The Prodigal Son in "Cell One"

In her short story "Cell One," Adichie chronicles the strife that the family of a Nsukka university professor experiences. On a general level, Adichie details the turmoil that has overcome the university: horrific gang violence. Adichie's narrator describes how the serene Nsukka campus is transformed into a cult battleground, where boys in rival gangs are killed almost every day and people live in fear for their lives. Beyond this overarching problem, the narrator's family also struggles with a rebellious son, who is named Nnamabia. Nnamabia first displays signs of misbehavior when he robs his parents and runs away with his mother's jewelry. Nnamabia does return repentant, and although he promises to change, he becomes caught in the middle of the university's gang conflict and eventually finds himself in a prison with cruel policemen. Yet, while imprisoned, Nnamabia seems to discover his own moral compass and finally atones for his past mistakes by speaking against injustice, even if it means that he himself will suffer. Adichie's tale is a powerful commentary on Nigeria's political strife, and Nnamabia's journey parallels the Biblical journey of the Prodigal Son. 

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is a story about a son who lives a lavish life after selling part of his father's fortune, only to find himself living in poverty after too much indulgence; he returns to his father repentant and humbled, and his father throws a feast for his son's return. While the other son, who has remained obedient and loyal to his father, is angered by his father's behavior–the father has never thrown a feast for him–his father tells him that they should be glad that prodigal son has returned. "Cell One" seems to mirror this Biblical parable. Indeed, Nnamabia is a prodigal son who runs away from home on two occasions: when he steals and pawns his mother's gold, and when he is imprisoned on account of suspicions of cult membership. Nnamabia's, and the narrator's, mother seems to be the father in the parable, for she constantly is making excuses for her son's misbehavior. This is demonstrated when the narrator states, "When, at eleven, Nnamabia broke the window of his classroom with a stone, my mother gave him the money to replace it and did not tell my father. When he lost some library books in class two, she told his form-mistress that our houseboy had stolen them" (6). Throughout the story, the narrator, like the obedient brother, appears to be angered by her parents' all-forgiving attitude, and this anger manifests through the narrator breaking the windshield of her father's car; she does this because she is tired of spending the time and money required to visit Nnamabia in prison (15). In both instances where Nnamabia runs away, he returns repentant, but only after he is released from prison does he reach full atonement. As the narrator and her family rescue him from prison, they learn that he was transferred to "Cell One," a place where the police commit unspeakable horrors against prisoners, after speaking out against cruel treatment of an innocent man. By sacrificing himself for another's well-being, Nnamabia displays true atonement, and like the prodigal son, is able to return to his family.