Baaba Character Analysis in Homegoing

Baaba is Cobbe Otcher’s wife, Fiifi’s mother, and Effia’s adoptive mother. Resentful of having to take care of a daughter that is not her own, Baaba is extremely cruel to Effia and beats her frequently. Baaba eventually plots for Effia to marry British colonist James Collins so that she can rid herself of Effia, telling everyone that the girl is evil and cannot have children.

Baaba Quotes in Homegoing

The Homegoing quotes below are all either spoken by Baaba or refer to Baaba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

He knew then that the memory of the fire that burned, then fled, would haunt him, his children, and his children’s children for as long as the line continued.

Related Characters: Cobbe Otcher, Effia, Maame, Baaba

Related Symbols: Fire

Page Number and Citation: 3

Explanation and Analysis:

The novel begins with a fire that rages throughout Fanteland on the night that Effia is born, which allows her biological mother, Maame, who had been a house girl for Cobbe Otcher and Baaba, to escape. It is implied in the next chapter that Asante warriors started the fire to allow Maame to escape. The fire rages through the forest, destroying some of Cobbe’s yams, and the narrator describes here how the fire would haunt him and his descendants. The harm that Cobbe had done to Maame in enslaving her and raping her is what caused the fire, symbolically linking Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantiu

Baaba Character Timeline in Homegoing

The timeline below shows where the character Baaba appears in Homegoing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Racism, Slavery, and Systemic Oppression Theme Icon

...wrecking everything in its path. Effia’s father, Cobbe Otcher, leaves Effia with his first wife, Baaba, to survey his yams, which have been damaged. He is haunted by the sight of... (full context)

The villagers say that Effia had been born of that fire, and that was why Baaba had no milk. Effia is nursed by another of Cobbe’s wives, but she bites the... (full context)

Effia grows older. When Effia is three, Baaba has a son named Fiifi. The first day that Effia holds Fiifi, she accidentally drops... (full context)

Gender Stereotypes, Sexism, and Violence Theme Icon

When Cobbe comes home and discovers what happened, he and Baaba fight into the night, and he beats her for the cruel way she treated Effia.... (full context)

...hides behind Cobbe’s leg, as she has never seen a white man before. Cobbe and Baaba show him their compound, explaining that each wife has her own hut that she shares... (full context)

...has bigger plans for her, however, and that she will not marry a white man. Baaba scowls at this, though Cobbe does not see her. (full context)

Effia nods and stays quiet, which she notes pleases Baaba. She has come to realize that Baaba prefers to remain silent and wants Effia to... (full context)

Abeeku finishes eating and tells Baaba to let him know when Effia is “ready.” That night, Baaba tells Effia that when... (full context)

On one such visit, Baaba asks Millicent’s mother what it is like in the Castle. Millicent’s mother says that they... (full context)

Two days after Effia’s fifteenth birthday, she has her first menstrual period. She tells Baaba, who tells Effia to keep this development a secret. When Effia asks why, Baaba pinches... (full context)

Effia asks Baaba what they’re doing, but Baaba tells her that it does not concern her. Baaba has... (full context)

In the days following the chief ceremony, Cobbe continues to ask Baaba what is happening with Effia, as he had hoped that she would be Abeeku’s wife... (full context)

On one such visit to Abeeku’s compound, Baaba and Effia are there at the same time as British soldiers. When the soldiers tour... (full context)

...appointed governor of the Cape Coast Castle. Within a week, he comes back to ask Baaba for Effia’s hand. Cobbe is outraged because he wants her to marry Abeeku, but Baaba... (full context)

Cobbe tells Baaba that they must make Abeeku think that it is his own idea for Effia to... (full context)

Abeeku calls Effia into the room, and tells Baaba and Cobbe that they are right—Effia should marry James Collins. Cobbe weeps openly, but Baaba... (full context)

...Coast Castle, reciting words she doesn’t understand. Effia’s family does not attend the ceremony, because Baaba convinced them that Effia was a bad omen. (full context)

...his hand over her mouth, telling her that her home is no better. Effia remembers Baaba’s treatment and realizes that he is right. (full context)

James Collins leads her to the bed, and he and Effia consummate their marriage. Baaba had told Effia what was expected of her, but James seems very unsure, and so... (full context)

...had wanted her to marry a Fante chief rather than a white man. But instead, Baaba had cast Effia out of the village entirely. (full context)

...be a bad mother, because she had such a bad mother herself. Furthermore, even though Baaba’s insistence that Effia could not have children had been a ruse, Effia worries that she... (full context)

Effia and a house girl travel to Effia’s village. Baaba stands in the entranceway when she arrives, scowling. Baaba leads Effia to Cobbe. No one... (full context)

Fiifi then reveals that Baaba is not Effia’s mother. Effia is actually the child of Cobbe and a house girl... (full context)

As Effia leaves, she starts to apologize to Baaba for the burden that Cobbe made her carry for so many years, but before she... (full context)

Effia is a patient and loving mother, in an attempt to be as little like Baaba as possible. She never hits Quey, even when others taunt her that she is spoiling... (full context)

...would visit, as she still feels that there is evil in the village, even though Baaba had died many years prior. He also knows she would never want to see Abeeku,... (full context)

...on to say, however, that Effia is not the daughter of his mother. Furthermore, because Baaba had hated her, Fiifi had hated Effia too, particularly when she left to live with... (full context)

...her crying, and when he asked her why, she had told him the story of Baaba. (full context)

Baaba Character Analysis

Baaba Quotes in Homegoing

Part 1: Effia Quotes

Baaba Character Timeline in Homegoing