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Chinaza
Nwamgba's story in "The Headstrong Historian" begins in the late 19th century, when she marries Obierika for love. She's headstrong and loyal to her husband, and fears his greedy cousins. She adores her son, Anikwenwa. When Obierika's cousins murder Obierika, Nwamgba learns that she can beat them by putting Anikwenwa in Catholic school so he can learn English and win her case in a British court of law. She sees that learning English gives a person power, though she understands that as Anikwenwa becomes more Westernized and rejects his native culture that power can blind a person to their history and their community.
Nwamgba Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck
The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Nwamgba or refer to Nwamgba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Headstrong Historian
Quotes
She wanted Azuka to learn the ways of these foreigners, since people ruled over others not because they were better people but because they had better guns...
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It was Grace who would read about these savages, titillated by their curious and meaningless customs, not connecting them to herself until her teacher, Sister Maureen, told her she could not refer to the call-and-response her grandmother had taught her as poetry because primitive tribes did not have poetry.
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Nwamgba Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck
The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Nwamgba or refer to Nwamgba. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Headstrong Historian
Quotes
She wanted Azuka to learn the ways of these foreigners, since people ruled over others not because they were better people but because they had better guns...
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
It was Grace who would read about these savages, titillated by their curious and meaningless customs, not connecting them to herself until her teacher, Sister Maureen, told her she could not refer to the call-and-response her grandmother had taught her as poetry because primitive tribes did not have poetry.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
