My Sister, the Serial Killer

Korede’s sister, Ayoola, is uncommonly beautiful, vain, and psychopathic. From earliest childhood, her beauty has helped her get what she wants because everybody around her saw her as deserving. She inherited her father’s ruthless streak, which first becomes apparent at age 17, when she kills her boyfriend Somto by stabbing him with her father’s knife. The direct and brutal nature of her crimes shows that she feels no sense of compassion and has no compunction about killing.

As the novel progresses, her sister Korede notices that Ayoola’s attempts at showing empathy become less frequent, until she is predominantly bored by any reference to the crimes she has committed, as if she has already forgotten about them. As opposed to Korede, whose ethical dilemma colors her everyday existence, Ayoola seems largely unperturbed by her actions and sees them as necessary, painting herself as the victim of men who wish to exploit her and her beauty.

Ayoola’s family brought her up appreciated and sheltered, except in one key circumstance: When she was a child, her father attempted to sell her to his criminal partner. He realized that Ayoola’s beauty made her a useful asset; Korede once again protected her. Ayoola has a complex and ambivalent attitude toward Korede, whom she sees at once as her soulmate—almost an extension of herself—and as a potential nuisance and threat to her calm. She attempts to keep Korede in her place by seducing Tade, whom Korede loves. On the one hand, she wishes to demonstrate that Tade is just another typical, sexually driven male. On the other, she seems jealous of Korede having an interest in someone besides, her, and she wants to punish her by feeding Tade information that represents Korede in a bad light. Ayoola has no intention of stopping her murderous exploits (it is questionable whether she can), and she sees nothing wrong in extinguishing a person’s life, especially men she perceives as shallow, abusive, and opportunistic, like her father. The police will not hold her accountable for the killings; the way men perceive her and her beauty will always shield her from their intrusion.  

Although long dead, Korede and Ayoola’s father is one of the crucial characters in the book. His name is not revealed until the end of the story because he is defined by his role in the two main characters’ lives. His name is only mentioned in connection to a Yoruba tradition of naming twins a certain way, so that his name, Kehinde, means “the second-born twin. But Kehinde is also the older twin, because he says to Taiwo, ‘Go out first and test the world for me.’” (214).

Father is a cruel, detached criminal, abusive to his family, and a man who simply takes what he wants when he wants it. He is the product of a deeply patriarchal, toxic societal view of masculinity, but he is also a psychopathic sadist. Mother, Korede and Ayoola are afraid of him, and he enjoys torturing them. Chapter 38 depicts a time he brings one of his many mistresses to the family home as an act of chauvinist defiance. He brings the girl into the master bedroom, locking his wife outside. His treatment of Ayoola after the visit of a clumsy young man who is in love with her further shows his sadistic streak, and yet his ultimate demonstration of sociopathic lack of any real feeling occurs when he agrees to hand over Ayoola to a criminal chief as a sexual slave in exchange for completion of business.

Father is the carrier of the pathological tendency that Ayoola will inherit. Furthermore, his treatment of his daughters forms the adults they become; most of Korede’s and Ayoola’s issues stem directly from him.  

Tade is a young and handsome doctor working in the hospital where Korede becomes head nurse. Seen through Korede’s appreciative eyes, he is a gentle and thoughtful man, dedicated to his work. He has an excellent way of dealing with difficult patients, especially children, whom he charms with his beautiful singing voice.

At first, he seems to have a soft spot for Korede, and he appreciates her many virtues, which leads her to believe they could become a couple. One he meets Ayoola, her arresting beauty infatuates him, and his opinion of Korede, influenced by misinformation from Ayoola, turns sour. In Korede’s perception, Tade transforms from a kind and generous man to one who is harsh, quick to judge, and shallow. When Korede tries to warn him about Ayoola, he shows a vicious, cruel side that stuns Korede, and comes to realize that he is very different from what she has believed.

Tade is the only man to survive Ayoola’s attack, thanks partly to Korede’s warning, which he previously dismissed as bitterness and jealousy. When he hurts Ayoola in self-defense, he becomes the sisters’ common enemy, and their testimony leads to his incarceration and the revoking of his medical license. 

Muhtar is a middle-aged professor who is in a coma after being injured in a car accident; his brother was the driver. He is one of Korede’s patients, but more importantly, he is a passive listener to her confidences about her life and her doubts about her sister Ayoola. While Muhtar is unconscious, Korede can project any characteristic onto him; she laments that his family rarely visits him and seems ready to let him go.

In the first part of the novel, Muhtar is a receptacle for Korede to evacuate her crowded thoughts, as she imagines his responses aligning with her own. Once he wakes from his coma and recovers completely, he becomes a full-fledged character and a person that Korede now wishes were not a living witness to her confidences. She briefly considers murdering him against her better judgment.

After his ordeal, Muhtar is a changed man with no more patience for the less important things in life. He decides to divorce his opportunistic wife and prevent his spoiled children from taking his money. In a society that is as traditional as Nigerian society, his behavior is shocking and uncharacteristic, but it provides an important contrast to Korede’s actions and decisions. He wishes to help Korede because he appreciates her attention, and he understands her thankless situation, but Korede cannot accept his advice to save Tade and free herself by telling the truth about her sister. His wish to remain in touch with Korede even after he leaves the hospital proves his concern for Korede’s well-being.

Ultimately, Korede decides to let Muhtar go because, with his sharp moral compass and his principled change of lifestyle, he becomes a constant reminder of the decision Korede has made to support her sister at all costs. He may also threaten their well-being in the future. 

Korede and Ayoola’s mother is nameless in the novel because she has little influence or significance in their lives. After spending her life married to a sadist, she has become a vacant, almost emptyheaded woman invested only in marrying off the beautiful Ayoola so that she can also benefit from it. Mother is easily dominated, as shown in her conversation with Aunty Taiwo about organizing Father’s commemoration; she agrees meekly to everything the pushy woman demands even though it requires spending money the family can ill afford to waste.

Korede is an afterthought for Mother, who she sees her only in connection to Ayoola. Mother believes her older daughter should invest herself in helping Ayoola by protecting her and serving her needs, in the process treating Ayoola as if she were still a child, or an expensive doll (which recalls a scene in which the young Korede believes the newly born Ayoola to be a doll and not a living baby). Ironically, Korede is physically similar to her mother, even though they have very different personalities. What Mother dislikes most in Korede is that Korede reminds her of herself.

Mother would never accept the truth about Ayoola’s character, let alone her murderous activities: “It would be the death of her, or she would flat out deny that it could have happened. She would deny it even if she was the one who had been called upon to bury the body” (91). Mother lives passively in a world of her own choosing, especially after the death of the husband who abused her. Mother’s isolation and dedication to Ayoola helps her avoid grasping the tragedy of her life.