Education as a Stepping-Stone to Push Back Against the Strictures of Patriarchy and the Scourge of Ritual Murder, An Examination of Unity Dow\'s The Screaming of the Innocent

This research paper sets out to analyze the way in which women in Unity Dow’s the Screaming of the Innocent use education as a stepping-stone to push back on the straitjacket of patriarchy and the horrors of ritual murder. Through the casting of such lead characters in her novel as AmantleBokaa, Boitumelo, NalediBinang -who are conspicuous by their gutsy fight against women’s enslavement in any shape or formthanks to a respectable level of education attainmentUnity Dow doubtless touts education as a way out of male socio-economic dominance at the expense of women. The paper shows that the challenges standing in the way of full-blown female emancipation cum assertiveness may be multifaceted, yet women can collectively weather them if they develop a consciousness of the paramountcy of education as rock-solid weapon against patriarchal oppression and ritual killing.