My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Amos Tutuola’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1954) tells the story of an unnamed narrator’s coming-of-age and spiritual development after he and his older brother become lost in the wilderness running from slave traders. Tutuola, who grew up in Nigeria, draws on traditional Yoruba folklore as well as Christian beliefs throughout the narrative. The novel, an example of the bildungsroman genre, integrates fantasy and magical elements as it traces the narrator’s encounters with ghosts and spirits. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts reflects themes of spirituality, the importance of folklore and mythology, and the consequences of colonialism.

This guide refers to the 2014 paperback edition published by Faber & Faber.

Content Warning: This guide and source text discuss domestic violence, abuse, incarceration, and enslavement.

Plot Summary

When the narrator is seven years old, he must run away with his brother from a slave raid that threatens his community. As he eats the breakfast prepared by his mother, the narrator notices that his father’s other wives and daughters flee from the house without bringing him or his brother with them. Hearing gunshots, the narrator and his brother run from the house and attempt to travel to their grandmother’s house. However, the threat of the slave raiders causes the brothers to separate. During this separation, the narrator’s brother leaves him with two pieces of fruit from a nearby fruit tree; the narrator, sensing that the fruit is meaningful, deems the tree a “Future Sign.”

The narrator enters the “bush of ghosts,” a stretch of wilderness miles from his home that includes magical and fantastical non-human creatures. These creatures take on many forms and demonstrate many magical gifts. The narrator first encounters three ghosts, who are gold, silver, and copper, and they attempt to entice the narrator to be one of their servants. However, the smelling-ghost, who interrupts the other three ghosts, forcibly takes the narrator to his town to imprison and enslave him. The narrator escapes by turning himself into a cow, but he is then sold to be sacrificed for the benefit of a girl who is blind. He escapes once again, and he lives with “burglar-ghosts,” who take on the form of sick babies to steal from local communities in the human, or “earthly,” world. The narrator marries his first ghost wife in the bush of ghosts, but he eventually leaves this town with the intention of returning home.

As the narrator continues his journey, he finds himself stuck within a pitcher, and his head and neck grow to a huge size. The local ghosts believe him to be a god, and they sacrifice animals for his benefit. One of these ghosts steals the narrator from the crossroads he is placed at and takes him to a chief ancestor, who has him sing songs from his childhood for entertainment. The chief ancestor takes the narrator to the town where the King of the Bush of Ghosts lives, but he does not meet the king. When the narrator is stolen again, two ghosts fight over the narrator, and the pitcher confining the narrator is broken, allowing the narrator to return to his natural form.

He then spends another few years in the 13th town of ghosts, which the flash-eyed mother rules. The flash-eyed mother shoots fire from her eyes and has millions of baby heads that cover her body. The narrator works for the flash-eyed mother as a hunter to provide her with food for herself and the heads. Eventually, the 13th town of ghosts and the other surrounding ghost communities go to war against other ghosts to protect the narrator. The narrator dies but is resurrected by the Invisible and Invincible Pawn, who is the son of the flash-eyed mother. However, the narrator does not have his own head on his body, and “the faithful mother” in the “white-tree” rectifies this by replacing the ghost head on the narrator’s body with his own.

When the 13th town of ghosts begins to resent the narrator for the war, he leaves and discovers a beautiful ghost in the bush. She is named Super-Lady and can transform into whatever forms she chooses. The narrator marries Super-Lady, and they go on many adventures to different ghost towns and the Loss or Gain Valley, where they lose their expensive clothing to another ghost couple. The narrator learns the language of ghosts and grows comfortable with his life in the Nameless-town with Super-Lady. However, he grows resentful of her when she births their son, who is exactly half ghost and half human. He wants his son to be entirely human, but she urges their son to behave as a ghost. Their marriage ends, and the narrator attempts to find his way home again.

The narrator stumbles upon another ghost town, where he uses magic that he learned from a ghost magician to replace the arm of a ghost king’s wife. This king wants the narrator to live with him for 15 years in case his services are needed again. However, the narrator sneaks away and discovers the 10th town of ghosts, where he finds his dead cousin. His cousin establishes a Methodist church community as well as a school and hospital. The narrator learns how to read, write, and behave as a full ghost, and he becomes the chief judge in town. Eventually, he has dreams about his hometown and family, so he leaves the 10th town of ghosts to find his way home.

During his journey home, the television-handed ghost, who claims to be covered in sores because of the narrator’s existence in the bush of ghosts, shows him his family on a television screen on his palm. She shows him the way home, and he promises to help heal her sores. Once the narrator leaves the bush of ghosts, slave raiders kidnap him. A rich man, who is unknowingly the narrator’s brother, purchases the narrator as an enslaved person with the intention of sacrificing him. When the narrator realizes this is his brother, he sings him a song from their childhood, and the narrator is reunited with his family.