The Joys of Motherhood by Jamie Mallette

The irony of the title The Joys of Motherhood grows more apparent with each passing chapter. It is clear that the title of the novel is meant to point out the inequality and harsh facts of life for women in Nigeria in the twentieth century.

Nnu Ego, the main female character, desires nothing more than to prove that she is a woman by becoming a mother. Through the various trials in her life, it is shown how the art of becoming a mother and having children to care for makes life all the more difficult. Nnu Ego tries to be a good wife and mother as her tribe mandates, but her every action is scrutinized. Throughout her marriages and life, Nnu Ego is vilified. However, nothing is more heart wrenching then the end of The Joys of Motherhood. Nnu Ego dies and becomes a demigod that her family prays to for success in fertility. She is deemed a cruel and selfish woman because she never blesses her progeny with children, “ Stories afterward, however, said that Nnu Ego was a wicked woman even in death…” (224). The key word in that phrase is even, showing that her tribe believed her to be a wicked woman in life despite her later prosperity in bearing copious amounts of children. In my opinion, Nnu Ego is being a responsible “mother” figure by never allowing the women in her family to go through the strife and turmoil that she experienced.

It was difficult the to read The Joys of Motherhood without judging the culture that forces women to become submissive and breed for the benefit and honor of their husband. However, I tried not to make such judgements as an outsider to the Nigerian ways of life. Towards the end of the novel, I began to sympathize for Nnu Ego and the difficulties she faced with little help from her husband and children. The responsibility thrust onto to Nnu Ego, mothers and women, in general, is enormous. As Nnu Ego ages and younger wives are integrated into her household, Nnu Ego’s duties to her husband and family grow. I found the ending of the novel to be an interesting juxtaposition. As Nnu Ego’s worries and responsibilities multiply with age, her tribe and Lagos society believe that her role as mother and wife should be shrinking in magnitude. After Nnaife’s trial, Nnu Ego asks Adaku if Nnaife still owns her and her family, a telling sign of her cultural background. Adaku replies, “I’m afraid even that has changed. Nnaife does not own anybody, not in Nigeria today.” (218) This denotes the changing of the society in Lagos and a movement away from the husband owning his wife and daughters, which Nnu Ego does not realize or accept.

The conclusion that I reached is that ironically “the joys of motherhood” are not so joyful.

The Complete Woman, By David Kane

“The Complete Woman”

~David Kane

(11/4/11)

At the beginning of Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood, I was expecting an optimistic romp; the story is set in post-colonial Africa, so while I didn’t think I would be reading a thoroughly happy story, I didn’t think it would make me think about how dire the situation was for characters like Nuu Ego and her mother, Ona. They face the challenge of attaining the mantle of “the complete woman.” It is a standard against which they are constantly judged.

For most of Chapter 2, the narration focuses on Nwokocha Agbadi’s haughty, indomitable mistress named Ona, “who managed to combine stubbornness with arrogance.” (pg. 11). At first, she appears to be whom the author sets up as “the complete woman,” an intellectual equal who “refused to be dazzled by his wealth, his name, or his handsomeness.” (pg. 11). Ona confounds not only Agbadi, but also his many wives, who could not understand how he could love “a woman who openly treated the man they all worshipped so badly.” (pg. 21).

Chief among these objectors is Agbadi’s senior wife, Agunwa, described by her husband as “a good woman. So unobtrusive, so quiet,” when she falls ill not long after Agbadi is injured. (pg. 22). Suddenly, all that Ona wasn’t becomes all that is to be praised and lauded. A fiery and tempestuous woman being presented a “complete woman” was a progressive juxtaposition against the African tribal setting, yet upon Agunwa’s death, it becomes clear that even the village of Oboli is subject to the same hierarchy that is so prevalent in stories penned by European authors. Agunwa was submissive and bore sons to Agbadi, while Ona was disobedient and bore a daughter.

Perhaps the idea of completeness is less black and white than we think. Agunwa dies with Agbadi’s reverence, where Ona dies with Agbadi’s respect. What, as a woman is more important?

The Inferior Sex by MELINDA MEDINA

Melinda Medina

English 37503 (Sec. D)

Professor Laura Hinton

The Inferior Sex

            In the novel, Joys of Motherhood, byBuchi Emecheta,females are perceived as inferior in the patriarchal system of African society.  Women are expected to bare children, specifically male children, to carry on their husband’s family name.  If a woman is infertile or barren, she seems to not be a woman at all.  Female inadequacy leads women to feel unable to fit feminine characteristics, such as baring children.Furthermore, men are defined by the ability to impregnate a woman and to have male children.  If a woman is unsuccessful at becoming impregnated, the fault falls solely on her, and never the man.  Hence, men are considered superior and never are they assumed to be inadequate due to their position in the hierarchy.   Furthermore, women and female children are secondary to males in the African society.

            Women always have a duty to be loyal to a man and what that man desires.  Emecheta writes, “Because [Ona’s] father had no son, she had been dedicated to the gods to produce children in his name, not that of any husband...She had to be loyal to her father, as well as to her lover Agdabi” (18).  This statement is proof that once a woman is born, her loyalty is expected to be shown to her family, specifically her father.  The loyalty of a woman is transferred from one man to another.  For example, the loyalty is transferred from a woman’s father to her husband.  Therefore, a woman never has control over herself, her body, her sexuality, and what she desires to do.  A woman is expected to be content in following the men in her life, and the position they place her in.  Ona states to Agdabi, “You know my father would not have liked it...I refuse to be intimidated by your wealth and your position” (27).  This statement is proof that as a woman, Ona must keep her promise to her father because she feels a sense of obligation to him.

            Women are perceived in the African society as subhuman and as property.  For example, Emecheta writes, “[Ona] supposed she should regard herself as lucky for two men to want to own her” (25).  This statement implies that women are treated as property and objects, and men are their owners.  Emecheta goes on to write, “She is a woman so I don’t see why [she would not go back on her promise]” (26).  This statement is proof that the word of a woman means less than a man’s.  As a woman, one is not upheld to the same standards and expectations of honesty and righteousness as men.

            From a very early age, women and men are taught their place in African society.  For example, Emecheta writes, “My sons, you will all grow to be kings among men...My daughters, you will all grow to rock your children’s children” (29).  This statement is proof that men and women all have their place.  Men are referred to as “kings,” which displays their superior position in the hierarchy system between men and women.  Women are expected to be content in their positions as mothers, and grandmothers caring for the children they bare.  Furthermore, a woman’s sexuality is oppressed in African society.  Agdabi states, “My daughter has been found an unspoiled virgin” (31).  This is proof that a woman’s virginity is highly praised in African society.  A woman is expected to be a virgin up until the point of marriage.  If she is not found to be a virgin, she is disgraced and the shame falls upon her and her family.

            Women are expected to bare children, and if they do not do so, they are considered barren and infertile.  If this occurs they are subjugated by their society to being identified as subhuman.  Furthermore, women who are barren are perceived as unfeminine.  For example, Emecheta writes, “Nnu Ego was not surprised when Amatokwu told her casually one evening that she would have to move to a nearby hut kept for older wives, because his people have found him a new wife” (32).  This statement is proof that males are expected to take whatever steps necessary to impregnate a woman to carry on their name and inherit their land.  Therefore, women fall secondary to marriage and the sanctity of marriage is in question in terms of the Westernized ideal of it.  Men marry women to reproduce other males, and if a woman cannot bear children, she is outcasted.  Nnu Ego says, “O my chi, why do you have to bring me so low?” (32)  This statement is proof of a woman feeling less than a woman, because she cannot conceive.

            It is difficult for a man to consider himself as imperfect.  Emecheta writes, “It is difficult for him to accept the fact that anything that comes from him can be imperfect” (33). This statement is proof of a man being defined by a women’s inadequacy.  However, men believe themselves to be superior and therefore, it is difficult for a man to conceive that he has issues or has a child that has issues.  Hence, in men’s eyes, men are perfect.  Men want to control women.  Emecheta writes, “[Ibuza men] wanted women who could claim to be helpless without them” (36).  This statement is displays that a man desires a woman who is weak and unable to be independent. 

            African society has a lot of sexist ideology where women are considered inferior and expected to follow in the footsteps of the man in her life.  The male figure can be a woman’s husband or her father.  There are rules and expectations set that women are expected to follow.  In African society, men are the owners of women and whatever property that woman has, belongs to the man.  However, in pre-colonial versus post-colonial society, feminism and masculinity, and the roles of men and women start to be redefined.