DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI.

NAME: NDEOKWELU, CHINONYE

MAT/NO: NSU/ARTS/297/05/06

LECTURER:
DR TERHEMBA SHIJA

QUESTION:
A FEMINISM CRITIC ON HELON HABILA’S
MEASURING TIME.

In every society, women are relegated to the background and

reserved for laundry, cooking and producing children. Male
chauvinist classify women as irrational, impatient, emotional,
gossips and lousy. Its so pathetic that the society supports these
beliefs and carry it on from generation to generation.
From the first chapter of the book he presents a character named
Lamang as THE KING OF WOMEN, there is no justification for this
portrayal. The best name suitable for this chapter is THE MALE
PROSTITUTE because Lamang was a threat to women. Infact,
mothers locked up their daughters at night to save them from the
dangers of Lamang.

…and how mothers locked up their

daughters
at night to save them from “the
handsome rav
isher” p.13.

Lamang is not even man enough to marry his first love, instead
he visits her at night in her matrimonial home . This indeed is
probably what led to the death of her husband, barely one year
after their marriage.
However, Lamang marries Tabita the most beautiful girl in the
village. He treated her so badly. She later died after giving birth to
a set of twins, but Lamang is not moved , he abandoned his dead
wife and children, he didn’t even attend her burial. Women indeed
are prey in the hands of men. The future of Tabita is terminated
and Saraya losses her memory after the death of her husband.

He couldn’t marry his Saraya because after

her husband’s
death she had suffered a stroke that
destroyed her memory
 …p.16.
How then can Helon Habila call a destroyer of women’s destiny
THE KING OF WOMEN?
Again, Helon Habila’s use of Nana Mudo as an old witch is
questionable. Why on earth did he choose a female character as a
witch? I expect Habila to use a Man because Men love dogs and
handles them properly than women. Therefore, I strongly believe
that Habila’s use of Nana Mudo is not appropriate

The old witch Nana Mudo, lived alone

with her dog
on the other edge of the grove. P.23

Also, in reality men are greater witches than women, they do

dubious things which involves killing their wives, children or
parents for money.
Habila supports the societal maxim of having male folks as
politicians and few or no female to support. Right from the
inception of creation, Men have been given certain roles in the
society. For instance only men are eligible to hold governmental
position. Measuring Time gives credence to these societal
injustice to women.

There was general laughter, deep male voices;

some of the
laughter was forced, calculating, interspersed
amid the male
laughter were a few female voices; the Widows
p.75.
This implies that women whose husbands are alive can not
feature because they are saddened with a lot of domestic
responsibilities. Even the widows in their midst are not allowed to
sit among them or make decisions but they serve as servants.
They’d be sited discreetly on the outside of
the semicircles of
Men, or hovering by the door, refilling empty
water cups, going
out to the kitchen now and then to return with
plates. P.75

Habila depicts these widows as jobless and hopefully hovering

around lamang for marriage or favour.

The three women were the remainders of a

larger group of
Widows who had hovered hopefully around
Lamang after his
wife’s death. P.75.

This of course is an elusive idea about the widows. Most times

widows in the society mourn their dead husband and concentrate
in the upkeep of their children. Helon Habila portrays women as
incapable of staying without a man which is not true about the
female folks. There is no justifiable reason why several widows
should be frolicking around one man.
The character of Zara is quite different from others because
Habila didn’t take sides with the injustice of George Dogo to his
wife. But, I still wonder why Habila allowed the man to take
custody of the child. In the African society, when a man cheats on
his wife and she complains, she would be driven out of her
husbands house. Conversely, when the woman cheats, she also
packs out. This scenario is very glaring in Helon Habila’s work
Measuring Time .

I had remember the first time he slapped me.

I had caught
Him red-handed with a girl in his car as I
passed them on the
Street.When I asked him about it later at home
he just raised
His hands and slapped me. P.106

Zara confides in Mamo as a friend but he takes advantage of her

and in her psychological state of distress, he had sex with her.

She laughed and he could see in her eyes that

she was as
nervous… He bent down and pressed his lips on
hers p.106

Habila also portrays young girls as prostitute who roam around

sleeping with guys without caution. Bintu is one of those kind of
girls as illustrated by Habila. I agree totally that its possible for
Bintu to lure Mamo and Lamamo to bed but its not probable that
she forced herself on them. Therefore, Habila’s judgement of
Bintu is not accepted, rather men are often the ones who take
advantage of innocent girls, impregnate them and abandon them
with the little infant forming in their womb. Bintu’s background is
not mentioned anywhere in the book, but , we can probably say
that she is not well cared for. This accounts for her innocent
sexual acts with Mamo and Lamamo as a form of defense.
Apparently, Helon Habila’s Measuring Timeis a book deliberately
written to relegate and despise women. Habila accredits
wonderful and heroic roles to the male characters. For example
Uncle Haruna goes out to fight a war for his country, he comes
back and is celebrated by the people of Keti. Lamamo dies
fighting for the oppressed, Okigbo also died while fighting for his
community, Lamang’s inlaw dies leaving a lot of wealth for him
and his generation, Mamo is an intellectual who is marred by the
status of his health, Mai and the Waziri are leaders of the Keti,
Reverend Drinkwater stopped the killing of twins, the professor in
Uganda contributes greatly to the growth of Keti community.
On the contrary, women are given very unserious roles. For
instance, Tabita dies mysteriously while giving birth, Saraya is
mentally derayed, the widows are hopelessly roaming around
Lamang, Aunt Mariana have been driven away from her
husband’s house because of her inability to bear children for her
husband. Habila’s work is a portrayal of injustice and renewal of
gender inequality.
However, Habila must be applauded for creating a character like
Aunt Mariana, she assumes the role of a mother to the twins
telling them stories about life , even when their father cares less
for them. She brings a lot of peace and joy to their lives. (See
chapters 1-3).
Another issue worthy of note is the important role of the female
folks in the society. In Measuring Time part of Asabar’s
unreasonable habit of drinking and gambling is largely because
there was no mother figure in his life. Mothers are known for
spending quality time with their children, share from their pain
and watch their excesses but Asabar has none of these that is
why he ended the way he did.More so, even if Aunt Mariana play
the role of a mother to the twins, they still have a vacuum in their
lives which can never be filled. Right from the beginning of the
book, they speak sadly about the mysterious death of their
mother and how much they miss her.
In conclusion, though Helon Habila directs his story to the
weakness of women, but, at the end of the book, the status of
women is elevated in the society. We see that, Lamamo’s wife
Bintou carries the life of the society in her womb. This implies that
the hope, progress and success of every society lies in the womb
of a woman.

Works-cited
Helon, Habila. Measuring Time ; Cassava Republic Press. 2007.