The Girl with the Louding Voice

The Girl with the Louding Voice

by

Abi Daré

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Kenneth Dada/The Doctor Character Analysis

Kenneth Dada is Ms. Tia’s husband. Ms. Tia refers to him as Ken, and Adunni refers to him as simply “the doctor.” He is fertility doctor, helping women become pregnant—a job he was inspired to do due to his own infertility, though this condition remains a secret for much of the novel. When Ken and Ms. Tia got married, they didn’t want children, so Ken didn’t feel the need to tell Tia about his infertility. Later, when Ms. Tia changes her mind and the couple begin to try to conceive, Ken continues to keep his infertility a secret from his wife, and it’s only after Ken’s mother, doctor mama, coerces Ms. Tia to undergo a violent fertility ritual that he tells Ms. Tia the truth. Ken and Ms. Tia seem to have one of the more equal marriages in the novel, but Ken’s secrecy and the unfair burden placed on his wife to conceive a child and become a mother underscores the Nigerian society’s double standards for men and women.

Kenneth Dada/The Doctor Quotes in The Girl with the Louding Voice

The The Girl with the Louding Voice quotes below are all either spoken by Kenneth Dada/The Doctor or refer to Kenneth Dada/The Doctor. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth Theme Icon
).
Chapter 35 Quotes

“She comes to ask if I am pregnant,” she say. “Can you imagine that? She has come every month in the last six months to say: ‘Where are my grandchildren? When will I carry my grandchildren and dance with them?’ Like I’ve hidden them in an attic somewhere. If she wants to dance, she should go to a bloody nightclub.”

Related Characters: Ms. Tia/Tia Dada (speaker), Adunni, Kenneth Dada/The Doctor, Doctor Mama
Page Number: 233
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 47 Quotes

But there are words in my head, many things I want to say. I want to tell Ms. Tia I am sorry I made her come here. I want to ask why the doctor didn’t come too. Why didn’t he come and get a beating like his wife? If it takes two people to make a baby, why only one person, the woman, is suffering when the baby is not coming? Is it because she is the one with breast and the stomach for being pregnant? Or because of what? I want to ask, to scream, why are the women in Nigeria seem to be suffering for everything more than the men?

Related Characters: Adunni (speaker), Ms. Tia/Tia Dada, Khadija, Kenneth Dada/The Doctor, Doctor Mama, The Birth-Makers
Related Symbols: Water
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis:
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Kenneth Dada/The Doctor Quotes in The Girl with the Louding Voice

The The Girl with the Louding Voice quotes below are all either spoken by Kenneth Dada/The Doctor or refer to Kenneth Dada/The Doctor. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth Theme Icon
).
Chapter 35 Quotes

“She comes to ask if I am pregnant,” she say. “Can you imagine that? She has come every month in the last six months to say: ‘Where are my grandchildren? When will I carry my grandchildren and dance with them?’ Like I’ve hidden them in an attic somewhere. If she wants to dance, she should go to a bloody nightclub.”

Related Characters: Ms. Tia/Tia Dada (speaker), Adunni, Kenneth Dada/The Doctor, Doctor Mama
Page Number: 233
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 47 Quotes

But there are words in my head, many things I want to say. I want to tell Ms. Tia I am sorry I made her come here. I want to ask why the doctor didn’t come too. Why didn’t he come and get a beating like his wife? If it takes two people to make a baby, why only one person, the woman, is suffering when the baby is not coming? Is it because she is the one with breast and the stomach for being pregnant? Or because of what? I want to ask, to scream, why are the women in Nigeria seem to be suffering for everything more than the men?

Related Characters: Adunni (speaker), Ms. Tia/Tia Dada, Khadija, Kenneth Dada/The Doctor, Doctor Mama, The Birth-Makers
Related Symbols: Water
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis: