Ama Ata Aidoo (b. 1942)

     Themes of the story. Education in Ghana. The distance of Chicha from the community in which she was raised. Mother love for her child. The legal inequities for women in this society. Odd incident at the end, where all the legal squabbles come to nought as the child dies through a very odd accident.
     Beginning. The distinction between male and female arrived at right off the bat. It is not for a boy to be beautiful.
     Mother’s offer to submit to the cane lashes for her son. (Indicative of an acceptance of this practice?)
     Commentary on the time of the day. To get in the fact of their ancient astronomical knowledge. For those not at work, a difficult time—in between.
     Strange line: “but I was a teacher and I went the white man’s way.”
     Yam celebration of Ahobaa. Another incident of human sacrifice. Ahor killed so that the community would survive an epidemic.
     The story of the marriage, and the power the mother-in-;law has over Maami. Also, the issue of the co-wives.
     Kwesi is portrayed as a spoiled child indeed.
     In the divorce proceedings, the issue of the jewels that belonged to Maama Ama’s mother go to her. Causing resentment from the Aunts.
     Look at Chicha’s strict adherence to the education ordinances from the central govt.
737. Another mention of the low regard for an only child. Supernatural.
     With the death of Kwesi, it seems that the community comes together in sincere grief.

Essay Question: In the stories we have read from Africa, there are several moments that focus on the issue of being an only child, or the mother of a single child. This occurs in Things Fall Apart, in “The Headstrong Historian,” and in “No Sweetness Here.” Write an essay that focuses on this issue, showing what it is that is emphasized in the traditional discourse and the counter-discourse offered by the authors we have read.

     Approach. Define the traditional discourse: that an unknowable force, the ogbanje takes other fruit of the mother’s womb. That the fact of being an only child shows a hereditary trait that the only child will inherit, resulting in childlessness of the new couple. That the mother of an only child is a kind of witch. Only children eat their siblings in the womb before they are born.
     Another fact—that having many children insures prosperity. Adds luster to the reputation of the male family member.
     Counter-discourse. The undivided love of the mother toward this only child. The deep connection of mother and child deeper because they know there may not be others. When it is a male child, the help[lessness of the female (mother) is ashared by the boy when it is a child.

Thesis: Besides showing the tenuous position, socially and financially, of the mother with a single child in some African settings, the authors use the children to convey the difficulty of retaining and passing along the African traditions. This is shown not only in the sole children of mothers, like Akinwenwa and Kwesi, but also in the situations of the all-important (because of issues of heredity) firstborn sons, like Nwoye and Olunde. Interestingly, and against the grain, it is female children who seem born to maintain traditions and traditional values, in the case of Ezinma, and also in the case of Grace/Ifanafuna. This essay will show the roles of these female children in maintaining tradition, and the potential loss of tradition represented by the male children under discussion.