Second Class Citizen

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1974

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-13

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Lappa

Lappas are fabric wrappers or waist scarves used in West Africa, specifically, in the context of this novel, in Nigeria. The first mention of lappas in Second Class Citizen is in Nigeria when women are preparing to welcome Nweze. All of the women have straightened their hair in European fashion, and they all wear matching lappas and blouses. These two elements contrast with one another; the lappa is a traditional African piece of clothing, and straightened hair emulates European traditions. Throughout the novel, Adah periodically uses a lappa. This serves as a symbol of her African heritage, reminding both herself and the reader of her Nigerian culture.

Later in the novel, Adah specifically chooses to wear a lappa labelled with “Nigerian Independence, 1960”; she says that she wants to show everyone “that she came from Nigeria and that Nigeria was an independent republic” (130). In this way, the lappa transcends being a personal reminder, as not everyone would recognize a lappa as a distinctly Nigerian garment. For Adah, every lappa reminds her of her heritage, but the Nigerian Independence lappa shows everyone else that heritage as well. The lappa also hides Adah’s stomach, which is relevant when she tries to hide her pregnancies. In a sense, then, the lappa is Adah’s heritage coming to her aid when she needs it most.

The Grey Bird

At the beginning of Chapter 11, Adah finds a grey bird, “contented in its solitude” and “happy in its lonely freedom” (146). The grey bird is a broad symbol, and represents a possible future for Adah. In this future, Adah could be happy without Francis or any other husband. The grey coloring of the bird, as well as its small size, emphasizes the simplicity of a life alone with her children. On a personal level, the bird represents an understated happiness that Adah might achieve through her writing, through her children, and through the peace of living without Francis.

Adah takes the bird to be a symbol of England and English culture. She notes how much brighter and more interesting birds exist in Africa, and yet she cannot imagine an African person taking the time to appreciate those birds in the way that she appreciates this grey bird. She imagines a long winter for Africa, which might make African people more like the English, musing that nature may have been “too merciful” to Africa (146). Adah combines these ideas, noting how she wants her children, and herself, to be different from either the introverted English or the apathetic Nigerian peoples, enjoying their own Blackness and appreciating things like the grey bird. In this way, the grey bird represents a more equitable postcolonial society, in which the best of each culture can be expressed.

Housing

A running motif in the novel is the struggle for housing. Early in the novel, Adah finds that she must get married in order to find a home. She notes that teenagers were not allowed to live alone, and that, for a teenage girl, “living alone would be asking for trouble” (24). Once she is settled in her marriage, Adah runs her household, earning money for the family and even taking in and supporting some of Francis’s siblings. Upon moving to England, Adah finds that Francis has secured them a terrible, one-room apartment. Francis claims: “We are all blacks, all coloureds, and the only houses we can get are horrors like these” (40). After eviction, Adah and Francis are forced to live with Mr. Noble and his wife, both unsavory characters, and the pattern of housing as a scarce commodity for Adah continues.

The novel echoes British author Virginia Woolf’s argument in her 1929 novel A Room of One’s Own that in order to succeed in writing, a woman must have money and a room of her own. Money seems to be the least of Adah’s issues, especially when Francis is no longer in her life, but a room of her own seems difficult to come by. The novel expresses a modification of Woolf’s stance—as a Black woman in 1970s London, a woman needs a room of her own, and yet she is not likely to find one. The need for housing runs parallel to themes of discrimination and poverty, but with an air of necessity; even if Adah were not trying to write, she would still need somewhere to live. The housing that Adah does find in London is never adequate. She is always forced into a room with her children and husband, a situation made worse by Francis’s abuse and refusal to help in caring for the children.