Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl with the Louding Voice, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth
Gender Inequality and Solidarity
Wealth, Poverty, and Choice
Survival
Summary
Analysis
Adunni’s life in Morufu’s house is bearable when she is with Khadija: they laugh together and help each other with the children. Most of Adunni’s interactions with Morufu occur in the bedroom. Morufu, who is unaware of Khadija’s secret medicine, frequently asks about her physical state, wanting Adunni to become pregnant. Adunni “mak[es] herself a dead body” while Morufu rapes her and hopes that he will eventually give up on a pregnancy and send her home.
Adunni and Khadija’s friendship gives them strength and allows them to find peace while living under Morufu’s roof. When faced with a situation in which she cannot forget her troubles—such as her nights with Morufu—Adunni copes by mentally separating herself from her body, repressing the reality of her sexual assault.
Themes
Today, Morufu and Labake are out of the house, so Adunni feels light and carefree. She sings a made-up song about going to school, becoming a lawyer, and wearing high heels. Adunni runs into Khadija, who asks her to take her clay pot and fetch some water from the Ikati river. This is a big deal, since Morufu has never let her venture this far from the compound. Adunni thanks her excitedly and leaves.
Morufu’s house isn’t as bad when Morufu and Labake, the people whose actions perpetuate a cycle of sexist social norms, aren’t around to enforce those norms. Khadija continues to treat Adunni kindly, granting her secret permission to escape the oppressive, stifling house and see her friends. The river here functions as something of an oasis—an escape from Adunni’s unpleasant reality.
Themes
Khadija’s clay pot in hand, Adunni runs to the river, where she finds Ruka and Enitan playing in the sand. Adunni runs to greet them, and the friends embrace. The girls inquire excitedly about Adunni’s life as a wife. Adunni tells them about the horrible Labake and the kindly Khadija. Married life isn’t wholly unbearable, she admits, but only because of Khadija, who has been like a mother to her. She tells the girls about how painful intercourse is, but Ruka thinks she is lying.
Adunni’s friends still don’t seem to grasp the horrific nature of Adunni’s situation, which they demonstrate in the gleeful way they ask Adunni to share the details of her personal life. To Ruka and Enitan, Adunni’s marriage is exciting, not traumatic. Ruka and Enitan seem to accept their society’s norms without question, whereas Adunni refuses to do so.
Themes
Suddenly, Enitan shouts excitedly, pointing to a boy walking their way: it’s Kayus. He reaches the girls, picks Adunni up, and spins her around. It’s the first time the siblings have seen each other since Adunni’s marriage, and Adunni is overjoyed. Kayus tells Adunni he hasn’t spoken to Papa since the marriage. He vows to start working at Kassim Motors, make lots of money, and rescue Adunni from Morufu. The siblings sit together, and Adunni tells Kayus all about her past two months.
Kayus’s anger with Papa positions him as an ally and protector to Adunni, much like Mama was before she passed away. Kayus takes issue with their society’s gender inequality and makes plans to try to help Adunni escape her marriage. Though his age prevents him from taking any significant action now, he plans to use his privilege as a male to make money and rescue Adunni from her situation.
Themes
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In the afternoon, Adunni leaves the river to return to Morufu’s, carrying a pot of water on her head. As she approaches the house, she hears a rustling in the bushes. Labake emerges, angrily accusing Adunni of using her stove. That morning, Adunni made okra soup for Khadija, who was feeling ill, but she is pretty sure she used Khadija’s stove, not Labake’s. Labake grows angrier and pushes Adunni. Suddenly, Kike emerges from the path and takes responsibility for the stove, claiming that she used it to boil eggs that morning. Still angry, Labake pushes Adunni, causing the pot to fall from Adunni’s head and shatter. Once the two girls are alone, Adunni asks why Kike lied for her. Kike shrugs and leaves without answering.
Adunni’s return to Morufu’s house and her confrontation with Labake mark the end of the brief sense of freedom she had with her friends at the river. Labake’s hostility toward Adunni here is a particularly extreme example of her rejection of solidarity, as she’s attacking Adunni for using her stove to help Khadija in an act of solidarity. Kike stands in stark contrast to her mother when she sticks up for Adunni.
Themes
