This Motherless Land

Liv is a protagonist in the text and the other point-of-view character along with Funke. She is nine years old at the start of the novel and lives in England at The Ring with her mother, Margot; brother, Dominic; and her grandparents. 

Unlike her family, who refuse to allow Funke into their lives, Liv immediately befriends Funke and the two develop a close relationship throughout Funke’s time in London. Liv is kind and caring toward Funke, speaking for her, defending her to their family, and giving her a sense of belonging after her forced relocation. In this way, Liv is an important element in the theme of The Importance of Support in Surviving Trauma. Through her friendship with Liv, Funke survives the death of her mother and brother and ultimately thrives in her new life in London.

Despite Liv’s kindness toward Funke, she also has moments of jealousy and entitlement which are reflective of who her mother is. After Funke refuses to lend her the money she got for college, Liv starts to treat her poorly, refusing to give Funke her drawing on her birthday, drugging her at the ball, and failing to understand the repercussions of her actions. Although Liv was not directly responsible for Funke’s arrest or her return to Nigeria, Liv is complicit through her lack of understanding of the situation which stems from her entitlement. She refuses to acknowledge what she did was wrong—assuming that Funke lied for her—until it is too late and she believes that Funke is dead.

After Liv believes that Funke is dead, she spirals into drug and alcohol dependency. She fails to find a steady job, has sex with random men, and refuses to return to The Ring or reconnect with her family. However, just as she supported Liv, she learns the importance of support through her family friend, Jojo, and Grandma, as she returns to The Ring, enters rehabilitation, and starts a new life for herself in Funke’s absence.

Throughout the course of the text, Liv grows and matures. Through her relationship with Kunle, she develops empathy for what Funke must have felt upon her arrival in London. She learns about the impact of racism, discovers the manipulative and vindictive nature of her mother, and ultimately learns the effect that her family’s entitlement has on those around them. When she learns that Funke is alive, her willingness to finally stand up to, and confront, her mother reflects this change.

Margot is Liv’s mother and the primary antagonist in the text. One of the central conflicts of the novel occurs before the text begins between Margot and her sister, Lizzie—Funke’s mother. When they were younger, Lizzie tells Funke, Margot “always resented her” because Lizzie “had been their father’s favorite” (4). Additionally, after Lizzie married a Black man and moved to Nigeria, her family disowned her. Margot blames Lizzie for her own broken engagement and what she perceives as her family becoming social outcasts due to Lizzie’s pregnancy loss. As a result, when Funke first meets Margot, she is already bitter, angry, and resentful toward Funke, treating her poorly and assuming she is uneducated and uncivilized simply because she is from Nigeria.

One central characteristic of Margot is her greed. Her desire to manipulate those around her to get as much money as she can becomes a driving force in most of her actions throughout the novel. She lies about Funke’s inheritance, only sending her a fifth of what it should be; she fakes Funke’s death to get her removed from the will; and she takes advantage of her mother’s failing health, forging her name on a mortgage and attempting to get her declared legally incapable of making her own decisions. 

Margot is a flat character that does not change over the course of the novel. She continues to be greedy and manipulative until the end, when she loses her inheritance and is punished for her treatment of Funke, Liv, and her parents.