Thematic Exploration of the Irony of Destiny in Olympe Bhely-Quenum's Snares Without End

Abstract

This paper explores the thematic representation and irony of destiny in Olympe Bhêly-Quenum’s Snares Without End. It examines the sensibilities and superhuman forces that appear to operate beyond individual human control and the role they play in determining the direction of human lives. The study focuses Particular on the ways in which human choices, actions, emotions, relationships and  circumstances  intersect with forces that appear to be beyond individual control. It also explores the paradox whereby an individual’s attempt to secure freedom, happiness, dignity, security or relief from suffering produces consequences that frustrate or reverse the original intention, thereby making the eventual outcome appear inevitable. In questioning the extent to which man is the architect of his own destiny, the paper examines the complex relationship between human agency and fate in the novel.

The study adopts existentialism as its theoretical framework because of its concern with freedom, choice, responsibility, anxiety, absurdity, suffering and the uncertainty of human existence. Within this framework, freedom is understood as operating within concrete circumstances rather than as unlimited mastery over events. Through the experiences of characters such as Ahouna, Bakari, Anatou, Madam Kinhou, Boullin, Seitou and Camara, the paper demonstrates that destiny in Snares Without End is neither entirely external nor completely independent of human action. Rather, it is produced through an intricate interaction between personal choices and circumstances that individuals cannot fully control. Ahouna’s tragic journey, for instance, illustrates how jealousy, hatred, alienation and an attempt to escape an unhappy domestic situation eventually lead him into the very circumstance that culminate in his death. Similarly, Bakari’s resistance to colonial oppression, Boullin’s criminal actions, Seitou’s abandonment, and Camara’s disinheritance reveal different dimensions of the irony of destiny. The paper further examines the themes of suffering, murder, revenge, brutality, dehumanization, exploitation, oppression, hatred, love and death as interconnected expressions of the tragic human condition. Ultimately, the study argues that Bhêly-Quenum presents destiny as a powerful and apparently unconquerable force, while simultaneously showing that human beings participate in the construction of the destinies they later experienced as inevitable.