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Chapter 20
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 returns to Iya’s room and finds her cooking yam porridge on the stove. Adunni stinks from hiding in the bathroom, and Iya tells her to bathe in a room beside the well out back. When Adunni returns from her bath, Iya tells her to be calm; Kola, who lives in nearby Idanra town, will arrive in his motorcar tomorrow. She proudly tells Adunni that Kola also has a cell phone.
Adunni’s bath mirrors the bath she took the morning after her first night with Morufu and might serve as another attempt to cleanse herself mentally and physically of the horrors she has witnessed today. Iya’s pride in Kola’s cell phone, which she sees as evidence of his economic prosperity, shows how important wealth is in creating opportunity. Kola, who is wealthy enough to have a car and a phone, may be able to help Adunni escape, whereas Adunni’s status as a poor woman leaves her largely powerless to change her circumstances.
Themes
The next morning, Adunni wakes to a knock at the door. Kola, a thin man with a burned-looking face and long, straight lines under each eye stands in the doorway. Kola greets Iya, and Iya thanks Kola for sending tea. Kola is impatient to leave, so Iya explains Adunni’s situation to Kola. She asks if he can find a job for Adunni, being sure to mention Adunni’s good English. Kola says he might be able to find Adunni a position in Lagos, which is a big city far away from her village.
That Adunni’s good English would be a selling point for Kola is an example of how education can open up new opportunities. But given how men have betrayed Adunni thus far, it’s unclear whether Kola is genuinely trying to help her.
Themes
Kola takes out his phone, dials a number, and talks to somebody he calls “Big Madam” about “another girl. […] Good one. Her name is Adunni. Yes. Same price.” Kola finishes his call and tells Adunni that everything is settled: he will take her to Lagos tonight. Iya is overjoyed and thanks her brother. Adunni grabs her bag but hesitates—she doesn’t know Kola well and fears that he might be a bad man. Iya is impatient and tells Adunni that she must go before her people come back looking for her. She promises Adunni that Mama’s spirit is watching over her.
Iya is happy that Kola has found a position for Adunni, but Adunni is hesitant to go with him. After all, even Papa, who is not a stranger, broke his promise to her and put her in harm’s way. Kola’s brief mention of something costing the “same price” to the person on the other end of the line seems suspicious and implies he might have some kind of deal with this person. Still, Iya’s impatience is also warranted, as Adunni doesn’t really have an alternative to leaving with Kola, since people are still looking for her. Iya’s parting words about Mama watching over Adunni underscore Mama’s role as Adunni’s protector, and the role faith plays in Adunni’s will to survive.
Themes
Leaving Ikati in Kola’s car, Adunni feels mixed emotions: she has always wanted to go to Lagos, but she wishes she could leave the village on her own behalf, not as a fugitive. She compares her sadness to being covered by “a thick, heavy cloth.”
Good fortune has finally come Adunni’s way when she stumbles across a means of escaping her rural community and avoiding punishment for Khadija’s death. But the fact that she’s forced to flee rather than moving away of her own accord prevents her from enjoying this opportunity.
Themes
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