Previous
Morufu
Rebecca is Big Madam and Big Daddy’s former housemaid who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Adunni is her replacement. Throughout the novel, characters avoid talking about Rebecca; Big Madam, in particular, is desperate to change the subject whenever Rebecca comes up in conversation. Adunni grows curious about Rebecca, especially after she finds Rebecca’s waist beads abandoned in her old room, which is now Adunni’s. So, Adunni makes it her mission to uncover the mystery of Rebecca’s disappearance. Eventually, through a note that Rebecca wrote that Abu found hidden in Big Daddy’s car after she disappeared, Adunni learns that Rebecca had a sexual relationship with Big Daddy, eventually becoming pregnant with his baby. Big Daddy told Rebecca that he would marry her, but then he tricked her into drinking something that would induce a miscarriage. At the end of the novel, Big Madam tells Adunni that she took Rebecca to a hospital to stop the bleeding and, afterward, gave her money to leave the house and never return. At the end of the novel, before Adunni leaves Big Madam’s house for the last time, she writes “Adunni & Rebecca” on the wall—a symbolic gesture that documents Rebecca’s life and place in history and validates her as a person.
Rebecca Quotes in The Girl with the Louding Voice
The The Girl with the Louding Voice quotes below are all either spoken by Rebecca or refer to Rebecca. 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:
).
Chapter 39 Quotes
How is Morufu and Big Daddy different from each other? One can speak good English, and the other doesn’t speak good English, but both of them have the same terrible sickness of the mind.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 55 Quotes
I leave the room, closing the door on the memory of the sad and the bitter and the happy of it all, knowing that even if everybody forgets about Rebecca, or about me, the wall in the room we shared will remind them that we were here. That we are human. Of value. Important.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Girl with the Louding Voice LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Rebecca Character Timeline in The Girl with the Louding Voice
The timeline below shows where the character Rebecca appears in The Girl with the Louding Voice. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 23
...she is hardworking and intelligent. Big Madam tells Kola that “the last girl [he] brought,” Rebecca, “is still missing.” Adunni wonders whether something bad happened to Rebecca, and if something bad...
(full context)
Chapter 25
...to a small room in the boys’ quarters. He begins to say something about how Rebecca used to sleep there but cuts himself off and vaguely suggests that maybe Rebecca ran...
(full context)
Kofi then shows Adunni her uniform, which belonged to Rebecca, and tells her to get dressed. Adunni checks out the room, which contains a foam...
(full context)
...to a small room to teach her to iron, and Adunni struggles to move in Rebecca’s too-small uniform. Adunni promises Kofi that she will work hard and mentions Mr. Kola’s promise...
(full context)
Chapter 26
Adunni pesters Kofi to say more about Rebecca, but Kofi remains secretive about the ordeal, cautioning Adunni not to ask Big Madam about...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...bead’s color as something from Agan village. Adunni wonders if these waist beads could be Rebecca’s and, if they are, why she left them behind. She starts to wonder whether Rebecca...
(full context)
Chapter 29
...that foreign help is too costly with today’s “exchange rate.” Some of the woman mention Rebecca, but Big Madam swiftly changes the subject each time this happens.
(full context)
Chapter 30
Adunni asks Ms. Tia if she knew Rebecca. Ms. Tia didn’t but, like the others, she assumes that Rebecca probably did run away....
(full context)
Chapter 31
...Madam is also in the house. Adunni tries to ask Big Madam a question about Rebecca again. Adunni’s curiosity enrages Big Madam, who tries to beat Adunni with her shoe.
(full context)
...time to listen, they can all understand one another. Adunni tries to ask Abu about Rebecca, but he doesn’t provide any information and cautions her not to look for trouble.
(full context)
Chapter 35
...Big Daddy. She stays awake in bed reading Mama’s Bible, practicing her English, or holding Rebecca’s waist beads. She listens closely for Big Daddy, though he hasn’t bothered her lately. Adunni...
(full context)
Chapter 42
...and offers Adunni some rice when she notices how thin she is. According to Chisom, Rebecca always wanted food. Adunni’s ears perk up when she hears Rebecca’s name. Chisom goes on...
(full context)
Chapter 43
...Madam wears a boubou made of a golden material and a gold gele. Adunni wears Rebecca’s old shoes, which have since grown ragged, but she likes wearing them because they make...
(full context)
Adunni asks Chisom to clarify what she meant the other day when she said that Rebecca was “getting fat.” The pastor enters the room, cutting Chisom’s story short, though she quickly...
(full context)
...When they arrive home, Adunni remains in the car, contemplating this new development in the Rebecca story. She begins to question why everybody has acted as though something bad happened to...
(full context)
...wrong. Adunni mentions everything that’s been running through her mind, including her past worries about Rebecca. Abu looks around to make sure that nobody is listening and tells Adunni that he...
(full context)
Chapter 47
...for Adunni. Adunni is still very curious about whatever Abu will have to say about Rebecca, but tonight she doesn’t want to think about anything. She tells Kofi not to send...
(full context)
Chapter 50
...tell anyone that he gave it to her and begins his story: The day that Rebecca disappeared, Big Daddy asked him to clean his car. As Abu cleaned, he noticed that...
(full context)
...top of the paper. Her heart pounds as she reads. The letter is written by Rebecca, who tells her reader that she is a housemaid of Chief and Florence Adeoti (Big...
(full context)
Adunni folds the letter and shakes as she considers Rebecca’s fate. Was Big Daddy the boyfriend that Chisom mentioned? And did Big Daddy hurt her?...
(full context)
Chapter 51
...up when Adunni enters. Carefully, Adunni tells Big Madam that she has a letter from Rebecca. Big Madam takes the letter, but Adunni thinks her eyes are too swollen to read...
(full context)
Chapter 52
Curious to know how Rebecca could actually believe Big Daddy’s marriage proposal, Adunni asks Kofi if Rebecca had gone to...
(full context)
Chapter 53
Adunni follows up with her request for one of Rebecca’s shopping lists, and Kofi pulls a list that Abu gave him from his pocket. Adunni...
(full context)
...At night, Adunni enters to rub her feet. Adunni wants to ask Big Madam about Rebecca’s letter but understands that the woman is too depressed to talk. Big Daddy remains away...
(full context)
...Big Madam to sleep, she imagines that Mama is in the room with her, that Rebecca is not missing, that Ms. Tia is pregnant, and that she doesn’t feel so sad...
(full context)
Chapter 54
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...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
...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.
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Chapter 55
...she leaves. Ms. Tia leaves the room. Sternly, Big Madam orders Adunni to give her Rebecca’s letter, and Adunni watches in horror as Big Madam tears the paper to pieces.
(full context)
Adunni demands that Big Madam tell her what happened to Rebecca, and Big Madam finally reveals the truth: Big Madam was at home the day Rebecca...
(full context)
...her uniform, and changes into her dress. She packs her bag, including Mama’s Bible and Rebecca’s waist beads. Adunni reflects nostalgically on her life, family, and friends in Ikati. When she...
(full context)
...she dries her eyes, lifts herself from the floor, and scratches the words “Adunni & Rebecca” into a space next to her bed. When she is done, closes the door behind...
(full context)
Chapter 56
...town to visit Ms. Tia. Kofi changes the subject to ask Adunni what happened with Rebecca’s letter. Adunni tells him that Big Madam destroyed the letter, and they share a moment...
(full context)
...Big Madam. Big Madam wishes Adunni good luck but covertly warns her not to mention Rebecca’s letter to anyone. Adunni leaves with Ms. Tia and walks out of Big Madam’s house...
(full context)
