Who is Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen?

Mr Okpara, in Second Class Citizen, is a London-educated Nigerian lawyer and immigrant. He works in the English Civil Service. In Chapter 12 of Second Class Citizen, Mr Okpara chances upon a very sad Adah at a park near Gospel Oak village in London.

My objective in this tutorial is to give you the details you need to know about who exactly is Mr Okpara in Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second Class Citizen. So if you’ve been searching for the most reliable points to write an essay on the character and role of Mr Okpara, then you’re at the right place.

You will also find that almost every detail you need for answering any objective test question regarding Mr Okpara can be found in this tutorial.

These notes about the character and role of Mr Okpara are designed with both students and teachers of Senior High School WAEC/NECO/JAMB Literature-in-English in mind.

Therefore, if you’re a teacher of African Literature with particular emphasis on Second Class Citizen, you will not be making a mistake by relying on this post. You can use it to teach your students about Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen.

Enough of the introduction. See below a simplified description of the character called Mr Okpara. Beneath the details, I give you the essential character traits and the significant roles Mr Okpara plays in the novel Second Class Citizen by the renowned Nigerian author, Buchi Emecheta.

All You Must Know About Mr Okpara

• Mr Okpara is a Nigerian immigrant in London.

• Just like Adah and Francis, Mr Okpara is from the Igbo tribe of South-Eastern Nigeria.

• He is of the same height as the “five foot eight” Francis.

• His complexion is darker than Francis’s.

• Mr Okpara is married to a “pretty little wife” who is also a Nigerian.

• He came to England to study Law and now works in the English Civil Service.

• His wife works as a secretary.

• They have a baby boy.

• The Okparas plan to return home to Nigeria in about 4 months.

• Unlike Francis, Mr Okpara is always neatly dressed.

• Adah meets Mr Okpara at a park near Gospel Oak village in London.

• He approaches the distraught Adah to inquire about the source of her misery.

• Mr Okpara quickly concludes that Adah has obviously been in a fight with her husband. Without waiting for an explanation from her, he asks Adah to take him home so they can apologize to her husband. He believes that Adah’s husband has thrown her out of the house following the presumed fight.

• Mr Okpara takes a strong personal interest in the matter when Adah’s Igbo tribal marks convince him of her tribal affiliation – they come from the same place so her troubles are his too.

Mr Okpara Goes to Adah’s House

On reaching the house, they meet a dishevelled Francis singing a Jehovah’s Witnesses song to his little children.

Mr Okpara advises Francis to act like a responsible husband and father. He must work to earn money to take care of his children. He argues that if Francis fails to do this, his two sons (Vicky and Bubu) will not accord him the respect a father deserves from his sons.

Interestingly, Mr Okpara ignores the presence of the girl Titi who is, in fact, the oldest of the children. Clearly, that’s because she is a girl.

Francis shows a little bit of concern at the prospect of losing the respect of his sons. But this is short-lived. He tells Mr Okpara to ‘go home and mind his own business’.

Mr Okpara Refuses to Give Up Easily

In the months that follow, Mr Okpara and his wife try everything they can to help Francis and his wife have peace in their home But all their efforts are in vain. Francis has flatly refused to change his ways. “Francis will always be Francis”.

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These, then, are the salient facts you must know about Mr Okpara and his encounter with Adah and Francis in Second Class Citizen.

We shall now turn our attention to the essential character traits Mr Okpara exhibits in the novel.

Character Traits of Mr Okpara

• He is neat and immaculately dressed all the time.

• Unlike Francis who would rather watch TV all day, Mr Okpara is a hardworking individual. This is why he is able to study privately and pass his exams in London.

• Mr Okpara is able to maintain peace and stability in his marriage.

• He is an empathetic character. He shows concern for Adah’s plight and tries his best to help her save her marriage.

• Mr Okpara strives to live up to his Igbo upbringing. He may appear a bit English in his ways but whenever it is necessary, his true Igbo colours come up. Here are some instances when Mr Okpara proves that he is still tied to his roots despite having spent years studying in London.

First of all, he instantly recognizes an Igbo woman (Adah) by her tribal marks.

Secondly, Mr Okpara displays his knowledge of his people’s oral traditions by making reference to an old saying to the effect that the main reason a couple builds a house to live in is that they need it for their inevitable quarrels.

Thirdly, Mr Okpara, being the Igbo man that he is, ignores Francis’s hostility towards him. He insists that he owes them, his own people, a duty to help bring peace and harmony into their marriage.

• He is decent enough not to beat his wife, though they too quarrel.

• But Mr Okpara exhibits gender bias just like the rest of his tribesmen. We see this trait in him when he deliberately ignores Titi, one (and the eldest) of Francis’s children while admonishing Francis not to do anything to lose the respect of his “sons”.

• Again, Mr Okpara comes across as an unwelcome intruder into other people’s marital affairs. Francis considers this attitude of Mr Okpara’s too rude. He cannot take it kindly.

The Role of Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen

The encounter between Mr Okpara and Adah is significant in several ways. His visit to the Obis’ house and his interactions with Francis reveal more about the characters, themes and the plot of Second Class Citizen.

Mr Okpara appears in Chapter 12 of Second Class Citizen as a benevolent comforter to a very miserable Adah.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PHRASE AND A CLAUSE

The details of his character and actions we’ve seen so far will now lead us to his role in the novel.

A Foil for Francis

To begin with, Buchi Emecheta employs the literary device known as juxtaposition to show a stark contrast between Okpara and Francis. The goal is to further expose and emphasize the unhealthy attitude of Francis.

Differences between Francis and Mr Okpara

The following differences between these two individuals help us to appreciate all the negatives in Francis’s character, not only as a husband but also as a father.

Physical Appearance

Unlike Francis, Mr Okpara knows how to take good care of his physical appearance.

Looking at him in the presence of Francis makes Francis look unkempt and unattractive.

His white shirt was dazzling, and the fact that he was very black pronounced the whiteness still further. He was wearing a black three-piece suit, and his black shoes shone. His black briefcase added to his dignity somehow and the black rolled umbrella he was carrying completed the image – a black clerk in Britain coming home from the city. As for Francis, to Adah, he did not look like the image of anything. He was just himself, just Francis Obi …

BUCHI EMECHETA – SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

Parental Responsibility

Mr Okpara is serious about his responsibilities as a father and husband. He is gainfully employed and clearly fends for his family.

This is in spite of the fact that his wife is also working. The reverse can only be said of Francis. His carefree attitude to his duties as a father contrasts sharply with that of Mr Okpara.

Marital Stability

Moreover, while Mr Okpara and his “pretty little wife” enjoy peace and love in their marriage, Francis has woefully failed to maintain the same in his relationship with Adah and their children.

Childbearing and Family Size

Francis is prolific at making his wife pregnant. At the time the two couples meet, Adah is carrying her fourth child in her womb while the Okparas have just one – a baby boy.

But, in spite of this, Francis has no interest in taking care of the human beings he keeps bringing into the world like nobody’s business. He even has the effrontery to blame Adah for some of the pregnancies.

Educational and Career Achievement

Mr Okpara has successfully completed his Law course and is gainfully employed. Francis, on the other hand, is struggling to pass his examinations in Works and Cost Accounting. In fact, he has all but given up hope of ever succeeding as a student.

On top of that, Francis is, most of the time, unemployed because he is not interested in getting a job. Call him a lazy man, an abusive husband and an irresponsible father and you’ll not be far from the truth.

Okpara’s Contribution to the Development of Themes

The themes of gender bias and parental responsibility come up strongly in Mr Okpara’s brief appearance in the novel Second Class Citizen.

Gender Bias

It takes just two passing comments from Mr Okpara to let us know where he stands on the issue of the place of the female gender in society. One is when he cautions Francis to live up to his responsibilities else he could lose his dignity before his “sons”.

Clearly, Mr Okpara does not see the Obis’ girl child, Titi, as important as he sees their two sons, Vicky and Bubu. This attitude is so typical of his culture that he displays it effortlessly.

Here is the second instance of Mr Okpara’s tendency to show open bias against the female gender.

Earlier, on meeting Adah at the park, Mr Okpara hastily concludes that if there has been a fight between Adah and her husband then it can only be Adah’s fault.

For that matter, without asking for an explanation from Adah, he asks her to get up so they can go and ask for forgiveness from her offended husband who has apparently thrown her out of the house.

And nothing can irritate Adah more than this. Listen to Adah’s thoughts on this.

Typical Igbo psychology; men never do wrong, only the women:they have to beg for forgiveness, because they are bought, paid for and must remain like that: silent, obedient slaves.

BUCHI EMECHETA – SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

Incidentally, Mr Okpara is not aware that in Adah’s case, Francis couldn’t even pay her bride price.

It is because of the narrator’s passionate criticism of incidents and attitudes of this nature that Second Class Citizen is often referred to as a feminist novel.

The Theme of Fatherhood or Parental Responsibility

Mr Okpara also plays a role in the development of the theme of fatherhood or parental responsibility in Second Class Citizen.

The narrator makes use of Okpara’s character to highlight the desirable qualities of a responsible parent or father.

Mr Okpara is out there, working to make sure that his wife and child are well taken care of. On the opposite side are irresponsible male parents like Francis.

For men like Francis, their duty as fathers ends in the matrimonial bed. The rest is not their concern. If anything, it is a cross that their hapless wives, like Adah, must learn to carry.

Thus, the novelist criticizes the Francis Obis in her society by lifting up the exemplary deeds of men like Mr Okpara for them to emulate.

Contribution to the Development of the Plot

“The Collapse” is the title of Chapter 12 where Mr Okpara appears in the novel Second Class Citizen. And it is significant. Here is how.

Mr Okpara comes in as one who could make a last-ditch attempt to rescue the failing marriage of the Obis.

For this reason, the meeting between Adah and Mr Okpara is quite significant to the development of the plot of this novel.

Mr Okpara’s appearance brings a moment of hope to the plot. At this stage, when all hope seems to have been lost for the marriage to succeed, there is a renewed expectation that something might change. Just.

Unfortunately, however, Okpara’s entry into Mr Noble’s ghetto to attempt to make Francis change his despicable ways proves futile.

His stubborn refusal to abandon his mission of peace in the face of a hostile reception from Francis fails to save the situation. We only see more of the same old Francis.

While Adah now seems more determined to go away from her hopeless marriage, Francis persists in his old ways. He is not willing to allow a fellow man to enter his room and tell him how to lead his life.

Okpara’s visit thus appears to have been counterproductive. It is the event that tells Adah that nothing can change Francis. So nothing can save her marriage. It is destined for collapse. And this happens soon afterwards.

What Francis and Okpara Have in Common

We have been trying to answer the question, who is Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen in as much detail as we can. At an earlier stage, we talked about the differences between Francis and Mr Okpara. Now, I want us to end it all by taking a quick look at the few similarities between these two characters.

My purpose is to help you easily assemble the points for answering a question which asks you to compare and contrast the characters of Mr Okpara and Francis Obi.

Similarities between Okpara and Francis

• They are both Nigerian immigrants in London and are Igbos

• Both were once ambitious young men who travelled from Nigeria to England to study for a brighter future. We have already said a lot about the completely different outcomes in their respective situations.

• Okpara is married just like Francis.

Final thoughts

I’m now certain that you can say a lot to the question, who is Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen? See below some likely questions on the novel which relate to the character of Mr Okpara. You can use parts of this tutorial on the character of Mr Okpara to produce a great essay on any one of these questions.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

• Assess the character and role of Mr Okpara in Second Class Citizen.

• Compare and contrast the characters of Francis and Mr Okpara.

• Discuss the significance of the encounter between Adah and Mr Okpara.

• Describe the visit of Mr Okpara to Adah’s house bringing out its significance.

• Discuss the theme of gender bias/prejudice in Second Class Citizen.

• Okpara is the direct opposite of Francis. To what extent is this observation true?

• Compare and contrast the families of the Obis and Okparas.

• Discuss the theme of parental responsibility in Second Class Citizen.

• Examine the theme of fatherhood in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen.

• Consider Second Class Citizen as a feminist novel.

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