TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN
The novel deals with gender discrimination in a chauvinist society, Nigeria. Culturally and traditionally, women are relegated to the background. This is because in a patriarchal society they are seen as objects. They can only be seen but nit heard. This, therefore, results in some males treating them negatively. However, women have positive attributes. The female characters in the novel are treated rather dishonourably. Particular reference can be made to Adah, who is the female protagonist, works as a librarian assistant and is breadwinner whether she desires or not. She is abused by her husband. Francis beats her at the slightest provocation that attracts the attention of the Nobles and also Mr Okafor who followed her home to beg her husband when she left home after a beating. Adah provides for her family and cares for her children while Francis does nothing. Ma, Adah’s mother, who is blamed for Adah’s well executed sneaking into the classroom. Ma is given a bowl of Garri to drink. Ma is also given in marriage to Pa's younger brother after he dies. Trudy, who is a child minder and cares for Adah’s children in the UK is taken advantage of by Francis. Trudy and Francis has sexual relationship together. Western education is only preserve for males. So Adah always takes Boy, her younger brother to school at Ladi-Lak but she never goes to school herself because her parents wont send her. It is believed that education is not ment for girls. Adah initiates to start schooling as she stole into Mr Cole’s class, their neighbour when her Ma is engrossed in talk with her visitor. Submission of wives to their husbands even extending this to their families. Development of wives onto siblings of their late husbands. Adah sponsors and takes care of both Francis’ education in the UK and his family (2 sisters-in-law and parents-in-law) in Nigeria. This decision is taken by Pa, Francis’ father. Adah solely takes care of her marital home (bears the children maintenance and Francis’ school expenses. Adah’s mother is physically and emotionally abused by the police for child (Adah) neglect. Adah is emotionally, psychologically and physically abused by Francis in the UK; Adah’s marriage certificate, her passport, and the children’s birth certificates are burnt by Francis. This happens after Adah moves out of their apartment when she could no longer bear Francis manly behaviours after the burnt of her manuscript. Francis us dragged to court for stalking and burns the marriage certificate, her passport and the children birth certificate to hide evidence in court. Adah resists tradition as Francis exerts it through seeking birth control. She secretly forges his signature on the family planning form in order for the medical officers to attend to her. Even then the cultural obligation still works against the female gender.
ADAH’S GROWTH IN CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION IN PURSUIT OF HER DREAMS.
The novel explores the theme of gender discrimination and its negative effects on women. In the novel, a young woman. Adah, struggles against various forms of discrimination in her male-dominated society. Adah is an ordinary Igbo girl growing up in Nigeria. Her father dies when she is still young: her dream of pursuing education nearly shattered. She finds support from her paternal uncle to continue. She is denied education simply because she is a girl. She “enrolls” herself in school. This happens after she wanders away from her mother and goes into Mr Cole's class, her neighbour. Ma is punished for child neglect by the police and she was later enrolled in Ladi-Lak Institute after the stunt she pulled. She accepts to marry Francis at a very early age and becomes a mother in her teens. She works to support her husband and children. She aspires to travel abroad in the hope of a better life. She is inspired by the warm welcome given to Lawyer Nweze after his return from the UK. She consents to Francis leaving alone to study abroad. She sponsors Francis to the UK to study accounting and later joins him with her two children. She experiences a very hostile weather, drastically different from the bright and sunny weather back home. Francis is lazy and abusive towards her. She finds a job and works to support her husband’ schooling and her children. She experiences racial discrimination. This is revealed in her search for accommodation as they were rejected for being blacks.She receives intolerance from other Nigerians of different ethnic background. Firstly for securing a white man's job instead of factory jobs meant for Second Class citizens like her. And secondly for refusing to give her children away to foster parents. Adah is an Igbo who is not put down when Francis burns her manuscript. She stands up to Francis over his affair with Trudy and his sexual harassment of other women in their rented apartment. Already saddled with 4 children, she decides to practice birth control but was met with stiff resistance from Francis who beats her when he finds out she is trying to control her birth. She decides to be a writer. She learns very early in life that with determination she can survive on her own. Adah’s growth in confidence (searches for accommodation). She never gives up on her dreams. Against all odds, she has moved her family to the UK. When she realizes that her marriage is proving to be a stumbling block in her life, she leaves Francis and decides on divorce.
