"The Joys of Motherhood" is a phrase that can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on an individual's personal experiences and beliefs. Some may view motherhood as a joyful and fulfilling experience, while others may view it as a difficult and challenging one. Ultimately, the reality of motherhood will vary from person to person.
In some cultures, motherhood is considered the ultimate goal for women, and is associated with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Mothers are revered and respected for their ability to raise children and pass on cultural traditions and values. In these societies, the joys of motherhood are seen as very real and tangible.
However, in other cultures, motherhood may be viewed as a burden or a sacrifice. Women may feel trapped by their maternal responsibilities, or resentful of the societal pressures to become mothers. In these contexts, the joys of motherhood may seem like a myth, a romanticized ideal that does not reflect the realities of daily life.
In modern Western societies, the reality of motherhood can vary greatly depending on a woman's individual circumstances. Some mothers may find immense joy in raising their children, while others may struggle with the demands of work, family, and personal fulfillment. In general, the joys of motherhood are often intertwined with the challenges and sacrifices that come with raising children.
2. Personal Information
Name: Mayuri Pandya
Semester 4
Enrollment number 4069206420210023
Submitted to: S.B.Gardi Department of English,MKBU
3. Author Introduction
She was Nigerian Writer Buchi Emecheta in full Florence Onyebuchi
Emecheta was born to Ibo parents in Lagos on 21 July 1944. She
moved to Britain in 1960, where she worked as a librarian and
became a student at London University in 1970, reading Sociology.
She worked as a community worker in Camden, North London,
between 1976 and 1978. She was married at a very young age and
moved to London with her Husband and there are many such stories
she wrote about her life and faced stuffing in England. Many of her
work sets in Nigeria and it was about Africa and women's condition
in African society. She wrote many Children's literature.(Baraza)
4. Introduction of Text
● "The Joys of Motherhood" is a novel that explores the life of a Nigerian woman,
Nnu Ego, and her struggle in a patriarchal society. Published in 1979.
● The novel is representation of women in a traditional African setting, where
woman's worth is determined by their ability to bear children and fulfill the
expectations of their husbands.
● Despite her struggles, she maintains her resilience and determination to
succeed in life.
● Nnu Ego's character portrays a feminist outlook, as she challenges traditional
gender roles and the idea that women are only valued for their ability to bear
children.
● Through Nnu Ego's character, Emecheta portrays the importance of education
for women and their right to make their own choices (Emecheta)
5. The Joys of Motherhood
Myth or Reality?
In many societies, motherhood is wrapped in many
cultural and religious meanings cultural as in what the
society thinks a mother should be, that is, some
elements associated with a mother, and religiously, it is
what the practiced faith of a particular society attaches to
motherhood.
Motherhood assumes different names and shapes
depending on the society that is practicing it.(Akujobi)
6. The novel explores the ways in which Emecheta uses imagery and symbolism to
link motherhood and nature, highlighting the interconnectedness between women's
bodies and the natural world. For example, Nnu Ego's body is described as a "fertile
land" that produces life, and her connection to the earth is reinforced through her
role as a farmer and cultivator of crops.(Dalal and Gulati)
Motherhood is expected to be a selfless joy, realised in the joys of the mother's children,
rather than a joy owned by herself. While these social ideals may be defining of motherhood,
however, it will be suggested that they cannot completely construct mothers: the experience
of motherhood from the mother's perspective exists in its own right.
The images of African women were drawn exclusively by African men who idealized them in
their writings. Their one- dimensional, romanticized images of the African woman, primarily
as mother, is contrary to that illustrated by Emecheta in her novels. Rather than simply
portraying the African woman symbolically as part of the warm and secure African past, the
offers faithful portrayals, patterns of self-analysis and general insights into the female
psyche, ignored by, or inaccessible to, African male writers. (Umeh)
7. ● African mothers as the symbol of love, security, and reverence. In The Joys of
Motherhood, Buchi Emecheta breaks away from the prevalent portraitures in
African writing whereby motherhood is honorific. Rather, The Joys of
Motherhood extends Buchi Emecheta's metaphor of the enslaved Igbo
woman, arguing that society programs women to be slaves of their male
offspring as well as their husbands. In describing the joys of motherhood,
author Emecheta is at her best in the irony implied in the title. Children give
joy, we all agree.
● The traditional vision of children as a source of joy and wealth who more than
amply repay the trouble of their upbringing, Emecheta portrays children as
millstones around the mother's neck and as greedy parasites who suck their
mother to death. Children do not always maintain strong and loving ties with
their mothers throughout adulthood.(Umeh)
8. ● The Joys of Motherhood Emecheta extends her metaphor of the
enslaved Igbo woman, arguing that the society also programs
women to be slaves of their male offspring as well as their
husbands.
● In describing the joys, author Emecheta is at her best in the irony
implied in the title. Children give joy, we all agree. From this
premise, she builds an elaborate story to demolish the myth, while
at the same time pretending to uphold the age-old idea. Indeed, a
mother of sons should be happy; such happiness should help her
to bear the grind of poverty.
● Underneath all this is the motif of the lonely and all-suffering
mother. Thus, Nnu Ego gradually realizes that motherhood has not
brought fulfillment(Umeh)
9. Revathy argues that while motherhood is often idealized
and romanticized in society, it is also a role that is
fraught with challenges and contradictions. She suggests
that motherhood can be both a privilege and a curse,
depending on the cultural and societal context in which
it is situated Motherhood is constructed and portrayed
in literature, highlighting the complex and multifaceted
nature of the role.
Revathy suggests that motherhood can be viewed as a
form of labor that is often undervalued and
unrecognized, particularly in patriarchal societies where
women's contributions to the family and community are
often taken for granted.(Revathy)
10. Nnu Ego : “I can’t afford another outfit, because I am nursing him,so you
see I can’t go anywhere to sell anything” page 80
Nnu Ego make jealous to her co wife to having two son and she was
having two daughter.
Nnu Ego have the pride to having three sons in her society she was having
respect but when give the birth to twin daughter she was thinking
I was born alone, and I shall die alone. What have I gained from all this? Yes, I
have many children, but what do I have to feed them on? On my life. I have to
work myself to the bone to look after them. I have to give them my all. And if I
am lucky enough to die in peace, I even have to give them my soul. They will
worship my dead spirit to provide for them: it will be hailed as a good spirit so
long as there are plenty of yams and children in the family, but if anything
should go wrong, if a young wife does not conceive or there is a famine, my
dead spirit will be blamed. When will I be free?(Emecheta186-7)
11. In her first marriage she was desperate for motherhood praying
her chi.
In the novel having many children struggle,poverty she was
nurture her children even making them educated but in the end
of novel the idol and dreamy motherhood image broken by her
sons
Nnu Ego was a wicked woman even in death because, however many
people appealed to her to make women fertile, she never did. Poor Nnu
Ego, even in death she had no peace! Still, many agreed that she had
given all to her children. The joy of being a mother was the joy of giving all
to your children, they said.
Nnu Ego had it all, yet still did not answer prayers for children.(Emecheta
242-43)
12. "As she lay on her mat and thought of this, Nnu Ego felt a great
emptiness in her, a craving that had nothing to do with food or drink.
She longed to hold a living, warm little body against her own, to feel a
baby suckling at her breast. She was a traditional woman, who had
always dreamed of motherhood, and it seemed to her that without it
her life was empty and meaningless." (Emecheta 5)
Nnu Ego that she was a prisoner, imprisoned by her love for her children,
imprisoned in her role as the senior wife. She was not even expected to
demand more money for her family; that was considered below the
standard expected of a woman in her position. It was not fair, she felt,
the way men cleverly used a woman's sense of responsibility to actually
enslave her. They knew that a traditional wife like herself would never
dream of leaving her children. Nnu Ego tried to imagine her father's face
if she were to return to his house and claim ill-treatment by Nnaife; she
would be chased in disgrace back to her responsibility. (Emecheta137)
13. Conclusion
Nnu Ego’s suffering poverty and her struggle at the end she was
she dead never return to bless her children and not giving any
blessing to women for fertility or becoming mother it is
showing that she was not able to bless any one to having child
and motherhood motherhood are not a myth or a reality, but
rather a complex and multifaceted experience that varies
depending on individual circumstances and societal norms.
While motherhood can bring immense happiness and
fulfillment, it can also be accompanied by hardship and
sacrifice, particularly for women living in patriarchal or
impoverished societies.
14. Work citation
Akujobi, Remi. “Motherhood in African Literature and Culture.” 2011,
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol13/iss1/2/.
Baraza, Alphonce. “Biography of Buchi Emecheta by Alphonce Baraza.” South
African History Online, 7 December 2020,
https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/biography-buchi-emecheta-alphonce-
baraza. Accessed 10 March 2023.
Dalal, Garima, and Varun Gulati, editors. Multicultural and Marginalized Voices of
Postcolonial Literature. Lexington Books, 2017. Accessed 10 March 2023.
Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. Pearson Education, 1994. Accessed 10
March 2023.
Revathy, Dr.M. “Is Motherhood a Privilege or a curse?” http://www.ijells.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/January-2014.pdf#page=60.
Umeh, Marie. “African Women in Transition in The Novels of Buchi Emecheta.”
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24350026?read-
now=1&seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents.
Umeh, Marie. “A Comparative Study of The of The Idea of Motherhood in Two Third
World Novels.” https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325604?read-
now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents.
