Essay Questions

Why does Buchi Emecheta conclude that women are powerless and inferior within the system in which they live?

After appraising the book, the reader can effortlessly notice that the title The Joys of Motherhood is ironic. Emecheta confirms that motherliness is coupled with anguishing. To author notes that women in society are brainwashed to accept that they are inferior to men and that there are specific duties meant for them. According to the author, women are tasked with the responsibility of giving birth, taking care of children and being homemakers. More significantly, they are expected to respect their men without questions. Therefore, being in this situation, a woman rarely engages in any economic activity and she has to accept her sufferings because she is a mother. The other characters such as Ego and Ona, at last enjoy being mothers because it is their biological duty to take care of children. This reminds the reader that women have accepted their mediocrity and subjection in the societies in which they live.

How does the author build the theme of disillusionment in her book The Joys of Motherhood?

There is a high level of disenchantment in the book The Joys of the Mother as illustrated by the characters Agbadi, Ona and Ego. For instance, Agbadi is doing everything to make Ona love him but in vain. She disappoints him severally by ignoring his advances. Agbadi is not giving up and he is doing everything to ensure that he marries Ona. At last, he succeeds to make Ona fall for him something that makes him think that he is the luckiest man on earth. However, Agbadi is not aware of the calamity waiting for him after getting married to Ona. She tries her level best to get pregnant for him but in vain. The struggle to get children disillusions Agbadi to an extent he decides to be unfaithful to his wife. Whenever Ona is not around, Agbadi is attracted to other women whom he sleeps with. The other character that helps Emecheta to build her theme of disillusionment is Ego. She is a disappointed woman who is ridiculed by society because of her inability to get children. However, at last, she manages to deliver. Emecheta is communicating to the reader that motherhood in society can only be viewed as enjoyable if a woman can give birth. A woman without children is viewed as a disgrace in society. Therefore, Emecheta has successfully developed the theme of disillusionment in her book and it is evident that the society needs to rethink what joyful motherhood means without looking down upon women.

Why are Ona and Ego stigmatized by society?

Emecheta portrays Ona and Ego as women who are struggling to get children. She is painting a true picture of what barren women go through in society. Since the joy of motherhood is connected to raising children, Ego and Ona find themselves in a tiny channel, which seems to have no light at the end. They are stigmatized because of their inability to be mothers as perceived by society. The notion Emecheta is trying to put across is that women should be treated with the utmost respect even if they cannot bear children of their own. The ill tradition of linking motherhood to giving birth should not be embraced in modern society.