Oil on Water

Content Warning: Both the novel and this guide reference alcohol and substance addiction, sexual assault, suicide, imperialism, and wartime violence.

“‘Forget the woman and her kidnappers for a moment. What we really seek is not them but a greater meaning. Remember that the story is not the final goal.’

‘Then what is?’

‘The meaning of the story, and only a lucky few ever discover that.’”

This is Zaq’s way of telling Rufus that the facts, though important, are not ultimately what they are trying to discover as journalists. Rather, it is why facts unfold in the manner they do. This eye for meaning-making is what makes Zaq unique, and it is likely aided by his penchant for risk-taking. The passage establishes that Searching for Order Amid Chaos will be key to the work—and something the journalists are especially equipped to do.

“Ultimately, things didn’t turn out fine, as I hoped and as he promised, especially for him, but then maybe he was talking not about himself but about me. He might have felt that he had drifted past a point in his river that was beyond return.”

Here, Rufus foreshadows that things will not end well for Zaq. A cocaine possession charge and alcohol addiction have derailed Zaq’s life and cost him his reputation. While Rufus still looks up to Zaq, Zaq himself seems to understand that there’s no way he can fully recover what he has lost. The Fallibility of Mentors is another of the novel’s major themes.

“But he’s innocent. Isn’t he innocent?” 

Here, Rufus and Zaq watch a villager suspected of “fraternizing” with the militants be taken away by the military. Zaq’s response to Rufus is “Guilty of what, and innocent of what?” (15), illustrating that in Nigeria, concepts such as guilt and innocence are subjective—dependent on whether one is talking to the military, the militias, or the