Second Class Citizen

Francis is an accounting student who marries Adah while both of them are still in Nigeria. At the beginning of the novel, he doesn’t have much control of himself or his life, and depends on his parents to make decisions for him. Adah suspects that moving to England changed Francis’s outlook, as he found that he had a new freedom being separated from his parents’ interference. In England, Francis gains weight, has a number of affairs, neglects his children, and beats his wife. His bad behavior in England is still tied to Nigeria as he succumbs to the influence of his Nigerian neighbors, who consistently persuade him to take further control over his wife and become less involved with his children. In Nigeria, Francis seemed quiet and obedient, but the narrator reveals that many of Francis’s sadistic tendencies were already present in Nigeria, such as when killing his friend’s monkey.

Francis is the antagonist of the novel, meaning that he is the primary character standing in the way of the protagonist’s progress. Francis reflects the deeper antagonists of English and Nigerian culture, each of which influence Francis to hinder and abuse Adah. Adah’s reflection that various things could change Francis, such as exposure to other men and husbands or a healthier Nigerian community, imply that there is an element to Francis that is unique.

Overall, however, Francis is the archetype of an abusive husband, and he maintains this status throughout his time in England. He is both physically and emotionally abusive to Adah and the children, such as when beating his daughter Titi for speaking Yoruba. At the end of the novel, Francis denies his marriage and fatherhood; this is actually one of the few things Francis does in Adah’s favor, as it allows her to leave him completely.

Francis is characterized as mediocre and lazy. He is studying to be an accountant, but he does not attend class and fails all of his exams in England. He blames Adah for these failures, despite the fact that Adah is supporting him financially. Francis is the antithesis of Adah, as she is consistently successful and hardworking.

Mr. Noble, or Pa Noble, is a Nigerian immigrant who owns the building that Adah and Francis live in after being evicted from their first apartment. Mr. Noble is a caricature of Nigerian immigrants; he has assimilated into English culture by making himself into a jester or fool for the English to laugh at. He came to England, like Francis, to get an education and develop a career. However, he failed in his education and obtained menial jobs to sustain himself. During this time, he fell into alcoholism and injured himself while performing a trick for his coworkers in exchange for alcohol. Following his injury, Mr. Noble used his pension to purchase a building. In order to rent the floors, Mr. Noble had to harass and try to evict the women that already lived in them; following their deaths, he embraced a reputation as a mystical figure. As with many Nigerian immigrants in Mr. Noble’s situation, he married a white woman. He and Mrs. Noble now run the building, though they each have less than favorable reputations in town.

Mr. Noble is defined by how he embraces stereotypes of Nigerian immigrants; even with his own wife, he portrays himself in a “savage” light. He describes life in Nigeria as critically opposed to life in England, describing his nakedness as a child, his prolonged nursing period, participation in the military, and living in trees. These details reinforce the English perception of African peoples as barbaric and uncivilized, and Adah is repulsed by Mr. Noble’s behavior. His purpose in the novel is to show another way in which immigrants can assimilate. While Adah tries to adapt and conform to elements of English culture, Mr. Noble has taken a different route to acceptance, making himself a mockery of Nigerian culture to appeal to the racism of the English people.