Transitivity and mood in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Ngózi Chuma-Udeh’s Forlorn Fate

Abstract

This study examines transitivity and mood in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Ngozi Chuma-Udeh’s Forlorn Fate. It is a textual analysis with particular emphasis on the functional value of the language use in relation to the transitivity system and mood system inherent in the extracted sentences which form the data and their significance. The research design for this study is a descriptive qualitative method of analysis based on some principal approaches to the analysis of a text. The theoretical framework that guides this study is Halliday’s Systemic Functional Theory of Grammar (SFG) propounded in the 1960s which lays emphasis on the functions of language in context of situation. The tool is syntax. The findings of the research show that Habila makes use of suitable actors, processes, goals and appropriate clauses to highlight the portrayal of poverty, disillusionment, misgovernance and political ineptitude under autocracy in Nigeria as portrayed in the work. Chuma-Udeh as a descriptive writer also uses suitable actors, processes, goals and appropriate clauses to capture vividly the grave living conditions of the inhabitants of the Odua Ancient Kingdom and ecological issues in the Niger Delta. The authors conclude that the writers are able to communicate their message powerfully and creditably to the audience. They use appropriate abstract concepts and human characters in the novels as actors and participants. The linguistic structures used in the texts enable the writers to communicate powerfully as well as creditably, both their social and personal experiences.