Second Class Citizen

When Adah first comes to England, birth control had just become available to married women, and it will soon become available to unmarried women as well. How might a better understanding of birth control and family planning have influenced Adah’s life? Why does Adah not have access to that kind of information?

When they first arrive in England, Adah and Francis are living in a one-room apartment surrounded by mostly Nigerian immigrant neighbors. How does this impact their family, and why is the community not for a support system for Adah?

Why might the Nigerian women straighten their hair in the European fashion? What other signs in the novel point to The Pull Toward Modernity and the Imperial Center?

As a postcolonial state, Nigeria is still heavily influenced by European customs to this day. Why might this lead to greater immigration from Nigeria to England? How does Emecheta show Nigerian peoples’ desires to move to or learn from England? Why is this the case?

Adah increasingly feels that people around her have negative perceptions of her. What evidence in the text shows that these fears might or might not be justified?

When Adah’s doctor gives her pills to stop her pregnancy, why might he be able to prescribe such pills without her husband’s signature? When Adah comes back to him to report that they did not work, why does he deny that he gave her such pills? What does his denial show about the position of women in English society?

Mr. Noble seems to embarrass himself in front of English people in order to gain their trust. How does his behavior comfort English people as former colonizers?

How is the burning of Ada’s book The Bride Price different from the other abuses that Francis has perpetrated? What is the significance of the book as Adah’s “brainchild” in this context?