Response: “Second Class Citizen” by Buchi Emecheta - Surbhi Shand 1413035

Buchi Emecheta’s story “Second Class Citizen” is a highly realistic account of the trials and tribulations people feel when settling in a country where there are racial biases and standards for living. This superiority and inferiority complex is brought out in the novel very naturally and continues throughout the sequences of character growth. Upon first glance it is seen as an individuals’ life and experiences being offered to the reader for reflection but upon further inspection the story of a Nigerian woman battling oppression is viewed as a shared suffering where Adah is a symbol of the masses. This essay will give a response to the first seven chapters of the novel.

The narrator is unnamed and largely detached preferring just spout out events as they proceed and give the reader a look into the inner workings of Adah’s mind. Descriptions are made only when necessary to the scene and allusions to religious figures are common, again, this is through the use of Adah. The narrator uses simple language and keeps the pace of the novel relatively even with a few bursts of time being economically packaged into compact sentences. The narrator allows the reader to make their own interpretations about what is happening in the novel rather than commenting on it so as to give a specific impression. The reader is left to make their own choices and thoughts on rounded and flat characters.

Adah is the main rounded character, she is strong and resilient yet her heart craves for emotional support and comfort. She is educated and a hard worker but also a full-time mother and wife. She encompasses so many contrasting qualities but they still make her personality starkly genuine. Her character is flawed yet still inspiring as she is presented as a mundane woman with rash thoughts and feelings, with cautious care and with manipulative tendencies in order to achieve her goals. “Be as cunning as a serpent and harmless as a dove”. This line more than adequately explains Adah, she is a cunning Nigerian woman. Thusly, in her oppressed state she cannot be flamboyantly open with her desires though she certainly does appear to be harmless. Other characters soon find that this is not the case.

Francis is a round character but largely stalk; he is a stereotypical male hindrance who has to be loved and despised in tandem by his wife. His quiet disposition of acceptance in Nigeria is lost in England where his new found identity leads him to become more overtly patriarchal and neglectful of his duties as a husband and father. His unfaithfulness makes him all the more distasteful as a character but the reader is able to recognize that he is a tool; an unconcealed symbol of patriarchy.

Familial ties are used to represent motifs and themes, the characters related to Adah’s family serve as traditional gateways for the reader or as the problems and responsibilities that come with the female gender. For example, “Boy” appropriately named shows how just by being male status is elevated to a point that no woman can reach. Adah’s parents used to show how any common household of that time in Lagos would perceive it as a danger for a girl to have an education; a base on which to think for herself. Titi and Victor are symbols of the yoke that many women must bear; child birth and for a large amount child-rearing. Adah is alone in her caring for the children as Francis is disinterested. The kids are used to show how their mother can support them, the household and the influx of money without her husband’s aid.

The concept of ‘help’ or ‘aid’ arises a lot, it is seen as a luxury that is given to those who can afford it by economic means or by status. Adah’s high status in Nigeria gave her maids to wait on her every desire, she needed only to work at the American Consulate and supply her extended family with her wages for the rest would be taken care of by respect and money. In England Adah’s social status has been lowered to that of a second-class citizen, her work load increases due to pressures on her for money and she is not given any respect. This is seen with her interactions with Trudy and when Adah and Francis were prospective buyers for a two room flat but the landlady turned them away. It is through such experiences that the reader sees growth in Adah where she becomes more and more self-reliant refusing to ask or even think of asking for help in dire situations.

This story was written at a time in Nigerian history where large amount of people had to rely on their own industry to get by. People were oppressed by their colonial governance and women were doubly oppressed by their gender. The story is written is a very realistic, down to earth manner where there are no dramatic events other than those that are deeply rooted in the everyday, common place matter of affairs. The writer seemed to be blatantly aware of the situations people were in and described that exactly as it was without any literary decorations. This makes the writing approachable and relatable to a large extent regardless of the reader’s background.

The novel is impactful in its simple form for the words have heavier meaning to them and the lives narrated are made to seem more tangible. The different kinds of struggle in terms of living, being educated, having a spouse, having kids and trying to pave a foundation in another country is brought out clearly. The impact that these struggles have on people is even more resounding as the reader see them change and adapt to their surroundings or face the consequences of not doing so. All in all, Emecheta’s attitudes towards colonialism and the second-class citizen are presented in an approachable way where readers are given information regarding sensitive issues like family and racism in a more open-minded way. This allows for more understanding and thought to go behind forming opinions and responses towards the novel.