Theme of Positive Stubbornness in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen pervades every nook and cranny of the novel’s plot. The novelist carefully uses Adah, the heroine of the story, to display the positive energy that is expected of any feminine character in a society which proves so negatively biased against the girl-child.
Buchi Emecheta’s novel, second class citizen has successfully created the picture of what feminism entails all over the world. The author’s adroit use of characters who embody the women’s liberation struggle and its antagonism is creatively above board, and makes one wonder whether the plot is simply a narration of her experiences both in Africa and in the United Kingdom. The history of brave women who are constantly against the patriarchal underestimation of women’s worth and sexuality is long and surprisingly existent even in the world of today regardless of space, skin color, or climate.
In Africa, women are respected except in offices, leadership positions, schools, etc. women and girls are merely objects subjected only to the kitchen and the bedroom. This is why Buchi Emecheta deems it necessary to recount the ordeals of her heroine in second class citizen as some medium of critical expression against the status quo, that is, the cultural subjugation and objectification of the female gender. It is against this unfavorable conditions that Adah, the heroine of the novel, finds herself prepared and then determines to fight her way out even though she realizes it may not be an easy road.
Following this realization, Adah practically enfleshes the theme of positive stubbornness required of the feminist struggle in a society that is obstinately poised too against the girl-child by cultural standard.
It will be referenced that in her childhood years where she was suggestively expected to be naïve to the laws and superstitions of her environment, Adah should give up her aspirations for formal education, however, rather than being taken in, she took the bold step of struggling to go to school even if that may later cause her mother’s embarrassment by the police. Adah struggled for formal education to the point where she had to use the two shillings given to her by her cousin for her entrance examination which she eventually paid the price.
From her will to go to school, without considering the question of whether her environment is ready or not, to leaving her marriage for the benefit of the greater call, the theme of positive stubbornness is therefore constructively woven into every event that contributed to the development of the novel, Second Class Citizen.
Contents
Theme of Positive Stubbornness in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen
The theme of positive stubbornness is central to Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen, embodied in the protagonist Adah’s relentless pursuit of education, self-determination, and dignity against systemic oppression, patriarchal control, and racial discrimination. This “stubbornness” is not mere defiance but a survival strategy and a form of agency, enabling her to resist dehumanization and claim her humanity. Here’s a breakdown of its significance:
1. Defying Patriarchal Norms in Nigeria
Education as Rebellion: Adah’s childhood insistence on attending school (sneaking out despite her family’s belief that educating girls is “wasteful”) is her first act of positive stubbornness. Her persistence transforms her from a burden into a “first-class citizen” in her community, earning her a bride price and validating her worth.
Rejecting Forced Marriage: By choosing Francis (a seemingly progressive student) over an arranged marriage, Adah asserts her right to self-determination. Though Francis later becomes oppressive, her initial choice reflects her refusal to be commodified.
2. Resisting Gendered Oppression in Marriage
Economic Independence: Adah’s stubborn drive to work—first in Nigeria, then in London—directly challenges Francis’s authority. Despite his demands that she be a “proper wife” (subservient and economically dependent), she secretly takes jobs to support her family. Her work is an act of resistance against financial control.
Defying Reproductive Coercion: Francis dismisses Adah’s health and autonomy, forcing pregnancies and denying her contraception. Adah’s decision to pursue contraception (after traumatic births) is a radical assertion of bodily autonomy in a society that reduces women to childbearers.
Protecting Her Children: When Francis neglects or endangers their children (e.g., abandoning them during a crisis), Adah’s stubbornness becomes maternal ferocity. She prioritizes their safety over his whims, challenging his role as patriarch.
Persistence Amid Racism: As a Black immigrant in 1960s London, Adah faces housing discrimination (“No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs”) and demeaning employment. Her stubbornness manifests as resilience: she endures squalid conditions, exploitative jobs, and microaggressions to keep her family afloat.
Refusing to Be Silenced: Adah’s dream of becoming a writer persists despite Francis’s mockery and societal dismissal of Black women’s voices. Her nightly writing—after grueling domestic labor—is an act of intellectual defiance, reclaiming her narrative.
Claiming Space in a Hostile World: When libraries turn her away or social workers judge her, Adah’s stubbornness becomes a refusal to disappear. She insists on her right to exist, learn, and thrive in a society that labels her “second-class.”
4. The Climax: Stubbornness as Liberation
Leaving Francis: Adah’s final departure—taking her children and fleeing domestic abuse—is the ultimate act of positive stubbornness. It transforms her survival instinct into active liberation. By rejecting the “second-class” status imposed by marriage, she reclaims her identity as a “first-class citizen” in her own right.
Self-Definition: Her journey culminates in self-reliance. As a single mother, writer, and provider, she embodies the power of stubborn persistence to forge one’s path against all odds.
Read Also: Madam Yoko Pawn Roles and Expansionist Travails In Let Me Die Alone.
Conclusion
In Second Class Citizen, positive stubbornness is the engine of Adah’s transformation from an oppressed girl to an autonomous woman. It is a quiet, relentless force that challenges racism, sexism, and classism. Emecheta celebrates this trait as essential for those deemed “second-class” to assert their humanity, redefine their worth, and ultimately claim their place as “first-class citizens” in their own lives. Adah’s journey illustrates that stubbornness, when rooted in self-respect and hope, is not just resistance—it is revolution.
