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
Fact: a 2003 study found that Nigerians are the world’s happiest and most optimistic people. The next morning, Adunni walks to the kitchen and finds Kofi slicing a loaf of bread. He greets her excitedly, informing her that his friend at the embassy told him that the scholarship results have been posted; he promises to stop by after work to see the results. In a low voice, Kofi adds that they have guests in the house: Big Daddy and his two sisters have arrived to plead with Big Madam to let Big Daddy come home.
The fact that precedes this chapter positions Adunni’s unceasing optimism as characteristic of Nigerian people more broadly. That Big Daddy’s sisters arrive to advocate for Big Daddy illustrates yet another way in which women can be complicit in gender inequality.
Themes
Suddenly, Big Madam, appears in the kitchen. She makes sure that Adunni still has Rebecca’s letter and tells her to bring it to her later. She turns to Kofi, instructing him to ensure that Big Daddy and his sisters remain in the reception, because she has called a police officer to the house. Big Madam leaves, and Adunni tells a confused Kofi about Rebecca’s letter.
Big Madam’s decision to call the police is complicated: on a positive note, it seems as though Rebecca might finally receive justice, which would give her a symbolic voice. However, it’s pretty clear that Big Madam calling the police is more an act of revenge against Big Daddy for the affair than an effort to find justice for Rebecca.
Themes
Adunni sweeps in the backyard until Kofi calls her to the house to eavesdrop on the scene unfolding in the reception. Through the “cloudy glass” of the reception door, Adunni can see the shapes of Big Madam, Big Daddy, Big Daddy’s sisters, and the police officer, Officer Kamson. Big Madam orders Officer Kamson to take Big Daddy away in connection with the disappearance of Rebecca. As Big Daddy protests, Officer Kamson asks Big Madam if she has any evidence. Big Madam mentions Big Daddy’s affair with Caroline Bankole, and the room falls silent.
Big Madam brings up Big Daddy’s affair with Caroline, even though it’s only peripherally related to Rebecca’s disappearance. This is further proof that Big Madam’s calls the police because she wants to get back at Big Daddy for the affair, not because she’s concerned about Rebecca.
Themes
Officer Kamson repeats his request for evidence, suggesting that if Big Madam really thought that her husband was having an affair with the housemaid, it might make Big Daddy and her suspects, which incenses Big Madam. Big Daddy and his sisters beg Officer Kamson to leave so that they can settle the matter of Big Daddy’s affair within the family. Big Madam tells Officer Kamson that he can leave before ordering Big Daddy to leave and never return. Adunni fears that once Officer Kamson is gone, nobody will ever learn the truth about Rebecca. She cries “No!” and begins to bang her fists against the glass door.
Officer Kamson’s accusation brings attention to Big Madam’s complicity in Rebecca’s disappearance. It also insinuates that Big Madam might be directly responsible for Rebecca’s disappearance, which is something Adunni hasn’t seriously considered. At any rate, Officer Kamson’s swift departure signifies that he doesn’t really care to investigate Rebecca’s disappearance, which underscores the culture’s pattern of undervaluing people (girls, in particular) who are poor and uneducated. Adunni’s frustrated shout reinforces this: she is tired of people undervaluing and silencing girls like her.
Themes
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Adunni cries outside, feeling powerless that she has managed to save neither Rebecca nor Khadija. Sometime later, Kofi emerges to announce that Big Madam, who is grumpy, needs her in the reception. As Adunni turns to enter the house, she feels her phone vibrate. She opens a text message from Ms. Tia informing her that she is on her way to Big Madam’s house: Adunni won the scholarship, and Ms. Tia will take her away from Big Madam’s house today, even if she has to fight for it. Adunni reads the text over and over again and feels a great, overpowering sense of hope.
Ms. Tia’s text is a big deal of Adunni. Even if she’s failed to save Khadija and Rebecca, she might have a chance to receive an education and break the cycle of poverty, oppression, and gendered violence.
Themes
