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Summary
The Joys of Motherhood tells the story of Nnu Ego, an Igbo woman who gave everything to feed and protect her children but received nothing. Her struggles mirror those of many women who often give endlessly, only to be left alone and unappreciated.
Society painted motherhood as a woman’s ultimate joy. But for Nnu Ego, that joy is unattainable, replaced by endless suffering and sacrifice. Perhaps, a better title for the novel would have been “The Sorrows of Motherhood.” Buchi Emecheta’s Joys of Motherhood unravels the painful truth of motherhood and silences the myth of maternal joy.
The novel focused on the life of Nnu Ego, an Igbo woman whose identity, dignity, and value are defined by the capability of her womb: shamed and stigmatised for being unable to produce children in her first marriage. She is married off to Nnaife, a washerman working for a colonial family in Lagos. When she finally becomes a mother, her life becomes an endless cycle of suffering and sacrifice. She worked tirelessly to feed and protect her children, with the belief that they would repay her with devotion, love, and care in her old age. However, they neglected and left her to die a lonely death, all alone, while pursuing their lives.
Through Nnu Ego’s journey, Buchi Emecheta reveals a painful truth: the joys of motherhood belong to others, while the mothers are left to suffer in silence. The novel paints a vivid picture of how patriarchal traditions and the colonial system intertwined to oppress women. Meanwhile, Nnaife rejoices in the traditional role of being the head of the family without working to provide for the family. Nnu Ego goes the extra mile to ensure children don’t suffer. In contrast, Adaku, her co-wife, chose to be successful, highlighting that there are other women who live outside the traditional roles.
The backdrop of colonial Lagos showed how women like Nnu Ego are forced to bear the cost of raising children with communal support. Colonialism didn’t align with traditional rules; it disrupted family structure and gender dynamics, making life harder for women.
Buchi Emecheta’s title of her novel is iconic and ironic, because it critiques the myth of maternal joy. It’s not just a story of a woman who gave everything and received nothing. It’s a story that asks us to truly question the myth of maternal joy and the cost of motherhood.
