provide context for Fina’s decisions. The use of memory is a powerful technique in the novel, especially as it relates to trauma. These flashbacks are often triggered by events or conversations, mirroring the way trauma resurfaces in real life.
Dialogue is another vital narrative device in the novel. Through dialogue, Hollist conveys cultural tensions, generational conflicts, and interpersonal dynamics. The language oscillates between American English and African idioms, symbolizing Fina’s hybrid world.
Hollist also uses symbolism and metaphor effectively. The title itself — So the Path Does Not Die — is a metaphor for cultural continuity and the importance of redefining tradition in a way that respects human dignity. The path represents lineage, history, and identity. By choosing a path that does not "die," Fina aligns herself with the idea of preserving her culture while reshaping its more harmful aspects.
Another significant technique is the juxtaposition of spaces: the United States versus Sierra Leone. These contrasting settings are not merely geographical but symbolic of different worldviews, social norms, and life possibilities. The novel uses these settings to explore how space and culture intersect in shaping identity.
Conclusion
Pede Hollist’s So the Path Does Not Die is a poignant, richly layered novel that delves into the complexities of cultural identity, diaspora, gender, and tradition. Through the life of Fina Marah, Hollist offers a compelling narrative of resistance, negotiation, and transformation. His careful use of narrative technique, character development, and thematic depth creates a story that resonates across cultural and geographic boundaries.
Fina’s journey is emblematic of a larger struggle faced by many in the diaspora — the need to honor one’s heritage while also asserting one’s individuality and rights. In navigating this path, Fina becomes not just a survivor of tradition but a reclaimer of it, proving that the path does not die when it is walked with courage, reflection, and purpose.