Second Class Citizen Chapter 11 is titled Population Control. This title of Chapter 11 of Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second Class Citizen captures the main incident at this stage in the narrative. It is an incident surrounding the ill-fated decision Adah takes to gain personal control over her reproductive health.
Now, this major incident in Second Class Citizen Chapter 11 will set the final stage for the collapse of the problematic marriage between Adah and Francis.
Below are the highlights of the contents of Chapter Eleven of Second Class Citizen.
- Poor Housing Facilities in London
- Reflections on the Resource curse in Africa
- Adah Goes for Family Planning
- The Family Planning Episode
- Francis Writes to His Parents
- Adah Writes to Boy
- Francis Keeps Failing His Exams
- Adah Passes Her Exams
- Adah is Pregnant with Her Fourth Child
Here, now, comes your summary of Second Class Citizen Chapter 11.
Chapter 11 Summary
It is springtime in London and everything comes up alive.
Pa Noble’s house where the Obi family lives on Wiles Road in Kentish town has no bath. So Adah always goes to the public bath in Prince of Wales Road.
Looking at the climate in Europe, Adah reflects on the overabundance of resources in her own continent of Africa. In spite of this, the continent lags behind Europe in terms of development. This, Adah concludes, amounts to the phenomenon known as the “resource curse”.
An Important Bath
On this particular morning, Adah takes a bath she considers very important. She is on her way to the Family Planning Clinic.
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Earlier, Adah had suggested the family planning idea to Francis but he kicked against it saying “the best way to control the population was to pour it on the floor.”.
But Adah is determined to go ahead with her plans because she is not prepared to have any more children now.
Adah asks a nurse at the hospital where she takes Bubu, her youngest child, to be weighed.
Please could I have the Pill? You see, I am not twenty-one yet and if I had another child it would be my fourth, and I originally came here to study and bring up the two babies I brought from home. Can you help me? I need the Pill.
Buchi Emecheta – Second Class Citizen
For once, Adah is willing to stand up to the wrath of Francis and his parents. The birth of Bubu has changed the way she thinks about a lot of things in her marriage.
Adah Forges Francis’s Signature
But in such matters, even in England, the husband is the one who must sign a form to allow the hospital to help the woman. This forces Adah to forge Francis’s signature to get what she wants. Then she typically prays to God to forgive her.
It was not going to be easy for her to forget the experience she had had recently having Bubu. That was a warning. She might not be so lucky next time.”
Buchi Emecheta – Second Class Citizen
It is clear that Adah is not willing to pay the ultimate price for being an obedient and loyal wife.
Meanwhile, Adah has just got a new and second Librarian job since her arrival in the United Kingdom. The place is Chalk Farm Library.
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Why Adah Opts for Birth Control
Thus, besides the Bubu experience, there are, at least, two other considerations that energize Adah to go ahead with the family planning.
- She is determined to keep her new job at Chalk Farm Library.
- Her course in Librarianship is something she must finish.
Adah Chooses the Cap and Francis Finds Out
Among the three choices of the Jelly, the Cap and the Pills, Adah settles for the Cap. She is very much aware that should Francis find out, all hell will break loose – he and his parents will accuse her of adultery.
Then it happens. It is very easy for Francis to get the whole truth out of the “wobbly Adah”.
Francis reacts with a brutal physical assault on Adah. While at it, he calls all the other tenants and the Nobles to come and hear what Adah has done.
The beating is so severe that Adah can only express gratitude for Mr Noble’s interference. He comes in to stop Francis from beating Adah any further.
Adah was happy when Pa Noble came because at least it made Francis stop hitting her. She was dizzy with pain and her head throbbed. Her mouth was bleeding. And once or twice during the proceedings, she felt tempted to run out and call the police. But she thought better of it. Where would she go after that? She had no friends and she had no relations in London.
Buchi Emecheta – Second Class Citizen
Francis says he will write to his parents and tell them about this incident. And Adah knows this incident marks the beginning of the breakup. “Things were not going to be the same anymore.”
More Consequences
She is frightened at the prospect of losing the bond she has built with her in-laws. This makes her cry.
As for her marriage, she cannot see how it can survive this incident.
Her marriage with Francis? It was finished as soon as Francis called in the Nobles and the other tenants. She told herself that she could not live with such a man. Now, everybody knew she was being knocked about, only a few weeks after she had come out of hospital. Everybody now knew that the man she was working for and supporting was not only a fool but that he was too much of a fool to know that he was acting foolishly. Pa Noble reminded Francis of Adah’s health and God bless the old man, he sent all the inquisitive tenants away.
Buchi Emecheta – Second Class Citizen
Adah Writes to Boy
Adah decides to write to Boy, her brother and only family. She will tell Boy the truth.
After all, Boy has never liked the idea of Adah marrying Francis. To Boy, Francis is simply an example of those good-looking men who take advantage of their good looks to live off their women.
Francis Fails Again (and Adah Passes)
A few weeks after the family planning cap incident, Francis receives his latest examination results. And it is yet another failure. Adah, on her part, is able to pass part of her librarianship examination.
Francis, in his characteristic manner, blames Adah for his failures. He writes to his parents citing the family planning cap incident as the cause of his latest failure.
Adah is Expecting Another Child (Dada)
At the close of Second Class Citizen Chapter 11, Adah discovers that she is expecting her fourth child. The baby girl, to be named Dada, is thus on her way into the Obi family.
The pregnancy clearly presents Adah with a new challenge she had hoped to avoid.
Conclusion
This is the end of the summary of Chapter 11 of Second Class Citizen. You can find the summaries of all the chapters of Second Class Citizen here.
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