Ready Reference Treatise: The Joys of Motherhood

By Raja Sharma

“The Joys of Motherhood” by Buchi Emecheta was first published in 1979. The novel is regarded as one of the best African novels that deal with the issues of women and their place in society.

The central issue in the novel is the necessity for a woman, in Africa, to be fertile, and above all to give birth to sons.

This tragic story revolves around Ngu-Ego, the daughter of Nwokocha Agbadi and Ona. Ngu-Ego’s mother, Ona, also had a bad fate with childbearing.

Ready Reference Treatise: The Joys of Motherhood
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Jul 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310975226

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: The Joys of Motherhood

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: The Joys of Motherhood

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta was first published in 1979. The novel is regarded as one of the best African novels that deal with the issues of women and their place in society.

The central issue in the novel is the necessity for a woman, in Africa, to be fertile, and above all to give birth to sons.

This tragic story revolves around Nnu Ego, the daughter of Nwokocha Agbadi and Ona. Nnu Ego’s mother, Ona, also had a bad fate with childbearing.

Nnu Ego is a Nigerian woman whose life revolves around her children. Through her children, she comes to be respected among the members of her community.

The continuously increasing colonial presence and influence make the traditional tribal values and customs lose their charm and influence.

Nnu Ego is also inspired by the changing social scenario to challenge the accepted notions of mother, wife, and woman. The author tries to show to the reader how difficult it is for the women in a traditional society to adopt new ideas and new values.

The author tries to illustrate how fulfilling and rewarding motherhood can be. The process of child bearing and nurturing the children is dealt with extensively by the author.

Although motherhood has its joys and pleasures, anxiety, pain, and obligation are also the inevitable part of it.

The novel has obviously been written on a very sensitive subject. It must have been very challenging for the author to draw provocative images of African motherhood against the existing literary models, particularly on such a sensitive subject.

The Joy of Motherhood is considered as one of the best works of the author. The novel also provides a detailed commentary on tradition, colonialism, capitalism, and the role of women.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The novel begins with the introduction of Nwokocha Agbadi. He is a very rich, proud, and handsome local chief. He happens to have many wives, but he gets attracted to a woman named Ona.

The chief has given name Ona to the woman. It means a priceless jewel. She is the daughter of a chief. The narrator describes that when she was young, she used to accompany her father wherever he went. He used to say that she was his ornament.

On meeting her father, the other chief, Nwokocha Agbadi would ask him jokingly why he did not wear her around his neck like an Ona. At that time Nwokocha Agbadi did not know that he would be one of the men who would ask for her hand when she grew up.

One rainy day, Agbadi and his friends go elephant hunting. The giant beast finds Agbadi too close to him. The elephant throws him with its mighty tusk into a nearby sugar cane field. Agbadi is pinned to the floor.

Chief Agbadi tries to kill the animal by throwing his spear at its belly but the elephant is not killed although it is badly wounded. Agbadi also passes out. His friends think that he is dead.

He comes back to senses after several days. He finds Ona beside him. During his recovery, he has sex with Ona. Eighteen days pass. He learns that his eldest wife Agunwa died of illness.

People generally think that she died because she had seen her husband, chief Agbadi, pass out.

Throughout the day there are funeral festivities. It is the time to lay her to rest in her grave. All the things which she will need in afterlife have already been placed inside her coffin. Then his personal slave is called.

The ancient custom demands that a good slave must jump into the grave willingly to go with her mistress, but this is a young and beautiful slave. She begs for her life. The men present at the funeral ceremony are obviously annoyed.

The slave can’t do anything, and eventually they push into the shallow grave. However, she struggles out. She appeals to her owner, Chief Agbadi, to save her. His eldest son gets angry and shouts whether his mother does not deserve a decent burial. The eldest son hits the slave girl with the head of a cutlass. There is another relative who gives her a final blow and she finally falls into the grave and dies. In this way the burial ceremony is completed.

As a result of having sex with Chief Agbadi, Ona gets pregnant. She gives birth to a girl child. The girl is named Nnu Ego, which means 20 bags of cowries. There is a birthmark on the baby’s head. It remembers the mark that was made by the cutlass that had been used on the head of the slave woman.

Ona’s second child is a son, but due to premature labor her son dies a week later. When Nnu Ego becomes a woman, she is barren.

Several months pass but there is no sign of fruitfulness. She visits several herbalists. They tell her that the slave woman who is her Chi, goddess, will not give her a child. She is kind of cursed. Amatokwu, her husband, brings another wife. She soon conceives.

Nnu Ego goes back to her father’s house. She marries a new husband whom she really does not like, but she prays that if she gets a child with him, she will love him. Eventually, she gives birth to a son. Unfortunately, she later finds that the child is dead. She is obviously shocked. She is about to end her life by jumping into a river when a villager pulls her back and saves her. The villager tries to comfort her.

She eventually gives birth to four children. Her husband happens to be a laundryman for a white master. The husband gets drafted into the army during the wartime.

Nnu Ego is now alone. She determines to give good life to her children. She is able to send two of her children abroad to study. When she dies, all her children come home. The children feel sorry because they could have given her a better life. She gets the greatest burial in the town. It is one of its kind.

When her children fail to have children after their marriages, the Oracle discloses that they can’t have children because Nnu Ego is angry with them. According to the prevailing stories, Nnu Ego is a wicked woman even after her death. However, the people agree that she had given all to her children and that is really the joy of being a mother.

Chapter Three: Characters

Nnu Ego

Nnu Ego is the protagonist and the central character of the novel. As the novel opens, she happens to be slim and beautiful. She is known for her long neck. She is often compared to her mother, a high spirited woman called Ona.

She does possess her mother’s strength and concentrated mind, but she is politer and more complaint and less aggressive and outspoken than Ona.

When she can’t conceive even after several years of her marriage, she leaves her husband. Having lost her baby son, she tries to commit suicide, but she is saved by a villager.

Eventually, she has