Summary Of Growing My Hair Again

In the short story ‘growing my hair again’, the author explains how women in the African traditions are held captive by the traditional culture and their struggles to trying to break away them using the main character Nneka. In Nigeria as well as in the other parts of Africa, culture was and still is given a lot of emphasizes especially when it comes to the traditional practices and beliefs. The culture however vary from one community to the other and ranges from the rights of passage, religious beliefs to other religious practices such as offering sacrifices and the role of women in the community .Nneka was married to a rich man in traditional Nigerian community and as in other areas, women had a role of being submissive to their husbands

and subject to other cruel traditions. This traditions literary took their freedoms to make decisions or put strict boundaries to their extent of interacting with other people. The historical cultural is realized when Nnekas husband died. She was required to shave her hair as a sign of mourning. According to the traditions of this community women were required to shave as a sign of their loss and the mourning had to continue for a period of one year even after the burial of the diseased (Faluyi and Dioka 110). This traditions were not favorable and to any liberal minded woman with the sense of modernization such as Nneka, it would be difficult to still endure the primitive practices months after the death of Okpala. However according to the author, there was no much choice for the widow as even the family members from the husbands side especially the mother in law were very strict to ensure the daughter in law observes the whole process.
Even though Nneka had the spirit of rebellion and had lots of wealth left behind by Okpala and a son who would be the heir, she had to try and go through the cultural requirements and demonstrate rebellion later.

The burial and mourning practices regarding the death of Okpala is used by the author to demonstrate how historical cultural practices were deep rooted in African communities. The author again tries to show the struggle widows who wish to break away from the traditions experiences. This is easily realized from Nneka strong despise for the traditions. She hated the oppressive marriage, strongly loathed the widow traditions and the burial rituals and the fact that she had to be confined by the practices with limited freedoms for a period of one year. During the one year mourning period according to the cultural practices, the believed was to remain in the bedroom and surrounded by other mourners who were presumably supposed to comfort her. “…Bored and hungry and sick of sitting on the bedroom floor to be besieged by crying relatives, I had gone to raid the pantry…” (p.76, 77). Further during the mourning period, the wife was not supposed to enjoy the freedom of eating their favorite dishes. The food she ate was not supposed to have neither salt nor pepper. At one point the mother in law caught Nneka eating some raisins soaked in brandy and what followed was a lengthy lecture to express her displeasure in the acts of her daughter in law and emphasize on the importance

of observing and respecting the culture. This instance again shows how important the culture was to the African natives and also how seriously they took their rituals.
The author additionally brings out the issue of male chauvinism as a prevalent issue historical culture in the traditional African marriages whereby the man took advantage of the wife without considering her as an equal partner in the marriage institution. The marriages were full of abusive actions to the women and it was all justified by culture. Men were seen as superior beings whose authority would not be questioned. Unlike in today’s society where the rights of women have gained more recognition, traditionally they had no rights. The wife made every effort to ensure reduced abusive action from the husband by giving in to all his demands. The historical culture regarding to physical abuse can be perfectly substantiated by how Nneka was repeatedly physically abused by Okpala to an extent that she experienced a miscarriage. This act affected her negatively to an extent of deciding to deny her husband another pregnancy and child. The culture also had high regard for children. The more the children a man had, particularly the sons, the higher the status in the society as well as more respect. The historical culture regarding the issue of sons being highly regarded in the society is reflected through Okpala trying as much as he could to get the wife pregnant with another son in order to raise the status among his peers and as a traditional man, the author notes that he did not take his chances lightly. The issue of family planning substantiates the historical culture when compared to the modern days. It was a crime in the traditional society and the wife was supposed to be always ready it bear more children for the husband. This is substantiated by the fact the Nneka had to take the action of having her womb tied in a private hospital without the husband’s knowledge and kept it a secret all along (Adichie and Lahiri 80).
Inheritance in the African communities remains a significant issue and is carried out differently since time in memorial and this has been used in the book to reflect the historical culture in this society.

In this society, the first born boy was to be the heir of the father’s wealth when they died. Okpala new this very well and that is why he was keen to have more sons to carry on the business of the family. On the other hand one of the things that propelled Nnerka’s defiance towards the culture and traditional practices was that the husband had left behind a lot of wealth and a son who will be the heir of this empire. According to this phrase the author was trying to bring in the factor of the wife being denied the wealth of the husband in the absence of the husband in the historical culture of this society. It has happened in many communities that upon the death of the husband, the wife is denied inheritance of the property and instead the in-laws take advantage of the situation. The issue of upholding traditions are clear indication of the historical culture and the society and the family expects Nneka to observe them since his husband has died. Nneka knew very well that despite her being reluctant to observe the traditions especially after the one year mourning period, she would regain her freedom and the son was a guarantee that there would be no efforts from the extended family to disposes her of the late husband’s wealth. Even the mother in law and the others had to

respect the culture and allow the son to be the sole heir of the expansive business empire. This reflects the historical culture through considering the women in the African culture had their rights limited to the roles of taking care of the husband and giving birth. Moreover, the “growing My Hair Again” has substantiated the historical culture that existed through focusing on the issues of the family wealth where the women were insignificant with the boys being more upheld in the society through more respect as compared to their mothers.
In conclusion it is evident that “Growing my Hair Again” effectively brings out the historical cultural practices that was common in most African communities particularly the role of women in the family. However the author brings in some aspect of hope to the female generations that it is possible to rise up above the negative cultural barriers and lead a prosperous life. Despite the challenges faced by the women in the earlier years, a lot have changed and the traditions have been greatly altered for a more civilized and accommodative society.