Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth
Before the events of The Girl with the Louding Voice, when Adunni’s mother, Mama, is still alive, she teaches Adunni that “your schooling is your voice.” As a result, Adunni spends the novel searching for a “louding voice”—that is, empowerment and self-worth—through education. Adunni’s quest for knowledge is challenged, though, as she’s forced to marry an abusive man and later tricked into indentured servitude. But despite Adunni’s dismal circumstances and the cruel people…
read analysis of Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth
Gender Inequality and Solidarity
In the opening passage of The Girl with the Louding Voice, the teenager narrator, Adunni, learns that her father is forcing her to marry a much older man, Morufu, in exchange for food and rent money. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that child marriage and other forms of gendered oppression—such as sexual objectification, violence, and lack of access to education—are pervasive problems for Nigerian women and girls, particularly those like Adunni who…
read analysis of Gender Inequality and Solidarity
Wealth, Poverty, and Choice
When Big Daddy, the husband of Adunni’s wealthy boss, Big Madam, is cruel to his wife, Adunni observes “how [their] money is not helping them escape from problems.” But although wealth doesn’t necessarily guarantee an effortless life, the novel shows that it can give a person more options to solve their problems. In contrast, poverty limits a person’s choices and opportunities for self-improvement. Like Big Madam, Adunni also finds herself in an…
read analysis of Wealth, Poverty, and Choice
Survival
Though Adunni is only 14 years old, she endures a great deal of trauma before and during the events of the novel. For instance, Mama dies when she’s very young, Papa forces her to marry a much older man who rapes her, and she’s tricked into becoming an indentured servant for a rich businesswoman who abuses her. Despite all this, Adunni perseveres, and she and other characters she meets develop a variety of coping mechanisms…
read analysis of Survival
