Discuss the Theme of Domestic Violence in Second Class Citizen

This post is a sample essay under the topic, Discuss the Theme of Domestic Violence in Second Class Citizen. The theme of domestic violence features prominently in Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second Class Citizen. In this essay, I will focus my attention on the following aspects of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen

• The main perpetrator of domestic violence (Francis Obi) and the source of the violence

• Forms of domestic violence in the novel

• Victims of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen

• Effects of domestic violence

• Domestic violence as a social problem

• The role of domestic violence in the development of the plot of Second Class Citizen

The Role of Francis in the Development of the Theme of Domestic Violence

The principal architect of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen is Francis Obi. Francis is Adah’s husband and the father of her children. A short time after his arrival in England, he invited Adah to join him. He hopes that, together, they can achieve their dreams for their young family.

For several reasons, however, Francis has been unable to achieve his dream of successfully completing his studies in Cost and Works Accountancy. He looks on as Adah makes painful but steady progress in her quest for academic and career success.

Francis shuns work that will enable him earn an income. As a result, the responsibility for the upkeep of the family falls squarely on the shoulders of Adah alone.

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• Chapter by Chapter Summary of Second Class Citizen
• Complete Summary and Analysis of The Lion and the Jewel

As if that is not enough for Adah to stomach, Francis takes delight in hitting and slapping Adah much of the time. He has also threatened to lash his children with a belt if they dare communicate in the Yoruba language instead of English.

For a fuller understanding of the theme of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen, therefore, we would want to consider the role of Francis Obi in the development of the theme of domestic violence in the novel.

Sources of Domestic Violence

The big question is, what are the factors that trigger the many instances of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen?

Violence is an outlet for Francis’s frustrations

To begin with, we can trace Francis’s violent behaviour to the frustrations he has come to live with in England. Francis has become a man of a shattered ego. This is the psychological effect unfulfilled dreams can have on some people. They begin to seek comfort in venting their anger on others close to them.

It is the discomfort he feels about his many inadequacies that makes him treat his family with so much violence. For instance, Francis finds it difficult passing his Cost and Works Accountancy examinations. He feels humiliated. Now, he is reduced to a failed second class citizen who cannot take care of the basic needs of his young family.

Francis vents all these frustrations on the physically weaker Adah and their babies.

Even Titi and Vicky have to bear the brunt of their father’s hostile attitude.

Obviously, this does not reflect positively on the character of Francis. Instead, Francis’s violent behaviour makes him come across as a weakling. He is a cowardly character. The kind of irresponsible family man who is not man enough to face up to his personal challenges; let alone deal with them decisively.

The role of social norms about gender roles

It is also possible that Francis is simply a product of a society where females are treated as objects to be kicked around. And in marriage, wives like Adah, who refuse to “obey” their husbands must be beaten into capitulation. The beatings Adah receives from Francis are reminiscent of the corporal punishement she got from Cousin Vincent and her headmaster at a younger age.

Forms of Domestic Violence

Francis uses physical beatings, psychological manipulation and even sexual violence to force other people to bend to his will. The person at the receiving end of much of these forms of domestic violence in Second Class Citizen is Adah.

Physical Violence

One instance of this situation is the day Francis discovers that Adah had started using family planning gear without his knowledge. He gives her many slaps. On top of that, Francis calls all the neighbours to come and witness what he considers Adah’s abominable act.

Sexual Violence

Another important fact to note about the theme of domestic violence in this novel is that it is not just about physical beatings a husband metes out to his wife and children. The domestic violence we are talking about in Second Class Citizen also relates to sexual violence. And it is still Francis who is the culprit.

Francis makes love to Adah as if he is fighting her. Thus, Adah has hardly derived any pleasure from sleeping with her husband. She actually prays for Francis to go out and satisfy his unstoppable sexual urge with other women. All she yearns for is an escape from the “attacks” Francis calls love-making.

Emotional Torture

We must also not forget the emotional torture Adah suffers all the time in her marriage to Francis. This comes in several forms.

First, Francis has flatly refused to live up to his responsibilities as a husband. Not only has he pushed the financial burden of looking after the family on Adah’s shoulders alone but also he is quick to remind her that the children’s troubles are exclusively her headache.

On one occasion, he confronts his wife with these remarks:

” ‘Who is going to look after your children for you?’ Francis asked one day when she was tucking the babies into their settee bed. ‘I can’t go on doing it, you’ll have to look for someone. I can’t go on looking after your children for you'”

When Francis denies Adah the use of her own earnings for her personal comforts, he pushes Adah into deep thinking. Self-pity and persistent self-doubt are just two of the debilitating effects that Francis’s psychological manipulations have had on the young Adah.

Then also, Adah looks on helplessly as Francis sleeps around with numerous women – mostly white.

The burning of the manuscript of The Bride Price, Adah’s first attempt at becoming a writer (for which she has felt very proud) represents the ultimate in the use of emotional violence on the part of Francis to make Adah realize she is still a woman married to an Igbo man.

Victims of Domestic Violence

As we have seen so far, Adah is the number one sufferer from domestic violence in Second Class Citizen.

But domestic violence does not end with Adah alone. Her children also suffer from lashes with a belt. This happens each time they speak Yoruba, contravening Francis’s edict to the effect that they must always speak English.

Effects of Domestic Violence in Second Class Citizen

It is now crystal clear that Francis Obi is a wife-beater. He beats Adah any time he chooses. Adah often goes out with bruises all over her face.

Secondly, Francis’ numerous extra-marital affairs with other women, who come nowhere near Adah in terms of status, represent one more source of mental stress for Adah. She looks on helplessly as Francis goes about being an unfaithful husband in a foreign land.

For Adah, her marriage to Francis has meant only one thing – misery. The violent love-making has gradually turned her into a cold and passive partner. Adah has become too rigid for Francis who can hardly survive a day without sex. This is why she tells us that the only benefit she derives from her marriage is the children Francis has given her.

Francis’s shameless behaviour has affected the emotional well-being of the children too. They too receive their share of the violence- both physical and emotional. Like Adah, Titi and Vicky have no other choice but to watch helplessly as their father brutally assaults their mother.

These are the events that have suddenly transformed the once-lively Titi into a timid, taciturn toddler.

Domestic Violence is a Problem in the Larger Society

It is clear that violence in marriage, physical, sexual or emotional, is an extension of the idea of male overlordship in the typical African marriage. Domestic violence is an instrument for battering a wife, considered to be rebellious, into submission.

So, despite the fact that, Adah, at a younger age, vowed not to enter this kind of master-servant marital relationship, she has ended up finding herself in one.

“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!”

Francis, thus, represents those African men, who, largely out of their personal frustrations turn their wives into punching bags.

The novelist also uses Francis to criticize the men in her society. These are men who not only hit their wives at the least provocation but also beat their little children with dangerous objects.

Role of Domestic Violence in the Development of the Plot

First of all, that violent first sexual act on the very night of Adah’s arrival in London is significant. It will lead to the most problematic pregancy and subsequent birth in the violence-prone family of the Obis.

This pregnancy is responsible for the many conflicts in the novel. And these conflicts have far reaching consequences leading up to the end.

The pains Adah, the protagonist, has to endure as a result of this pregnancy are many.

Baby Bubu’s painful coming at the University College Hospital is what makes Adah decide to go for family planning. She is not willing to go through a similar experience ever again. The excruciating labour pains, the near-death surgery, and the embarrassing situation where Adah has to go without a decent nightdress of her own all have a heavy toll on her.

For deciding to opt for family planning, she has to suffer more physical and psychological violence from Francis – her torturer-in-chief.

And these are the events that prepare the ground for the final breakup between the protagonist and the antagonist.

Secondly, following two important incidents of domestic violence in the latter part of the novel, Adah decides that she has had enough. These are

• Francis’s beating of Adah

• The torching of Adah’s manuscript

Thus, domestic violence plays a major role in the development of the plot of Second Class Citizen.

Conclusion

The theme of domestic violence is central to Buchi Emecheta’s narrative in Second Class Citizen. As we have noted, Francis is the character responsible for much of the domestic violence in Second Class Citizen. Francis Obi has to find a way to cope with his personal shortcomings. So he freely uses physical beatings and emotional blackmail on Adah. The effects domestic violence has had on both the characters and plot of the novel are far-reaching.

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