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
A fisherman makes his way down the river toward Adunni. Adunni knows that she needs to move away from Khadija’s body, or else the fisherman might think it was she who killed Khadija and return her to the village chief of Ikati, who would surely punish her. She decides to find Bamidele and make him explain everything—the curse, the ritual, the pregnancy—to the village chief, Morufu, and Khadija’s children.
It speaks to Adunni’s refusal to give up hope—or, perhaps, her naivete—that she believes that Bamidele might be willing to explain everything to the authorities. Given the ease with which Bamidele abandoned the dying Khadija, it’s more likely that he would turn on Adunni to save himself. The fact that Adunni thinks she needs a man to vouch for her reflects the culture’s unequal treatment of women and girls.
Themes
Adunni walks for many miles but is unable to find Bamidele’s house. She wonders what will happen to Khadija’s body if it is washed away—how will she prove to anyone that Khadija is dead? Finally, Adunni sees a goat that she recognizes from earlier and finds Bamidele’s house. A very pregnant woman, who is presumably Bamidele’s wife, answers the door. When Adunni asks for Bamidele, Bamidele’s wife insists that he is out of town. The woman tells Adunni to go away, calling her “ole,” or thief. Adunni knows she must run: if the village thinks she is a thief, she will be burned. Adunni looks up and sees “Death” again and thinks of Khadija. She shouts loudly for Bamidele to come out, and the woman responds by shouting “ole” more loudly, which causes the villagers to run outside. Realizing that she has no other choice, Adunni flees.
Bamidele’s wife chooses to protect herself from the public humiliation that would ensue if Bamidele’s affair with Khadija came to light. Like Labake, Bamidele’s wife rejects this opportunity to help out a suffering, innocent girl, instead turning her over to the villagers. That Bamidele’s wife makes this decision while standing in the doorway to Bamidele’s house is symbolic—it suggests that she is acting on behalf of her husband’s expectations and best interests. When Adunni sees “Death” in the sky, it’s as though she sees herself in the same inevitable cycle of suffering and oppression as Mama and Khadija. She runs in an attempt to break out of this cycle, though her chances of truly escaping it seem slim.
Themes
