It was as if there’was nothing that could stop her. Adah remained resolute and extremely resourceful, despite the many difficult challenges, in her forward movement towards her dream.

All she wanted at that time in her life was to further her education in the United Kingdom. Her ultimate dream was to become a published writer.

Adah never shed a single droplet of a tear when her cousin Vincent beat her severely with the koboko cane for more than two hours nonstop.

Likewise, to stop herself from crying when her headmaster gave her a severe corporal punishment, Adah dug her teeth deep into the flesh on the back of the male student who “backed her up” for the punishment.

That was how she earned the nickname “Igbo Tigress” from her mates.

Entry of Francis into Adah’s Life

But with Francis’s entry into her life, things begin to change for Adah. Because, somehow, Francis appears to have had a mesmerizing hold on her.

The truth is that in England, Adah has gradually grown to love Francis dearly. But she is not willing to admit it openly. For this reason, the more Francis treats her with disdain and violence, the more she cares about him and his feelings.

It is surprising that Adah never stops mentioning Francis’s name each time she needs to even take her own personal decisions. Adah will keep telling herself that she must let Francis know this, or see that, each time she comes up with an idea to do something significant.

Now, for every decision she is about to make, Adah will quickly ask herself, what will Francis think or say about it?

It is surprising because she also knows very well that the Francis she is thinking about does not care what she thinks or does.

And if she is not lucky, the good news she intends giving him will rather be met with scorn or slaps or both.

The Clerkenwell Magistrate’s Court Incident

There is one incident that gives evidence of the change in the character of Adah. It is when she and Francis appear before the magistrate in the court at Clerkenwell. This happens after the “Big Fight” between them. Adah, quickly turns into a stammerer.

While we expect her to let the magistrate know all the wrongs Francis has done to her, she begins to justify, in her mind, Francis’s violent behaviour; to the extent of sympathizing with him.

“Inside the courtroom, Adah started to stammer. The doctor had told her to call her and that she would come to give evidence. Adah had thanked her but did not call her. Suppose they found Francis guilty of assault which was what they were charging him with? What then would she gain by it? They might send him to prison, and what good would that do to her?”
Buchi Emecheta

And, Francis, very much aware of the psychological hold he has over Adah, spares no effort to manipulate the facts. He makes sure he makes Adah look stupid before the judge.

At the end of it all, Adah goes out of that courtroom with almost nothing. This incident alone shows the significant role Francis Obi has played in the development of the character of Adah.

Why Adah Becomes Weaker in the Presence of Francis

The strong-willed Adah that we know is often not the same person in the presence of Francis, her abusive husband. So what is it that makes Francis have this control over Adah’s mind and emotions?

Here are some possible reasons why Adah has, for a long time, been unable to stand up to Francis the way she would have done to any other person.

Francis’s Good Looks Mesmerize Adah

Could it be Francis’s good looks? Probably yes. Because Adah is always conscious of this. She dotes on Vicky, her son who seems to resemble Francis a lot.

Adah must be desperately in love with Francis. For example, she seems to be madly in love with his “little Chinese mouth” which Vicky has inherited from him.

She Feels Indebted to Francis

Adah’s attachment and loyalty to the abusive Francis could also be traced to a feeling of indebtedness she has for a man who came to her rescue at her greatest moment of need back in Nigeria. But for Francis’s acceptance to take Adah as his wife at their tender ages, Adah wouldn’t have had a place to call a home.

It was at a time when her own people had shown no interest in her higher ambitions. It is clear that Adah has never forgotten this key role that Francis has played in her life.

For this, she has decided to show gratitude. One way to do this, for her, is to tolerate his abusive behaviour.

Cultural Attitudes to Domestic Violence

Again, Adah’s surprising attitude to her suffering at the hands of Francis reminds us of traditional attitudes among Africans in general toward such issues as domestic violence and abuse. In most cases, the male perpetrator is treated with kids gloves and let off the hook.

The surprising sympathy with which Adah keeps treating Francis, in spite of his brutish behaviour is, thus, a sympton of a larger problem in many African societies.

Adah’s Gender Role Acceptance

To add to this, the African wife is always supposed to play the role of the lesser and weaker appendage, rather than a partner to her husband. Adah had once vowed not to fall into this traditional gender role for Igbo women. But, clearly, she appears to have lost the strength to follow her words with action.

“She would never, never in her life get married to any man, rich or poor, to whom she would have to serve his food on bended knee; she would not consent to live with a husband whom she would have to treat as a master and refer to as ‘Sir’ even behind his back. She knew that all Igbo women did this, but she wasn’t going to!”
Buchi Emecheta

Adah may not have gone as far as serving Francis’s food on bended knee. Neither has she ever referred to him as “Sir”. But the roles that Francis has defined for her in their marriage, and which she has accepted without question, mean almost the same things she once vowed to reject in her marital life.

She is a Pragmatist

But this development in the character of Adah can also be traced to Adah’s pragmatic approach to life. She has always been her pragmatic self. Adah is conscious of the fact that apart from Francis, she has no family in far away England.

Even back at home in Nigeria, Pa and Ma are dead. Her brother, Boy, who has never agreed with her marrying Francis in the first place, is the only surviving family she knows. But he too is far away.

So she must bury her natural stubborn instincts. She must learn to cope with the bad treatment Francis continues to give her and her little children.

Adah is Naturally Kind-Hearted

Above all, Adah is simply a kind-hearted and resilient soul. She cannot hurt anyone out of malice or vengeance. Instead, she has the natural gift of making people take a liking to her.

While everybody is hurting and complaining about it, she laughs. She discovers this attribute about herself only when she comes into contact with people like Peggy and Bill, the Canadian, in her new workplace at Chalk Farm Library.

Who is Peggy in Second Class Citizen?

Who is Bill in Second Class Citizen?

Significance of Chalk Farm Library in Second Class Citizen

In effect, as she grows older, Adah, thanks to Francis’s toxic attitude and clever psychological manipulations, has gradually lost that iron will that she once had as a young girl.

She has almost become an emotional wreck, holding on feebly to her inborn tendency to survive no matter the odds.

Now all she does is vow today that she will not allow Francis to have his way with her anymore. Then she forgets about it the next moment she thinks about her love and care for Francis.

This is how the narrator uses Francis to take us through the development of the character of Adah. Through Francis, we witness Adah’s journey from a no-nonsense “Igbo Tigress” to a pale shadow of her former self.

Last word

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