I found the novel, The Joys of Motherhood, really sad. Nnu Ego worked so hard to please and support her children and she was never really appreciated. She reminds me a lot of my mother. My mother is always putting me and my two sisters first. Reading this novel really made me realize how selfless my mother is and how unappreciative I've been.
I was a bit confused with the ending. Was Nnu Ego's honor really restored just from an expensive funeral? I feel like this was a poor attempt by Oshia to show his appreciation for his mother.
While I sympathized for Nnu Ego throughout the novel, I found it hard to relate to her. One, because I'm not a mother, but mainly because I've never had to emerse myself into a new culture. This was especially hard for Nnu Ego because the most important thing in her life, her role as a mother, was what was most greatly affected when she moved to Lagos. The traditions there were very different from her village. Her children were socialized in Lagos to be unappreciative of thier mother and selfish. Yet even though her children were like that, she endured all of those hardships in order to support them. I think this says a lot about her character.
2 comments:
I agree that it was a little late for Oshia to show his appreciation for his mother by giving her an elaborate funeral, however, in Ibuza's traditional culture, that type of funeral was very honorable. When the novel describes the the senior wife's funeral and her servant being laid down with her. This is evidence that funerals and the customs that go along with it were held very highly in that culture. I believe that this would have been particularly important for Nnu Ego as well, being that she regarded traditional Ibuza values so highly. Also mentioned in the novel was when one of the senior wife son's reacted to the dishonorable behavior of the servant girl. The eldest son says, "So my mother does not even deserve a decent burial?" (23). The idea of a decent burial was highly regarded, therefore, in way Oshia was doing much more than what would have been expected of him because he did not even live in the same country. It was also interesting the article that we recently read and how it related to Nnu Ego. There is this myth of motherhood and all the glory that comes along with it. Nnu Ego was a perfect example of someone who whole heartedly believed this myth, and unfortunately, like most women, she realized that the hardships of motherhood often out-weighed the benefits.
I agree with your thought about Nnu Ego not being appreciated as a mother. It seemed as if she constantly was doing for her family and trying to do the best that she could and even in the end those around her saw her as a terrible mother. People did not see that she worked as hard as she could in order for her family to survive. With all of the different obstacles she went though, from having trouble having children, to having to share her husband, I feel that she overcame a lot in order to accomplish what she did. It is nice to hear how you related to the book and how you can see that your mother is unappreciate. I feel like a lot of mothers are like that. They do so much work and no one really sees all the work that they do. It is hard for us to understand how the role of being a mother is because we ourselves are not mothers but I do believe that being able to read about Nnu Ego's expereience we are able to get a better knowledge of how hard it is to be a mother. Also going through the experience of a new culture can be very hard and this book is a pefect explanation of how there is a clash of cultures. This was another obstacle that Nnu Ego had to overcome and put a toll on her relationship with her family.
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