Critical Essay on Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen

Introduction

Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen is the story of a Nigerian woman called Adah. She is considered a second-class citizen back home in Nigeria based on gender and at her new home in England because of her skin color. Adah is a victim of a patriarchal society, married off at a young age and living with Francis, her manipulative husband. Her quest to change the status quo sees her study Sociology at London University as well as secure a 'first-class' job as a librarian. As she begins actualizing her lifelong dream of becoming a writer, her husband crosses the limits by burning her manuscript, a step that soon lands them at the divorce court.

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She is granted custody of their five children, bringing an end to the unhappy marriage. The move from what had been their marital home into a council flat not only bequeaths her independence, freedom, and peace of mind but also symbolizes new beginnings for African womanhood. With children to raise on her own, Adah carries with her first-hand experiences in racism, sexism and birth control among others, from which she is likely to train her children on how to confront and transcend problems.

Racism

The title of the book stems from Francis and Adah's first-hand experience of racism while hunting for a house. After a series of disappointments, her husband made her aware that as immigrants they were considered "second-class citizens" (Emecheta 37). She also learned that her African counterparts sent their children to White foster mothers because as Francis informed her, it is only first-class citizens who lived with their offspring, not people of color (Emecheta 46). According to Emecheta (44), Adah begins to get the feeling that "the concept of 'whiteness' could cover a multitude of sins." By choosing to raise her children without a foster mother, Adah's lesson to them is that they should refuse enslavement by unwarranted beliefs pillared on inferiority.

The irony is that further discrimination against people of black origin was from fellow Africans. An example is when an Indian doctor turns down a request to visit their ailing son, and Francis gets so angry that he says the doctor thinks he is white yet he is as black as the devil (Emecheta 144). Associating her skin color with evil gave her the impression that it was shameful to be African. On confronting racial discrimination, Adah is bound to refer to her friend, Bill, who exposed her to creative work by African writers and inform them that skin color should not limit one's ambition.

Sexism

Being born a woman was Adah's rude introduction into a sexist community. First, her parents did not embrace the idea of schooling her as it was considered a waste of resources. When her father passes on, she moves to slave for her uncle because according to her people, women were second-class humans who only ate, talked and slept (Emecheta 7). Having suffered this oppression and coming out strong, a valuable lesson she is likely to share with her children is that women are equal beings who deserve respect and a place in society.

She gets married to Francis, an epitome of male chauvinism embodied in cynicism and an inferiority complex. Seeing that his wife's education and economic empowerment were making him lose dominance, he tries to terminate her writing ambitions by torching the manuscript to The Bride Price. Francis informs Adah that she keeps forgetting she is not only a woman but one of African origin (Emecheta 178). According to him, if the Britons can barely tolerate African men, a 'brainless female' like her should not think past breastfeeding her baby. The insults and loss of manuscript did not kill her dreams as she went ahead to become a renowned author. With herself as the living testimony, she will possibly train her children to keep their eyes focused on the goal despite the upheavals that could occur along the way.

Birth Control

One of the reasons Francis married Adah was for her to give him many children. However, Adah is an educated woman who understands the importance of having a manageable family. Secondly, continued pregnancy becomes a stumbling block to her progress, on many occasions threatening her employment. Her quest to keep that part of life in check leads her to a family planning clinic where she gets a diaphragm fitted. Through her story, we see a society that is indifferent to family planning, because her husband not only beats her when he learns of the cap but also accuses her of being a prostitute. He even becomes a Catholic to block his mind from the glaring fact that Adah was taking control of her child-bearing by getting the diaphragm (Emecheta 122). Having made mistakes and found herself raising five children alone in a council flat, the probable lesson she will share with her children is that they should embrace family planning.

Conclusion

Although hers is a story marred by constraints and constant struggle, the eventual collapse of the marriage opens a new chapter in womanhood. Adah demonstrates that the path to social independence and economic freedom lies in knowledge, which means her children will not only benefit from personal experiences and lessons as shared by the heroine but also use her as a yardstick for redemption from stranglehold.

Works Cited

Emecheta, Buchi. Second Class Citizen. Pearson Education Limited, 1994.