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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
That night, Adunni hears the front gate banging and a car honking incessantly. She leaves her room and runs into Kofi, who informs her that it’s Big Daddy who is making all the noise: Big Madam instructed Kofi and Abu not to let him in, which is something she’s never done before, not even in the times that she’s known Big Daddy has been with a lover. Usually, Big Madam just pretends like nothing is wrong. This time, however, she appears to be serious about not letting Big Daddy get away with his behavior.
Kofi’s comment that Big Madam has never kicked Big Daddy out of the before, even when she knew about his affairs, leads Adunni to believe that it was the attempted rape that fueled Big Madam’s decision. This implies that Big Madam is moving past her bitterness and hostility to act as an advocate for Adunni. The reader might be more skeptical, however, given their knowledge of Big Daddy’s probable affair with Caroline
Themes
Adunni follows up with her request for one of Rebecca’s shopping lists, and Kofi pulls a list that Abu gave him from his pocket. Adunni looks at the list and confirms that the list-writer and the letter-writer are both Rebecca. Adunni asks Kofi if he had ever seen Rebecca and Big Daddy together, and Kofi admits that the two had seemed unusually close. Also, whenever Kofi would ask Rebecca about it, she would laugh it off and accuse him of being jealous of Big Daddy.
Kofi’s admission reveals that Rebecca brushed off his concerns about her relationship with Big Daddy. It seems as though Rebecca thought Big Daddy actually cared for her and didn’t fully understand that he was taking advantage of her, nor did she see how expendable she was to either of her employers.
Themes
Big Madam stays in her room for two days, sleeping all day and hardly eating. At night, Adunni enters to rub her feet. Adunni wants to ask Big Madam about Rebecca’s letter but understands that the woman is too depressed to talk. Big Daddy remains away from the house. On the third night of his absence, Big Madam summons Adunni to her room. Adunni arrives to find Big Madam talking to her sister Kemi on the phone, lamenting her current condition: Chief’s family has been pestering her to let Chief return home. Big Madam wonders where these people were when she was struggling, many years before, to raise her family and build up her business.
Even though Adunni has just suffered a traumatic experience, she places her concern for Rebecca above her own needs and emotions, ever determined to raise up the missing girl’s voice. Adunni’s selflessness and compassion for others stands in direct contrast to Big Madam, who continues to wallow in self-pity instead of making sure Adunni is okay. But Big Madam’s selfishness could be a biproduct of her own mistreatment: she’s become unsupportive of others after years of others not supporting hers. Like Labake earlier in the novel, she projects her bitterness and disappointment onto the people around her.
Themes
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Big Madam continues to talk to Kemi, explaining how Big Daddy’s affair with Caroline Bankole was her breaking point. She grows frustrated as she talks to Kemi, though, exclaiming, “why are you asking me these senseless questions? What do you mean ‘Are you sure?’” Listening to Big Madam’s phone call, Adunni realizes that Big Madam is actually upset about Big Daddy’s affair with Caroline—not his attempted rape of Adunni, as Adunni had previously believed. Eventually Big Madam hangs up the phone and instructs Adunni to rub her feet. Adunni obliges.
Kemi chooses not to support her sister, doubting Big Madam’s side of the story. The phone call confirms that Big Madam kicked Big Daddy out of the house because of the affair with Caroline, which shows that Big Madam sees herself, and not Adunni, as the main victim of Big Daddy’s abuse.
Themes
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As Adunni massages Big Madam’s feet, Big Madam recalls the letter that Adunni mentioned a few nights before and asks to see it, tomorrow, after she gets a good night’s sleep. She orders Adunni to sing to her, which she does. As Adunni sings Big Madam to sleep, she imagines that Mama is in the room with her, that Rebecca is not missing, that Ms. Tia is pregnant, and that she doesn’t feel so sad for Big Madam.
Adunni wishes she didn’t feel so sad for Big Madam because Big Madam, who has done nothing but abuse and disrespect Adunni, is undeserving of Adunni’s sympathy. Adunni imagines a utopian world in which everything is made right to cope with Big Madam’s lack of support in the aftermath of Big Daddy’s assault.
Themes
