Marriage in Second Class Citizen is significant because it involves Adah, the protagonist, Francis, her husband as well as the wider communities in both Nigeria and England. In this tutorial, I will show you the points you must consider in order to produce an acceptable essay on a question about the theme of marriage in the novel.
So without further ado, let’s dive in to discuss the theme of marriage in Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta.
We shall begin by examining the different forms of marriage we encounter in Second Class Citizen.
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Marriage Between Nigerians
It is marriage between Nigerians (and Africans, for that matter) that takes centre stage in Buchi Emecheta’s novel. I’m referring specifically to the marriage between Francis and Adah.
While this couple’s marital life is all about fights, arguments, disappointments, exploitation and manipulation, there is another marriage that looks more like the ideal. It is the marriage between Mr Okpara and his wife. Theirs appears to be a match made in heaven.
Inter-Racial Marriage
We cannot speak about the theme of marriage in Second Class Citizen without saying anything about the marriage between Pa Noble and his English wife, Sue.
Another example is the relationship between Babalola and Janet, the Welsh girl. Just like the Okpara’s these relationships are also more peaceful than that of Francis and Adah.
The author must be using these two to expose the difficulties that can crop up when marriage is done the way the Obis’ has been contracted.
Social Significance of Marriage
Among Adah’s people, marriage is not a matter to be taken lightly. Marriage, among the Igbo is more than a union between a man and a woman who fancy each other. It is a sacred contract between the two families involved.
This is why all care is taken to make sure that both the groom and the bride make the best possible choice for themselves.
Among the reasons Adah’s wedding to Francis is described as hilarious is that Adah’s relatives fail to show up.
For the bride’s family to be denied the bride price and for the bride to still go ahead with such an arrangement is almost an abomination. From now on, the couple must learn to live with a lukewarm attitude from Adah’s people.
The Issue of Infidelity in Marriage
Buchi Emecheta has made an interesting point about marital infidelity. Her argument is that it is not only husbands who cheat on their wives in marital unions. It is often the other way round too.
But whichever way you look at it, it is mostly married men who are the facilitators of this problem in society. In Second Class Citizen, Francis Obi is prolific in his extra-marital affairs. Then Mrs. Noble (Sue) is also apparently involved in affairs with men who are younger than her husband Mr Noble.
Her broad daylight flirting with Francis on the day he and Adah came to look for a room in their house says it all.
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The Goals of Marriage
Adah’s people place a high premium on child-bearing in every marital union. The narrator makes it clear that it is not uncommon for the family of an Igbo man to quickly look for a new wife for their son whose first wife is not able to bear children early enough.
Another goal of marriage we have seen is that the couple must of necessity have a male child. In fact, a female child is considered a waste of time and energy. For that matter, she receives very little care and attention except at her puberty when she is ready to be married off for a good bride price.
Love and affection seem not to be the priority in marital relationships among Adah’s people.
Marriage of Convenience and its Consequences
One other aspect of the theme of marriage in Second Class Citizen which we need to take a serious look at is the consequences of a marriage of convenience. Throughout the narrative, we keep getting this feeling that Francis has been given the chance to behave the way he does.
The role of the bride price then comes to the fore. It is likely that had Francis been made to marry Adah properly as tradition dictates, he would have turned out a more responsible husband and father.
Unfortunately, theirs is a marriage that has been contracted under bizarre circumstances.
- Francis never had to pay the traditional bride price.
- He appears to be the one who has been wooed into marrying Adah.
- He was so immature and naive at the time of the marriage that he keeps asking his father very silly questions to obtain ideas as to how to run his home.
- We are told Francis has never been taught to take his own decisions. It’s always his parents that decide what he must do.
- Then Adah, out of a desperate need to live on her own in Lagos in order to pursue her educational and career goals, literally forces herself into this marriage of convenience.
Buchi Emecheta is thus using this marriage between two very young and naive adults to alert us to the dangers of marriage based on nothing other than convenience.
Below are the likely consequences of this sort of marriage. They are the reasons society needs to frown upon any tendency towards marriages of convenience.
Conflicts and Gender-Based Violence
There is no limit to the misunderstandings that go on in Adah’s marital home. There are fights over such issues as family planning, child care, finance, and infidelity. And in most of these cases, Francis ends up beating his wife mercilessly. The issue of domestic violence, with men being the culprits is therefore of grave concern to the author.
Separation and Divorce
Broken homes are mostly a direct result of a lack of peace and understanding in any marital union. And this is exactly the ultimate fate of the marriage between Francis and Adah. It is the children who suffer most under these unhealthy conditions.
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Exemplary Marriages
It is never all doom and gloom for marriage in Second Class Citizen. There are some positive things about marriage in the novel.
First is the harmony that existed between Mr Ofili and Ma, his wife, until death destroys that family’s happiness. The marriage between these two may not be the best in terms of gender equality, but at least, Ma never had to go through the pain that Adah, her daughter, suffers in her own marriage.
Secondly, as I said early on, Mr Okpara and his wife have also been able to make their marriage work to a very large extent. This is a Nigerian couple living in London. But, despite the hostile racist atmosphere there, they, unlike Francis and Adah, have had a peaceful home to come back to each day.
The problems with the Obis, therefore, have very little to do with the racial discrimination every Nigerian has to contend with. Indeed, it is largely the seriously flawed character of Francis that lies at the heart of their failed marriage.
Traditional Notions About Marriage
In the traditional Igbo society that the narrator portrays in Second Class Citizen, there are certain unhealthy attitudes towards marriage and the roles of the two genders involved. Paramount among these is the idea that men are superior and women must accept and play their role as inferior partners. Men own and use their women as property.
In the novel, therefore, Francis who has been brought up in this culture, makes the mention of marriage leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Let’s have a look at some key traditional beliefs and practices concerning marriage that come up in Second Class Citizen.
- The husband must be worshipped by his wife.
- A wife must work to cater for the whole family.
- Love is not an important consideration in some marriages. Convenience is. Francis’s idea of marriage is a good example here.
- The children who result from any marital union are the woman’s sole responsibility especially when they have a problem.
For many women, Adah included, marriage is never a bed of roses. It is painful, energy draining and can even kill one’s dream for personal development.
Let’s end our discussion of the theme of marriage in Second Class Citizen with a quick look at how it contributes to the setting, character development, and the development of the plot.
Setting
To begin with, the narrator places most of the incidents in the novel inside homes where couples and their children live. The family home of Mr. Ofili (Pa), his wife, Ma and their two children Adah and Boy, is where the story opens.
The next stage of the story then takes us to the home of Adah’s maternal uncle and his family. This is where Adah will work almost like a slave just to prepare herself for her dream of a better life in the near future.
Our next setting then moves to yet another family home. This is where Adah goes to live with Francis, her husband, and his parents and siblings.
And when she finally makes it to the United Kingdom, almost all the most important incidents there are about what transpires between husband and wife as they move from one accommodation to another.
Plot Development
As we can see, the little Adah’s is a home where two people have managed to provide peace and comfort for their children. It is that which gives Adah the foundation to face and overcome her challenges later in life.
It is again marriage to Francis that enables Adah to achieve her most cherished dream of travelling to the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, it takes this same marriage to make life a living hell for the young Adah. No wonder, the novel ends at the point when the marriage collapses.
This is how the theme of marriage has helped to advance the plot of Second Class Citizen.
Character Development
For the two main characters, Adah and Francis, marriage has served to bring out both the best and the worst in them.
Besides, Adah’s first difficult marriage in Second Class Citizen will definitely have turned her into a more mature adult, ready to deal with the harsh realities of life, not only in the racist English society but also in her own Igbo traditional setting where women are given little regard.
Because, in both situations, the female, whether she is growing up as a child in a family, or she is ,a wife to an Igbo husband, or an immigrant in a racist white society, is considered nothing more than a second class citizen.
Quotes About Marriage in Second Class Citizen
“Women still made Adah nervous. They had a way of sapping her self-confidence. She did have one or two women friends with whom she discussed the weather and fashion. But when in real trouble, she would rather look for a man. Men were so solid. So safe.”
“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!”
“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.”
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