DISCIPLINE OR ABUSE? What The Potter’s Wheel Reveals About Raising Children Then and Now

Beyond the Potter’s Wheel: Rethinking Discipline, Child-Rearing, and Cultural Shifts Through Chukwuemeka Ike’s Lens

By Daniel Enyinnaya Okereke

When Chukwuemeka Ike penned The Potter’s Wheel in 1973, he gifted the Nigerian literary scene a deeply textured story of transformation; the kind that takes a spoiled, precocious child and molds him into a respectable, disciplined young man. It’s the kind of story many older generations nod to with approval, believing that the “Obus” of today are in short supply because no one is willing to “shape” them anymore.

But literature, while rooted in its time, has a strange way of evolving with the world. What once passed for discipline is now flagged as abuse. What was once character molding is today trauma-inducing. And as modern readers revisit The Potter’s Wheel, they aren’t just admiring Ike’s storytelling, they’re asking harder questions like: At what cost did this transformation occur? And could we achieve the same result today without the same painful process?

In this article, we’ll examine how the theme of child-rearing in The Potter’s Wheel holds a mirror to generational change, challenging us to rethink how discipline, morality, and parenting have evolved — and more importantly, how they must evolve.

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1. The Original Context: Child-Rearing as Character Molding

Set in colonial-era eastern Nigeria, The Potter’s Wheel follows young Obuechina Maduabuchi;  imaginative, sensitive, and hopelessly attached to his mother. Concerned that the boy is becoming too spoilt and unserious, Obu’s father, a stern catechist, sends him to serve under a trader named Teacher Okonkwo. There, the real "molding" begins.

Through physical labor, emotional detachment, humiliation, and strict routines, Obu is pushed to his limits. His childish defiance is gradually broken. He adapts, toughens up, and by the end, seems to emerge as the “man” his father had hoped for.

In the world of the novel, this transformation is a success story. Discipline has done its job.

But viewed from today’s perspective, much of what Obu endured could be considered child abuse. Prolonged hunger, verbal degradation, loss of emotional safety — these aren't just hard lessons. They are scars.

Chukwuemeka Ike, to his credit, doesn’t sugarcoat this process. He lays it bare. And in doing so, he gives us a powerful platform to ask deeper questions.

2. Then vs. Now: Shifting Moral Frameworks

In Obu’s era, child-rearing was deeply influenced by:

• Colonial missionary values (obedience, submission, and restraint)

•  Traditional communal systems where adults shared disciplinary roles

•  A belief that children “must be broken” to be built

Today, the global conversation around child welfare has shifted:

• UN charters on child rights promote safety, dignity, and autonomy. 

• Corporal punishment is being banned in many educational and domestic settings

• Psychology and trauma research have shown that harsh discipline can cause long-term harm

We no longer believe that fear is the foundation of morality. We know now that a disciplined child isn’t always a healthy child.

And so, The Potter’s Wheel invites us into a kind of cultural time machine — to witness how dramatically the moral compass has turned. What was once wisdom has now become cautionary.

3. Can We Still "Mould" Without Breaking?

Here lies the crux of the conversation. If Obu’s transformation is desirable;  discipline, maturity, responsibility, how can we achieve the same ends today, without using outdated or harmful methods?

I think this is how modern society is approaching the same goals:

• Positive Discipline: Focused on respect, empathy, and consistent boundaries without violence.

• Therapeutic Parenting: Understands behavior as communication, not rebellion.

• Mentorship over Apprenticeship: Modern mentorship values agency, emotional safety, and mutual respect.

• Values-Based Education: Emphasizes integrity, accountability, and empathy through conversation and modeling (not coercion).

Children don’t need to be broken to become strong. They need to be understood, challenged, and guided with both firmness and compassion.

4. Literary Implication: A Book That Speaks Differently Across Time

One of the marks of a truly great novel is its ability to mean different things to different generations. The Potter’s Wheel does just that.

To readers in the 1970s, it was a story of redemption through tough love. To today’s readers, it’s also a story of survival through suffering. The brilliance of Chukwuemeka Ike isn’t just in his plot, but in how faithfully he captured the spirit of his time without necessarily endorsing it.

This is why reading older literature isn’t about judgment. It’s about recognition— of how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go. Books like The Potter’s Wheel offer not just nostalgia, but provocation.

5. From the Potter’s Wheel to the Potter’s Heart

The metaphor of the potter is powerful: to shape, to refine, to mold. But maybe today’s potter must evolve. Less pressure, more patience. Less force, more understanding.

Today, we no longer need to break children to build them. We can offer structure without trauma. We can build discipline without violence. We can raise the next generation to be responsible and respectable not because they fear us, but because they’ve seen the wisdom in the path we’ve shown.

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Ultimately, Chukwuemeka Ike helped shape the conscience of his time. Our job is to shape the conscience of ours.