Second Class Citizen Summary and Analysis: Plot, Themes & Characters

The Second Class Citizen summary and analysis you are about to read is quite comprehensive. For your convenience, I’ve divided it into various sections to cover the following key topics for any serious study of this novel by Buchi Emecheta.

• Setting and Plot Overview
• Adah’s early years
• Obstacles Adah must overcome
• The Place of girl-child Education in Second Class Citizen
• Mr Ofili’s death
• Pressure on Adah to marry early
• How Adah Gets Married to Francis
• Adah’s United Kingdom dreams must wait
• Journey and arrival in the United Kingdom
• Adah experiences cultural shock
• How Adah grapples with her new second-class citizen status
• Multiple pregnancies in quick succession
• Adah’s first job as a librarian in England
• Francis destroys the manuscript of The Bride Price
• Major themes in Second Class Citizen
• List of characters in the novel
• Key Incidents in Second Class Citizen

My sole objective is to enable you to know the key points you must concern yourself with in the course of your studies.

Are you ready? Let’s do this detailed summary and analysis of Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta once and for all.

Summary: Second Class Citizen

Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second Class Citizen tells the story of a Nigerian Igbo girl called Adah Ofili. The main point of Second Class Citizen is the many obstacles that Adah Ofili, the protagonist has to overcome in order to achieve her educational, career and personal dreams.

Setting and Plot

The story begins at the time when Adah, the protagonist, is roughly an 8-year-old girl. Adah was born sometime in the 1940s. That was during the Second World War.

Though Adah’s parents are from the Igbo group of Eastern Nigeria (precisely Ibuza or Igbuzor), she was born in Lagos, the then capital city of Nigeria, where her parents live.

The plot of Second Class Citizen starts from Adah’s early years in Lagos, through her marriage to Francis Obi, an Accounting student, and then moves to her early years as an African female immigrant with lofty dreams in London, the United Kingdom’s capital city. Second Class Citizen ends with the failure of Adah’s marriage to Francis.

Chapter by Chapter Summary of Second Class Citizen

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Chapter One Summary of Second Class Citizen

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Early Years

Here is what you must know about Adah’s childhood in this Second Class Citizen summary.

Adah happens to be a young girl with big dreams. She aspires to have an education and also travel to the United Kingdom. She also desires to become a writer.

Adah’s fascination with the UK stems from comments she heard from her father regarding one Mr Nweze whom his townsfolk are eagerly preparing to welcome from a faraway country called the United Kingdom. The impression the mention of the “United Kingdom” has had on the young Adah’s mind is strong enough to convince her that the UK can only be a place of greatness and bliss.

So, Adah, from an early age, resolved to do whatever it would take to one day travel to this place called the “United Kingdom”. And that includes getting herself a formal education.

Obstacles Adah Must Overcome to Realize Her Dreams

Unfortunately for Adah, fate and the culture into which she has been born will place roadblocks on her path to making her dreams a reality.

Girl Education is not Encouraged Among Adah’s People

Prominent among these obstacles is the simple fact that she is a female child and not a male.

Among Adah’s Igbo people at the time, sending a girl to school to receive formal education is considered a waste of time (and, by extension, money). Thus, Adah is forced to stay at home to help her mother with the household chores while her younger brother, Boy, is in school.

It only takes the resourcefulness of the young Adah to one day sneak out of the house to visit a nearby school where her neighbour, Mr Cole, is a teacher.

Mr Cole, being kind enough, allows Adah, who has literally burst into the classroom to the consternation of the children present, to stay on and participate in the lesson.

This incident marks an important stage in the development of the plot of Second Class Citizen.

Additionally, it ushers us into a new period in the development of Adah as an ambitious and determined young Nigerian girl. This is the period we will cover in the next section of this summary and analysis of Second Class Citizen.

The Death of Mr Ofili (Pa – Adah’s Father)

A second important development that threatens to cut short Adah’s dream of becoming an educated woman is the sudden death of her father. Mr Ofili has allowed Adah to attend the school – an expensive one of course. Sadly, however, he died from complications due to an injury he sustained while serving as a soldier in faraway Burma during the Second World War.

Again, by the dictates of Igbo culture, Mr Ofili’s brother has to inherit his wife, and by extension, his children. As a result, the decision is made for the children to be split among family members who will assume the responsibility of taking care of them.

This is how Adah ends up living with a maternal uncle of hers. To say that life for Adah in this new environment is unbearable will be an understatement.

But Adah is relieved that she is allowed to continue attending school. However, it is no longer the expensive, apparently higher-quality Ladi-Lak school she once attended before the passing of her father.

It is interesting to note that what motivates her relatives to allow Adah to stay in school has nothing to do with their desire to see the girl realize her dreams.

It is simply because, to them, an educated girl will command a much higher bride price when the time comes for her to be married off.

Pressure Mounts on Adah to Marry Early

Unsurprisingly, as Adah enters puberty, many suitors come knocking. Determined and focused on achieving her own dreams, Adah refuses to bow to pressure from her environment to accept a suitor and become a wife to “an old baldie”.

Instead, she relishes the idea of gaining a scholarship to continue her education at the secondary level. Adah’r resourcefulness again pays off. She literally steals money to sit for the Common Entrance Examination.

Consequently, Adah easily gets the grades she needs to win a scholarship to the Methodist Girls’ School.

Having successfully completed the secondary school course, Adah has been able to achieve another important milestone on her journey of grit, focus and single-minded determination.

In fact, this event also ushers us into the next part of our summary and analysis of Second Class Citizen. It is indeed a significant stage in the development of the plot of Second Class Citizen. Also, it is an important landmark in the development of the character of Adah Ofili.

Adah Gets Married to Francis Obi

The eventful marriage ceremony involving Francis and Adah cannot escape our attention in this Second Class Citizen summary.

To be clear, the teenage Adah’s primary motive for her decision to get married is to be able to have the opportunity to attend university. In fact, Francis is too poor to even afford the bride price. But that is not of any concern to the determined and resourceful Adah.

It is again important to note that for Francis and his people too, this is simply a marriage of convenience. It’s all about the potential of Adah, an educated and ambitious girl to earn and bring an income to support their family financially.

So, right from the onset, the marriage between Adah and Francis has absolutely nothing to do with the usual love or romantic stuff.

Quickly, Adah gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl called Titi. This will soon be followed by a second child – a boy called Vicky.

PLEASE NOTE: Adah was pregnant with Vicky when Francis left for the United Kingdom, an event we’ll talk about shortly. So Vicky was born in Lagos when Francis was in England pursuing his Cost and Works Accountancy studies.

Adah now has a job. She works as a library clerk at the American Consulate Library in Lagos.

United Kingdom Hopes Dashed

Adah is now working and earning an income. She is able to take care of herself, her children and even her husband as well as her in-laws. The once-penniless Adah can now afford anything she desires. She even has servants at her beck and call. No wonder, Adah now considers herself a first-class citizen.

We must not lose sight of one important fact, though. Adah cannot make decisions about her own money. All decisions concerning Adah’s salary are made by her in-laws (with her husband’s tacit consent).

But this is not all that Adah wants in life. Her dream of migrating to study and work in the United Kingdom is still alive.

After a discussion on the matter with Francis, her husband, they both decide to travel abroad.

Then comes one more stumbling block in the way of the heroine in Second Class Citizen.

Her father-in-law will not agree to Adah travelling to the UK. To him, it is not proper for a woman to undertake such a journey.

But what we must not forget is that Adah’s salary takes care of the household needs. Allowing her to travel to England with her husband will deprive her in-laws of much-needed housekeeping money.

So Adah is forced to stay behind while Francis leaves for London to further his studies in Cost and Works Accountancy.

Even then, Adah is still the one who, in spite of her mounting responsibilities at home, has to send Francis money to be able to take care of his needs in faraway England.

Adah Finds A Way and Moves to the United Kingdom

Adah’s eventual move to the United Kingdom must be at the centre of any serious plot summary of Second Class Citizen. So keep reading.

At first, Adah feels very bad about her failure to travel to England with her husband. But being the smart, determined and resourceful young woman that she is, she decides to keep calm and make her move at the slightest opportunity.

She doesn’t have to wait for too long. A few months later, Francis writes to announce to Adah that he will have to stay in the UK for at least four more years.

Adah wastes no time going and impressing on her in-laws the need for her to join her husband. Because he is not coming home anytime soon. She makes it clear to them that Francis himself has requested her to join him in England and that her going will bring more benefits to them.

Now, her in-laws cannot stand in her way anymore. Thus, finally, Adah is set to travel to the United Kingdom. Her long-cherished dream is finally coming to fruition.

From First Class Citizen to Second Class Citizen

We must not lose sight of the fact that Adah’s level of education, coupled with her employment status in that period of post-independence Nigeria, automatically makes her a highly respected first-class citizen.

It is, therefore, of little wonder that she books first-class tickets on the Oriel, the boat on which she travels with her two children (Titi and Vicky) to join her husband in the UK.

But that happens to be the last taste Adah will have of her first-class citizen status. Because, when she arrives in Liverpool, and later London, she realizes she has not been adequately prepared for the shocking spectacles and experiences awaiting her in that country.

Cultural Shock

Our heroine, Adah, in Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second Class Citizen has all along had fanciful ideas of life in the United Kingdom. But on her arrival, things are not exactly the way she expects them to be. Right from Francis, her now-transformed husband, to others like Trudy, Babalola, Janet, Miss Stirling and Mr Noble or Pa Noble, Adah comes to a discomforting realization that she is in for a life of struggle and pain.

Below is a list of some of the conditions that will make life in England less than enjoyable for Adah.

• Francis’ change in attitude – his strange, foreign mannerisms, his abusive behaviour and his uncaring attitude.

• The burden of giving birth and caring for five children, her lazy, abusive husband and herself
• The mantra that Nigerian children must never be allowed to live with their own parents

• The shocking stories of other Nigerian and African immigrants like Babalola and Mr Noble

• The dehumanizing lifestyle of white women like Janet

• The prevalence of racial prejudice and discrimination against blacks
• Naked display of tribalism and disunity among Nigerian immigrants themselves- Yoruba versus Igbo

• The harsh, unforgiving cold climate of the United Kingdom.

• Widespread poverty, poor housing and unbearable living conditions for many blacks and even whites

Meanwhile, Adah Keeps Getting Pregnant

The very first sexual encounter between Adah and Francis on the night she lands in England quickly results in a third pregnancy. This is perhaps the most problematic pregnancy the 20-something-year-old Adah has gone through in her life. The birth of baby Bubu (a boy) at the University College Hospital in London, is both painful and emotionally exhausting for Adah. In fact, it nearly sent her to an early grave.

Right on the heels of this third pregnancy follows the fourth one. Dada is the name of this female child. An interesting fact about this fourth pregnancy is that Adah has actually made an unsuccessful attempt to abort it.

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And at the close of the novel, when Adah is on the verge of saying a final goodbye to her loveless marriage she is carrying her fifth baby in her womb.

Adah Finds Employment in London

The protagonist’s first job in England comes knocking on the day she discovers that she is pregnant with her third child. This gives her an opportunity to work as a librarian at the North Finchley Library. This is where Adah meets and works with her very friendly boss, Mrs Konrad. Baby Bubu’s problem-fraught birth however brings an end to that job.

One other library where Adah will work is the Chalk Farm Library. It is here that she meets wonderful working colleagues like Peggy and Bill, the handsome and intelligent Canadian.

At this stage, Adah has started nursing the idea of putting more effort into writing so as to achieve her ambition of becoming a published writer. The frequent pregnancies are also beginning to take their toll on the body and energy of the relatively young Adah. She would, therefore, love to just sit at home and write.

This is how, with the support and encouragement of people like Peggy and Bill, Adah finally manages to complete the manuscript of her maiden novel, The Bride Price.

The sad mistake Adah makes again is to think that Francis will be enthused by her achievement. So she joyfully shows Francis the manuscript. Adah is in for what is probably the biggest shock of her entire life.

Francis Burns Adah’s Manuscript

To Adah, for her drastically changed husband, Francis, to torch her manuscript for her first novel, is the last straw to break the camel’s back.

She returns home from shopping one day to see Francis busy but calmly burning some papers. Adah receives the shock of her life when she discovers that they are the papers on which she’s been drafting her first novel to be titled The Bride Price – a key step to her achieving her lifelong dream of becoming a writer.

Francis has never liked Adah’s ambition to become a writer. This attitude stems from a combination of factors such as envy, male chauvinism and a growing tendency toward cruel, sadistic behaviour on the part of Francis.

The truth is this. Francis has gradually begun to see himself as a failure since he is unable to pass his examinations. This is despite the fact that Adah, who has had to deal with many difficult challenges, is making slow but steady progress in her educational and career pursuits. So he must destroy anything that could make that dream a reality.

Since Adah is not willing to sacrifice her dreams for anything (not least for what has apparently become a loveless marriage), she must simply move on.

Hopefully, she will have a more conducive environment to nurture her dreams. She will see to it that she becomes the successful, fulfilled woman she has always wanted to be.

This is how her marriage with Francis comes to an end. And this marks the end of our plot summary of Second Class Citizen.

Themes in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen

Here, I have for you an extensive collection of both major and minor themes in the novel, Second Class Citizen.

These points should guide and prepare you for any eventuality in the examination. So I urge you to take a very close look at each one of them.

Are you a tutor looking for the best teaching resources for Second Class Citizen? You will definitely find these points very useful. Please, make sure to let me know what you think about them.

Looking for possible essay questions on Second Class Citizen? You will find likely exam questions on Second Class Citizen here.

Again, if you’re interested in discovering the secret behind how WAEC set their questions for the Literature paper and the other subjects, click here.

• The theme of determination or perseverance

• The theme of male privilege

• The fight for the dignity of womanhood.

• The theme of women’s liberation.

• The theme of indictment (or criticism) on a male-controlled society.

• The theme of girl-child education in Second Class Citizen

• The theme of racial prejudice

• The theme of male domination

• The theme of class in society

• Theme of citizenship

• The theme of the African woman’s struggle for survival.

• The African woman’s quest for fulfilment

• The theme of domestic violence

• The theme of marriage

• The theme of motherhood

• Theme of female independence

• Theme of gender inequality

• The theme of marital stability

• The theme of ambition

• Theme of discrimination (Note that this is general. So you will need to look at two or more areas where discrimination can be seen in the novel. Examples are race and gender.)

• The theme of racial inequality

• Theme of culture

• The theme of the clash of cultures

• Theme of tradition

• The theme of gender inequality
• The theme of gender-based violence

• The theme of cultural shock

• The theme of possibilities

• Theme of human ingenuity

• The theme of dreams

• Theme of gender discrimination/discrimination against women

• The theme of education

• The theme of migration

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Characters in Second Class Citizen

We have come to the last stage of our comprehensive Second Class Citizen summary.

Take careful note of the following characters in the novel, Second Class Citizen.

I’ve taken the trouble to provide you with the key aspects of character that examiners are likely to ask you to write about.

You will find an in-depth tutorial on these characters and more. Make sure to study them closely before your examination is due.

50+ List of Characters in Second Class Citizen

• Adah as a fighter or survivor

• Adah’s quest for personal development

• Obstacles, setbacks or challenges in Adah’s life

• The social impediments to Adah’s personal growth

• Adah as an exceptional or rare girl/woman

• The character and role of Adah Ofili

• The character and role of Francis Obi

• Character and role of Mrs Ofili

• The character and role of Mr Ofili

• Character and role of Mr Cole

• Admirable qualities of Adah

• Aspects of Adah’s character that you dislike

• Admirable (or repugnant) qualities of Francis

• Character and role of Mr Noble
• Character and role of Mrs Konrad

• Character and role of Miss Stirling

• Character of Trudy

• The character and role of Janet

• The character of Babalola

• Adah as a resourceful character.

• The character and role of Ma

• The role of Mr Okpara

• Similarities and differences in the characters of Francis Obi and Mr Noble

• Significance of Vicky

• Adah’s role as a mother and wife

• The transformation of Francis

• Francis Obi as a frustrated husband/man

• Adah’s marital problems

• Adah’s attitude to her marital challenges

• Adah as a dreamer

• Similarities and differences between the characters of Adah and Francis.

• Effects of unrealistic social expectations on Francis Obi

• Obstacles Adah has to clear to achieve her dreams

• Adah’s movement from first class citizen to second class citizen

• The role of Lawyer Nweze

Major Incidents and Other Aspects of Style

In this article, I discuss the importance of incidents or episodes/events for an effective study and appreciation of a novel, drama or narrative poetry.

I make it clear that it gets relatively easier to answer any question on a novel, play or poem as soon as you have a good knowledge of a couple of incidents in the text.

And, if you’re a teacher guiding Literature students, your own knowledge of a few incidents in the text in question will make your work much easier.

Now, I want you to keep in mind the following points regarding some important incidents in Second Class Citizen.

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20+ Narrative Techniques in Second Class Citizen

I also have for you what you must be looking out for with regard to plot and style.

Key Points

• The contribution of the death of Mr Ofili to the development of the plot

• The use of the narrative technique of foreshadowing

• Francis Obi’s migration to the UK and how it contributes to the development of the plot

• Adah’s childhood experiences and their effects on her growing up into adulthood.

• The birth of Bubu

• The big fight at Mr Noble’s house

• Francis’s burning of Adah’s manuscript

• Encounter with a racist white woman in Hawley Street/The Obis’ search for a new accommodation

• Significance (or appropriateness) of the title of the novel

• Use of euphemism in the novel.

• Second Class Citizen as a realistic novel.

• The novel as a satire

• The novel as a piece of feminist literature

• The relationship between Francis and Adah and its significance

• Aspects of life in the UK that shock Adah on her arrival

• Significance of Adah’s employment status

• The surprises Adah has to contend with on her arrival in the UK.

Wrapping it all up

Congratulations. You have made it to the end of this Second Class Citizen summary and analysis. Now you can relax to study other equally useful study guides on Second Class Citizen. Are you a teacher or student of secondary school Literature making preparations for the WAEC, JAMB or NECO exam? Then you might find these African poetry analyses helpful. Finally, there is a whole lot to gain from reading the study notes on WAEC non-African poems too.

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