Nnu Ego is at her wits end, when the book opens. She prepares to through herself in the river to meet her chi; Nnu Ego is convinced the slave girl her father forcibly killed years ago, is the reason for her bareness then the death of her only son.
The setting shifts to twenty-five years earlier, in the Ogboli village. Agbadi, the local chief, is obsessed with Ona, the one woman he cannot attain. She is a beautiful cocky woman, who refuses to marry Agbadi; Ona is her father’s sole heir and unless she bears a son to continue the family name, she is all her father has.
Agbadi, during a hunting trip, is attacked by an elephant and left clinging to life. Ona stays with him until he heals; the sexual tension between the two isn’t quelled until Agbadi forces Ona into a sexual encounter with him. She soon becomes pregnant and promises her potential son to her father; however, if she bears a girl, Ona promises Agbadi that he can raise her. Finally, Nnu Ego is revealed to be a girl; Agbadi is ecstatic and things are well until Nnu Ego falls ill. There is a bump on Nnu Ego’s head that causes her headaches; a medicine man realizes, Nnu Ego’s chi is causing the pain and offerings must be made to satisfy her.
Sixteen years pass and Nnu Ego reaches marrying age. She is promised Amatokwu, a man from her village. The bride price is so extravagant that for years to come it is the bride price standard. Unfortunately, Nnu Ego can’t conceive and it strains her relationship with Amatokwu. Though she holds the senior wife title, she’s sent to another hut to make room for a new wife. Much to Nnu Ego’s displeasure, the new wife bears Amatokwu a son and Nnu Ego must care for him. Nnu Ego grows fond of the child but it soon becomes unhealthy. Amatokwu catches her breastfeeding the child and beats her. In hopes of rest and restoration, Nnu Ego visits her father. She returns to her former self and her marriage to Amatokwu is ended. Agbadi soon finds her daughter a better match and arranges a marriage between his daughter and Nnaife, a washman in Lagos. Nnu Ego and Nnaife’s older brother make the trip to Lagos, so she may begin her new life.
Nnu Ego adjusts to her new life in Lagos, after overcoming culture shock; she gives birth to a son named Ngozi. She starts her own business selling lose cigarettes and matches; soon she can afford new clothes and housewares for her family. One morning, Nnu Ego finds Ngozi dead in their home. She is distraught and we find her ready to throw herself into the river to meet her chi. An Ibo man, Nwakusor, rescues her, after recognizing her.
Recovery seems impossible but Nnu Ego manages and becomes pregnant again. Nnu Ego decides to focus her energy on raising her Oshia, instead of making extra money. That doesn’t last long, when Nniafe finds himself jobless. Eventually he finds a job working for Englishmen, far from his family. Forced from their home by British soldiers, the two ladies move to a rented room. They don’t fare well are faced with hunger; neighbors contribute until Nniafe returns with wealth.
One evening, Nnafie and Nnu Ego learn Nnafie’s brother passed in Ibuza. Nnaife inherits all his brother’s wives; all but one refuse to live in Lagos. She arrives, with her daughter, setting of tensions between herself and Nnu. Nnaife recognizes the tensions but makes them no better; he sleeps with Adaku while Nnu Ego tries to sleep nearby. Things aren’t well for the family; with more mouths to feed and less space, Nnu Ego and Adaku become pregnant simultaneously. Nnu Ego births twin girls and Adaku births a son, who dies shortly after birth. Discontent festers and the women strike because they don’t receive enough money to support the household. Soon, Nnu Ego breaks the strike and cooks a large meal, but Nnaife doesn’t return home to partake. He is forced into the army and sent to fight in World War II.
Nnaife soon leaves, but not before getting Nnu Ego pregnant. She takes taker her family to Ibuza to visit her dying father. After his funeral services, Nnu Ego doesn’t want to return to Lagos, but returns with the intention of watching over Adaku. Nnu Ego returns and finds that Nnaife visited home and left money that she never received. Nnu Ego and Adaku’s relationship becomes increasingly tense, until Adaku decides to take her daughter and leave, for a life of prostitution. Nnu Ego sits in poverty, again; she spends her last savings and learns that she isn’t receiving her husband’s yearly stipends because of an institutional error. Nnaife returns and spends most of his money. Again, Nnu Ego is pregnant but Nnaife disregards her and returns to Ibuza. There he impregnates his older brother’s wife and takes a new bride. Nnu Ego gives birth to twin girls.
The family has been through so much turmoil; Nnu Ego and her family move to a mud hut and there her children express their desire to continue their education. Oshia expresses his desire to study in the US with the help of a scholarship; Nnaife denounces him because he won’t continue his familial duties. Taiwo marries an Ibo clerk, but Kehinde runs away to marry a Yoruba. Once Nnaife hears this he attempts to murder Kehinde’s father-in-law; he is jailed and sentenced to five year. That time is reduced because he agrees to return to Ibuza after his release. Nnu Ego returns home and dies alone several years later. Oshia returns and gives Nnu Ego a proper funeral.
Question 2 Analysis
It’s evident in The Joys of Motherhood that Ibo women are expected to bear child, particularly male children. “Nnu Ego [was] sorry for bringing shame to her family.” (Emecheta, 35) Her value depended solely on her fertility. That shame Nnu Ego felt stemmed from her worth being rooted in something she couldn’t control. If she didn’t give birth she failed and if she gave birth to girls she lacked honor. A woman’s purpose was motherhood. It’s weaved throughout the novel. Ona is honored once she gives birth to Nnu Ego. Nnu Ego is ecstatic when she conceives his first son. She basked in these values. Motherhood was all Nnu Ego knew; she had child after child and spent countless time providing for her family. She sold loose cigarettes and matches; she moved her children from home to home trying to keep a roof over their heads. Nnu Ego reached out to her neighbors for help and they, all women, assisted her with loans and baby clothes. She gives her all when it comes to her family; these duties fulfill her. Then her children grow up and she no longer has these duties. She waits to “hear from her son in America” and from her other son in Canada but never did. Without her children, there to provide her purpose, she died on the roadside alone “with no child to hold her hand and no friend to talk to her.” (Emecheta, 224). She was “so busy building up her joys as a mother.” (Emecheta, 224).
A man’s position in Ibo society is a privileged one. Men have several wives and multiple children; men with more sons were more honorable. His wives’ labor was his own and he benefited from it. Though this was true, men had to produce male heirs and if they didn’t, their manhood was called into question. Manhood is associate with other privileges like drinking palm wine, being able to choose whoever as a sexual partner, and being cared for as they age. But these masculine expectations breed a sort of selfishness. It’s evident as Oshia and Adim drift further away once they’re abroad. They don’t feel obligated to help their family; nor did Nnafie. The men in Nnu Ego’s village provided for their family materially; however, they didn’t seem to offer much emotional support. Oshia attempts to prove he’s a good son only in his mother’s death. “It took [him] three years to pay off the money he borrowed to show the world what a good son he was.” (Emecheta, 22). He felt no obligation to his mother until her death and even then, he did it to uphold tradition. Roles for men and women in the Ibo tradition were clearly defined and stark in contrast.