Lagos Symbol Analysis

Lagos, Nigeria, the cosmopolitan city in which Nene and Nnaemeka live, represents the modern world at large in contrast with Nnaemeka’s upbringing in a rural Ibo village. Lagos is a large city in Nigeria that is marked by progressive ideas. Those who call Lagos home accept new concepts about marriage and love much quicker than their rural counterparts due to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city. Consequently, it is an experimental place, a place to fashion new ideas about marriage, family, and love that sometimes break with older ways of thinking. Thus, Lagos acts as a foil to the more traditional ideas that govern family life, marriage, and community in Okeke’s village.

Lagos also represents a physical and emotional refuge for Nene and Nnaemeka’s relationship, a union which bridges the gap between their disparate cultures. While Nene takes for granted her upbringing in the city, Nnaemeka is often caught between his more traditional upbringing and the opportunity to create a new type of life for himself that Lagos makes possible. Therefore, because the city functions as a place to both question one’s upbringing and create possibilities of living among different ethnicities, customs, and traditions, it becomes a refuge for Nene and Okeke’s marriage.