The deluded power holder and the realist in <i>Emecheta’s the Joys of Motherhood</i>

Abstract

Buchi Emecheta is a pioneer Nigerian female writer that explores the plights of women in her works. In her creative activism, she nudges  men‟s and society‟s conscience in her advocacy for better deals for African daughters, mothers and women who fare far much worse  than their male counterparts. The Joys of Motherhood, is set in a patriarchal society where men dictate the operational terms of human  interactions and existence. Published in 1980 and henceforth The Joys, this novel exposes the wrongs that women experience in matters  that border on their existence, well-being and survival. The text reveals two co-wives: Nnu Ego and Adaku both of whom respond  differently to the patriarchal order that works against women in their Igbo society where the novel is set. Nnu Ego, the deluded power  holder accommodates their patriarchal society‟s harmful cultural dictates to her own detriment while Adaku, the realist, questions and  rebels against them and thus, navigates her humanity, sanity and survival. While Nnu Ego panders to the harmful dictates of their  masculine society that negatively impact their freedom and fulfillment, Adaku threads with care and wisdom by putting her well-being  and that of her daughters first. Unfortunately for Nnu Ego, men and the patriarchal order eventually exploit, destroy and dump her while  Adaku transports herself and her daughters to a comfortable social realm. Adopting the Patriarchal theory, this essay argues that most  women like Nnu Ego are deceived by allowing the society accord them a false sense of importance only to be abandoned at critical  moments by the same society and men. It concludes by noting that Emecheta supports female bonding as a means of diffusing  masculine suppression and oppression.