Second Class Citizen by Buchi Emecheta

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Recommended: The role of women throughout English literature

In the story Second Class Citizen, Buchi Emecheta displays what African women go through in modern Nigeria Society and provides explanations of why they ought to be treated equally. In the story, it provides to us a great example of how men have treated woman and how men should never mistreat woman in any sort of way. In the story Second Class Citizen, gender and sexuality was represented in the novel it shows how there should not be a gender that is more important than the other, and how everyone should be treated equally whether it be a female or male.
Adah was brought up with the belief that she was only a woman who would always be below and inferior to the male gender. She was disadvantaged to go to school but she revolted even as a girl and went to school trying anything that she could. She was taught to only be a good wife and not to be a woman of her own. All she was allowed to know was the accountabilities of a woman in a house. Her struggle still continued after her father had passed and she was taken to an Uncle’s house to live. When she married she had barely any education whatsoever, she had to work towards her dream of traveling abroad even when everything and everyone treated her as if she was nothing. Everything always had to be against her. She attained her purpose with perception and not by force, she showed everyone that she could do better than her brother, father, father-in-law, uncle and even her own husband. She did not look up to her husband before she feeds or cloth her children, it was through her power that her husband was able to travel abroad and when she was not accepted and not able to travel the same way he was able to, but she did not give up, she really wanted her dreams to come true. “She was sti...

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... and should belong to a male for protection, safety and companionship, this does not mean that she should be treated as a slave where the problem of marriage weights the wife down too much. She should never allow it to crush her. Therefore Women should be seen as responsible individuals who are capable to work together with men in building a solid foundation to create a secure family with one another.
In conclusion, In the story Second Class Citizen the author, Emecheta extensively explore the role of contemporary African women concerning their right in society. They want equal rights as men ethically, occupationally, publicly and educationally. Women usually search for equal rights and participation on societal activities just as men. Women do not want to suffer through discrimination and segregation from the masculine gender but freedom and equal rights from them.

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