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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl with the Louding Voice, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Education, Empowerment, and Self-Worth
Gender Inequality and Solidarity
Wealth, Poverty, and Choice
Survival
Summary
Analysis
Adunni keeps her head down as she runs through the village. She encounters Ruka and another girl on her way out and lies that she is going to the Ikati river for water. Ruka observes that Adunni doesn’t have a bucket for carrying water, but the other girl urges Ruka to leave Adunni alone. Adunni tells the girls goodbye and continues her journey. It begins to rain heavily. Adunni wonders what Morufu and Papa will think when they discover that she is missing. She remembers the tragic fates of Lamidi and Tafa and wonders if she is doing the right thing.
There’s some uncertainty or concerning Adunni’s decision to run away and what kind of consequences it will bring for her. She recalls the unfortunate fates of others who have done things that go against community standards and wonders if it’s possible for her to rebel and make it out alive.
Themes
Adunni reaches the marketplace at the village border. She hears someone call her name, looks behind her, sees Mr. Bada, and kneels to greet him. Mr. Bada buys her akara from a booth at the marketplace, telling the saleswoman that Adunni is “a new wife.” Mr. Bada asks Adunni what she is doing in the rain, and Adunni lies and says that Morufu sent her to pick up car parts from a workshop in the next village. They part ways. Adunni takes off running and doesn’t stop until she comes to a place in the next village where Iya told her to go if she ever needed help.
Akara is a type of bean fritter. That Mr. Bada lets Adunni leave without any further questions after she mentions that Morufu sent her on an errand reaffirms the weight and validity that men’s words have compared to those of women and girls. Iya is the old woman who Mama used to help. Given the help Adunni has received from other supportive women, Adunni’s decision to run to Iya makes it seem like Adunni’s luck might begin to turn—perhaps, with the solidarity of another woman, there is a way for her to escape her troubles.
Themes
