The British own us, just like God does, and just like God they are free to take any of us when they wish", I was stunned because the Nigerians, like all Africans at one time in their history, really had no power over their own country. Why drag us innocent Africans into it? What are the joys of motherhood when your life is dependent on producing children, preferably sons; when you have to share your husband with another woman; when you can't afford to feed or clothe your children, send them to school?
Yet, motherhood was what made an African woman at that time a woman. No other choices were really available to her. This book was sad to read on so many levels. Emecheta showed the pressure and the strain that women were often under to be perfect, the effect that patriarchy has on women.
Perhaps not much has changed. But who made the law that we should not hope in our daughters? We women subscribe to that law more than anyone. View all 32 comments.
If Lagos had been a mistress Ona , her lover Agbadi would have been the British, and had they produced a child, that child Nnu Ego would have been Nigeria. That child would have married her first husband the British protectorate - colonization but would have borne no children by him Oluwum , so he would have abandoned her. She would have married again post-colonization- Independence , this time producing offsprings with her second husband Nnaife and together, they would have fought to If Lagos had been a mistress Ona , her lover Agbadi would have been the British, and had they produced a child, that child Nnu Ego would have been Nigeria.
She would have married again post-colonization- Independence , this time producing offsprings with her second husband Nnaife and together, they would have fought to overcome marital struggles polygamy, patriarchy and more.
That is, if you were looking at this book through symbolic lenses, which, if you've read post-colonial writers like Wa Thiong'o, Achebe, and Soyinka, you'll find it difficult to avoid doing this. However, the story centers around Nnu Ego, whose parents are Chief Agbadi and Ona the chief's mistress and the love of his life. Though the chief has a few wives the setting is that of a polygamous society , everyone is aware that Ona has his heart. Yet Ona refuses to marry him because her father will not allow it, and also because she fears that once she is his wife, she will lose his love and respect: "she suspected, however, that her fate would be the same as that of his other women should she consent to become one of his wives.
Don't be tricked by the title, for the story is not simply about the joys of motherhood, rather, it is an inquiry into the intersection of womanhood and motherhood, and the setting is a place where women are ostracized for being unmarried and childless. I am a prisoner of my own flesh and blood. Is it such an enviable position? In Nnu Ego's culture, a woman could be an ostracized lover, yes, but a barren woman, no.
Reading along, you sense the subtle, but clear question that accompanies this ideal: why must it be this way? Until we change all this, it is still a man's world, which women will always help to build. I read this book years ago, but decided to revisit it after Thiong'o reminded me of African literary prowesses like Emecheta and Dangarembga, when I attempted his book, Wizard of the Crow. Emecheta is the author of more than ten novels, some of which are semi-autobiographical.
It is alleged that she started having children at age sixteen and when her first husband burned her first novel after he refused to read it, she left and tried to raise her children on her own. While reading this novel, there were moments when I was reminded of So Long a Letter , and yet the distant narration and simple-sentence structure that relies on dialogue, is much different than the intimate first-person voice that empowers Ba's novel.
What Ba does well in that book is address a reader who may not have a shared community, but shared values; a sort of universality that appeals to the non-Nigerian or African reader.
The Joys of Motherhood is very region-specific, and although they were only sprinkles, there are words or descriptions that could prove offsetting to some Caucasian readers. However, there are important themes embedded within dialogue something Emecheta does better than others , which makes me plan on visiting more of her works this year.
View all 17 comments. Mar 04, Zanna rated it it was amazing Shelves: year-reading-women , daughters-of-africa , feminism. Nnu Ego's father is a great man, so much so that when his senior wife dies, her burial is a grand affair. She must take everything she will need in the afterlife with her, including her personal slave, a beautiful and vivacious young woman captured from another tribe.
The woman begs for her life, but to no avail, she is executed. Her restless soul bonds with the recently conceived Nnu Ego and becomes her chi , her personal god.
The great father, Agbadi, feels compassion for the slain slave and to Nnu Ego's father is a great man, so much so that when his senior wife dies, her burial is a grand affair.
The great father, Agbadi, feels compassion for the slain slave and to placate her angry spirit, frees all of his slaves and bans the practice of enslaving captives taken in conflict, but the legacy of slavery is not so easily expunged: Nnu Ego suffers the rage of her chi. Another character later comments on the irony of white settlers banning slavery and continuing to employ native black workers in conditions indistinguishable from slavery.
This agitated, complex, multivalent engagement with troubled histories of slavery is characteristic of Buchi Emecheta's fictional biography of an Igbo woman born to a prosperous, highly respected family in a village where pre-colonial lifestyles seem undisturbed. In contrast to this setting is the British colonial city of Lagos, where Nnu Ego, having not conceived a child by her first husband due to the machinations of her chi is married to a washerman. Having lived in comfort in Igbo villages, she spends her years in Lagos locked in a constant desperate struggle to earn enough money to feed her ever-expanding family, consoling herself with the knowledge that she has fulfilled society's expectations of her as a mother and wife.
Recently I have been reading a lot of books by women that I find to be strongly feminist, and have what strike me as silly, patronising cover notes that are rendered ironic by the content. John Updike reckons, approvingly, that this 'graceful, touching, ironically titled tale Although this is praise, I actually feel it creates a false and belittling impression of the work, which is not simple, in its structure or in its feminist 'message'. The book appears to reach a conclusion when Nnu Ego asks God, when will you create a woman who will be fulfilled in herself, a full human being, not anybody's appendage?
That's why when I lost my first son I wanted to die, because I failed to live up to the standard expected of me by the males in my life, my father and my husband -- and now I have to include my sons. But there are several chapters to go, Emecheta is not done here exploring her interlocking themes. Significantly, Nnu Ego's struggles are shaped by the contrasting environments she moves through. Emecheta suggests that the pre-colonial context offers a better way of life to Nnu Ego and to most others.
It is impossible not to wonder what would have happened to Oshia, for example, if Nnu Ego had not been forced to return to Lagos. However, Emecheta employs images of healthy female and especially male bodies to complicate this point, when Nnu Ego contrasts the younger and older Nnu Ego, or Nnu Ego herself with Adaku, and contrasts her first husband with Nnaife.
The colonised body is shown as distended, aged, faded, odorous, somehow unnatural. Even more significantly, the colonised body loses its gender.
Nnu Ego's constant gender-normative criticisms of Nnaife's work and body reveal how her socialisation in the village structures her critical, attritive, but overall solid acceptance of patriarchal gender roles.
In fact, Nnu Ego's trans-phobic horror of Nnaife's job, and Adaku's decision to seize independence by becoming a sex worker, suggest that gender roles may be less rigid in Lagos; the city is a site of disruption as it forces desperate measures. This is not to say that the colonial context of Lagos is less patriarchal or less hostile to female independence. As if to foreshadow continual gendered violence, Nnu Ego is raped by her husband when she arrives.
For me, this recalls bell hooks writing about African American disaporas African men, even those coming from communities where sex roles shaped the division of labour, where the status of men was different and most times higher than that of women, had to be taught to equate their higher status as men with the right to dominate women, they had to be taught patriarchal masculinity. They had to be taught that it was acceptable to use to violence to establish patriarchal power.
When Adaku arrives, Nnu Ego speculates, only partly accurately, about the kind of relationship the beautiful woman will have with her husband. Emecheta explicitly suggests that a senior wife must behave in some respects 'like a man' and Nnu Ego certainly feels unfeminine beside Adaku. She does not give birth to any sons, thus 'failing' to affirm her husband's manhood, yet, resourceful Adaku attains a degree of autonomy and, significantly, the means of education for her daughters, thus casting off the male-orientation that Nnu Ego retains to the end.
No doubt well intended, this comment is often made condescendingly about writers of colour, especially female, and even white women, who are seen to have produced great art by chance, by a freakish gift of talent, rather than by effort and intelligence. The simple and direct prose is full of irony "[Nnu Ego] crawled further into the urine-stained mats on her bug-ridden bed, enjoying the knowledge of her motherhood" and the story encompasses global events from an exploited and underinformed colonial viewpoint.
Nnaife is forced to fight for the British in the war, leaving Nnu Ego to struggle on to provide for the family alone. Emecheta also explores the theme of tribal tensions in Lagos, where the Igbo are a minority among the Yoruba. Emecheta has these groups making near identical criticisms of each other, founded on generic fears of difference, despite their commonalities, for example the sense of community 'we all belong to each other' conveyed extraordinarily vividly in a scene of attempted suicide.
Yet Nnu Ego's thoughtful daughter second born Kehinde is able to cross these divides. As the narrative dissipates, hope flows out in many unexpected directions.
View all 18 comments. Feb 28, Nnedi rated it it was amazing. Feb 13, Raul Bimenyimana rated it really liked it Shelves: african-african-diaspora , women-writers. A moving story wonderfully written. Buchi Emecheta narrates of the woes and hardships women, particularly poor women, face in a patriarchal society.
Moving through rural to urban colonial Nigeria, this book explores the burdening demands placed on women. Nnu Ego who is the protagonist of the story lives her whole life in servitude of the men in her life, first her father then her husband and later her sons, all the while leaving her with nothing but harsh solitude and weariness. I normally hesita A moving story wonderfully written. I normally hesitate to call books powerful, but this one truly is.
View 2 comments. Jul 29, Monika rated it it was amazing. This ironically titled tale of Nnu Ego is, in layers, a plain feminist text. The Joys of Motherhood covers both the traditional as well as the 'modern' aka, the British colonialism. Emecheta draws a stolid picture of the woes and hardship of women, particularly a poor woman in a patriarchal world.
Just like any other commodities, even the women themselves believe that their husbands own them. Nnu Ego gave her whole life to be on the receiving end of the 'joys of motherhood', but when she died, This ironically titled tale of Nnu Ego is, in layers, a plain feminist text.
Nnu Ego gave her whole life to be on the receiving end of the 'joys of motherhood', but when she died, [s]he died quietly there, with no child to hold her hand and no friend to talk to her. Feb 18, Claire rated it it was amazing Shelves: great-books-by-women , around-the-world , around-the-world , fiction , nigerian-literature , favorites , classic.
Her mother's dying wish for her never a wife herself, she guarded her freedom and was like her father's son was that Nnu Ego would firstly, 'have a life of her own' and secondly, be allowed to 'be a woman'. We meet her on a day she is distraught, wracked by bitter disappointment, over the loss of her first child.
Every chapter is like a new phase in her life, one that might hold the key to the elusive fulfillment she seeks, to a change in fortune, and yet every chapter brings more disappointment Her mother's dying wish for her never a wife herself, she guarded her freedom and was like her father's son was that Nnu Ego would firstly, 'have a life of her own' and secondly, be allowed to 'be a woman'.
Every chapter is like a new phase in her life, one that might hold the key to the elusive fulfillment she seeks, to a change in fortune, and yet every chapter brings more disappointment, sacrifice and what seem like insurmountable challenges. Worse, how her efforts are perceived by her husband, who manages to view all through only the lens of its impact on his reputation.
He has the essence of a traditional upbringing combined with an inherited patriarchal sense of entitlement, learned from his colonial masters at the same time, unmanned by the 'feminised' occupation he fulfills for them. They believe in sacrifice and reward, but it eludes them, in their failure to notice the societal changes around them, the new freedoms young people in Lagos subscribe to, the intermingling of people's, the ambitions of youth that no longer support their families and younger siblings.
Nnu regrets neglecting friendship, the one thing that may have provided solace outside of marriage and children, she encourages it in her daughters and remaining son. Even in death she is resented, a shrine set up for villagers to appeal to if barren, a wish her spirit did not always grant. For they believed she had it all, that the joy of being a mother was the joy of giving all to your children. Was this a response to Efuru's closing lines? That story of a woman who achieved fulfillment outside of wifehood and motherhood?
Why then did women worship her? One of the best reads of definitely. View all 5 comments. Jan 21, Oyinda rated it really liked it Shelves: set-in-nigeria , physical-book-i-own. This was a reread for me, after first reading this book in my early teenage years.
I have always had a special place in my heart for this book, because it had such a huge impact on me as a young reader. Without even knowing it at the time, this book shaped and heavily influenced my feminism. When I was rereading, I discovered that while I remembered a number of key points and major events in the story, I had forgotten some parts. It was amazing to read and experience it all over again, and see t This was a reread for me, after first reading this book in my early teenage years.
It was amazing to read and experience it all over again, and see things from a new perspective as an adult reader. I read this book along with itan. Buchi Emecheta writes the most powerful stories. She has a very interesting way of writing women and ending their stories trying super hard not to post spoilers LOL. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook.
Literary Devices Here's where you'll find analysis of the literary devices in The Joys of Motherhood , from the major themes to motifs, symbols, and more. Themes Motifs Symbols. Several of her children even move away to Western countries, and feel little obligation toward their mother. Though Nnu Ego lives in early 20th century Nigeria, where colonialism and industrialization are rapidly changing the world in which she lives, we can still relate to her today.
All over the world, the way we live is changing. Think about your grandparents. When they were just starting to have children, how do you think they expected to spend their old age? Did it turn out that way?
Think also about immigrant families. In so many cases, the children of immigrants grow up with very different values than their parents, much like Nnu Ego's children. Feeling they are not being given enough money to support the household, the women go on strike.
But Nnaife does not come home to enjoy it. With Nnaife away and his pay partially secure in a savings account, Nnu Ego, again pregnant, takes her family to Ibuza and to the deathbed of her father. After his two funerals, Nnu Ego is unwilling to return to Lagos.
Nnu Ego returns to find that Nnaife had been home for a brief visit and had left some money for her that she failed to receive. Nnaife returns and spends most of this windfall. Though Nnu Ego is pregnant again, Nnaife decides to return to Ibuza, where he impregnates Adankwo and returns with a teenage bride, Okpo. Nnu Ego gives birth to twin girls. The family moves to a mud house in another part of town.
First Oshia and then Adim announce their intentions of furthering their educations. When Oshia tells Nnaife he has won a scholarship to study in the United States, Nnaife denounces him for his dereliction of his filial duty. Nnaife is put in jail, tried, and sentenced to five years, a stint that is reduced provided he return to Ibuza after his release. Nnu Ego has also returned to her homeland, where she dies several years later, alone by the roadside. Oshia returns to honor Nnu Ego with a costly funeral, befitting her sacrifices as a mother.
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