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
The next morning, Adunni lies on her mat and listens to the birds and the villagers working outside. These are the sounds she hears every morning, but today they take on an ominous tone as she thinks about her upcoming wedding. Kayus, who is 11, remains asleep, his eyelids shaking the way they have since Mama died. The siblings are close. Adunni teaches Kayus English and math, since Kayus has also had to stop going to school.
Adunni’s seems to be extra tuned-in to the sounds of her home because she knows that she’ll be leaving it once she’s married. The fact that Adunni teaches Kayus math is an early indicator of her passion for education. This makes it an extra harsh blow that Papa has taken her out of school. The fact that Kayus—who is a boy, and also younger than Adunni—was also taken out of school is further evidence of the family’s poverty. It’s likely that he had to drop out of school so he could find a job and help support the family.
Themes
Adunni wonders who will care for Kayus once she marries Morufu. Adunni looks at her older brother, Born-boy, whose real name is Alao. Born-boy is 19 and very serious. He gets to sleep on the bed because he is the first-born child. Born-boy certainly can’t take care of Kayus, because all he knows how to do is the mechanic work that he does at Kassim Motors.
That Adunni feels responsible for taking care of Kayus shows how much she cares for him, but it also reveals the uneven burden of responsibility that Adunni’s culture places on women and girls: Adunni isn’t Kayus’s mother, yet she still feels responsible for his well-being in a way that Born-boy, for example, does not. In contrast to Adunni, who must assume such domestic responsibilities as caring for her younger brother, Born-boy is allowed to live his own life and have a job outside of the home. The fact that Born-boy is permitted to sleep on the bed is further evidence of inequality at play in Adunni’s home. Beyond this, Born-boy’s nickname signifies the culture’s preference toward boys: his name essentially celebrates the fact that he was born male.
Themes
Adunni wakes Kayus, who confronts her about her marriage to Morufu. She breaks down in tears and begs her brother to tell Papa to cancel the marriage. The siblings hold each other and cry noiselessly. Kayus suggests that Adunni run away, but she refuses. She fears the village chief might catch and punish her like he punished Asabi, a girl in Ikati who ran away from her older husband to be with her lover, Tafa. Asabi was caught and beaten. Tafa, accused of “stealing another man’s wife,” was hung, his body dumped in the Ikati forest. Asabi’s punishment was to be locked in a room until she learned her lesson. She never went outside again.
This emotional moment between Adunni and Kayus illustrates the siblings’ close bond. Adunni’s memory of Asabi and Tafa gives the reader a better sense of the type of society in which Adunni lives: the consequences for going against social norms—in this case, abandoning an arranged marriage to pursue a romantic relationship—is punishable by torture (in the woman’s case) or death (in the man’s case). This gives the reader a greater sense of the hopelessness of Adunni’s situation: if Papa says she has to marry Morufu, there isn’t much she can do to avoid it. The fact that Tafa was punished for “stealing another man’s wife” suggests that in Adunni’s community, women are viewed as commodities, as possessions of men.
Themes
Kayus falls back asleep, and Adunni leaves the room. She finds Papa outside, beating the radio with a rock to get it to “wake up.” Adunni kneels in the sand while paper messes with the radio. When Papa asks Adunni what she wants, she lies and tells him they are out of beans, so that she can go to her best friend Enitan’s house and discuss the marriage. To Adunni’s surprise, Papa presents her with two 50-naira notes. Adunni assumes the money is from Morufu and does not thank her father. Papa instructs Adunni to tell Enitan’s mother that, after Adunni’s marriage, he will repay her for everything she has given them. Papa continues, listing the goods he will buy for himself once his debts are paid off.
That Adunni knows to kneel before Papa reaffirms the unequal power dynamic between the two of them. This may be seen as inherent in a parent-child relationship, but the reader might also consider that there are gender dynamics at play here too—Adunni must kneel before and be subservient to this older, male figure. Naira is the currency of Nigeria. When Papa gives Adunni money he got from Morufu, it is further evidence that the marriage turns her into a commodity—the men in her life can place a tangible, calculable value on her worth as a young woman.
Themes
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Adunni walks to Enitan’s house, which is much nicer than her own. When Enitan sees Adunni, she addresses her friend as “the new wife,” a title Adunni rejects. Enitan cannot understand why Adunni is upset about the marriage, as it will only improve her and her family’s quality of life. Adunni feels frustrated that nobody understands her anxieties.
Enitan addressing Adunni as “the new wife” suggests that Adunni’s upcoming marriage to Morufu gives her a new identity—one defined by her relationship to her husband, not on her own interests and personality. Enitan’s enthusiasm for the marriage reaffirms how accepted the marriage of young girls is in Adunni’s village. In the novel, houses symbolize the social norms that dictate a particular region or community. Enitan’s enthusiasm for the marriage suggests that her household, much like Adunni’s, condones the marriage of young girls.
Themes
Adunni recalls a time in school when another student, Jimoh, made fun of her for being the oldest in their class, not understanding why Adunni wasn’t able to start school sooner. The other schoolchildren were always making fun of her, and Adunni responded to it by working harder at her studies. Even after she had to leave school, she continued to work hard, teaching the younger village children their letters.
Adunni responds to being bullied by throwing herself into her studies and helping others, which illustrates her capacity to persevere through times of hardship. It also shows that even in times of personal strife, she finds opportunities to help others, rather than internalizing this strife and succumbing to bitterness and hopelessness.
Themes
Adunni’s thoughts return to her looming marriage. In her village, many girls, including Enitan, view marriage as a good thing. Unlike Adunni, Enitan doesn’t care about education and wants only to braid hair, and maybe start a makeup business, while she waits to be married. Before the friends part ways, Enitan offers to come over later, bringing lipsticks for Adunni to try out for the wedding. She asks Adunni if she’d prefer a red or a pink lipstick. Adunni leaves without responding, thinking to herself that a lipstick that is colored “the black of a mourner” would be most appropriate.
Enitan’s positive view of marriage shows how oppression forces people to shift perspectives, accepting whatever circumstances will allow them to survive. It’s possible that Enitan sees marriage in a positive light because she considers it an inevitable part of her future—she might as well accept it instead of dwelling sorrowfully on the things that she cannot change. Adunni’s wry observation that a lipstick that is colored “the black of a mourner” would be more appropriate for her wedding draws a parallel between the upcoming marriage and the death of her mother, reaffirming how traumatizing the marriage will be for her.
Themes
