The Girl with the Louding Voice

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-9

Chapters 10-18

Chapters 19-27

Chapters 28-36

Chapters 37-46

Chapters 47-56

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Houses

The houses in The Girl with the Louding Voice are symbols of the growing danger in Adunni’s life. Each time she moves to a new home, her life becomes more precarious. She begins in her parents’ house, moves into Morufu’s home, and is then sent to Big Madam’s mansion. Each house is progressively larger, more lavish, and filled with more danger than before. In her parents’ house, her mother is dead and the empty house reminds her of her loss. The family have very little except each other. The television in the house is broken, and all of the children sleep in one room. However, Adunni knows no other life. She is happy in the house because it allows her to be close to her loved ones. All she has is contained within the building, so leaving represents a drastic upheaval.

After Adunni is sold to Morufu as a bride, the mood at the old man’s house is immediately different. Morufu demands sex from her, Labake treats her with contempt, and Adunni is no longer able to see her little brother whenever she wants. Being in a different house is a physical manifestation of the distress Adunni feels. She is ripped away from everything she knows and loves, only to experience sexual violence in a new home. If Adunni’s childhood home was a poor but safe place, Morufu’s house represents the dangers that lay in the outside world. Adunni experiences life in a different home for the first time and endures nothing but pain and violence.

When Adunni escapes to Lagos and is taken in by Big Madam, the trip is eye-opening for her. The scale of the buildings she sees in the city is unlike anything she has ever known. The lavishness of Big Madam’s mansion illustrates Adunni’s naivety and inexperience. At first, she thinks that the luxurious nature of Big Madam’s mansion must make her new employer a good person. Adunni is quickly proved wrong; she is beaten and nearly raped in this new house. The mansion may be worth more than Adunni’s entire village but this material worth does not guarantee that the owners are good people. Houses in the novel function as physical reminders that wealth does not equal morality. Adunni lives in increasingly large homes, but each move increases the threat to her life. The largest homes are owned by the worst people, while the smallest homes, in Adunni’s experience, are the happiest.

Rebecca’s Letter

Although Rebecca does not appear in The Girl with the Louding Voice, her presence is very much felt. She was the housemaid employed in Big Madam’s house before Adunni. Rebecca vanished under mysterious circumstances, and Adunni slowly uncovers the truth throughout the novel. A big part of this process involves a letter found by Abu the driver. The letter is in Rebecca’s handwriting and stained with blood. When Adunni receives the letter, she realizes the object’s potent symbolism. Rebecca’s letter symbolizes the threat posed to Adunni’s life by Big Madam and Big Daddy. The letter also represents the stakes of Adunni’s desire to know the truth.

Adunni eventually learns that Big Daddy had sex with Rebecca. She became pregnant and then he gave her medicine which would force her to miscarry. Afterward, Big Madam tried to protect her reputation and arranged for Rebecca to be sent away. The letter is the key to solving this mystery, and it gives Adunni more power than she has ever had. Her possession of the letter provides a link to the truth about the affair. Big Madam sees this proof as a threat to her reputation so demands it from Adunni. Here, the novel reaches a stage where Big Madam no longer has power over Adunni. The scholarship, the letter, and the relationship with Tia mean that Adunni does not need to rely on Big Madam any longer. The letter is a physical representation of this shift in the balance of power. The truth contained in the letter allows Adunni to go to Big Madam as something close to an equal, purchasing her freedom from the pseudo-slave relationship she experienced thus far.

Yet Big Madam tears the letter to pieces. Her treatment of the letter indicates the power and privilege offered to wealthy people in Nigeria. Big Madam has the confidence to destroy evidence which ties her to a potential murder. Rebecca’s letter is a vital piece of proof in the disappearance of a young girl, but Big Madam does not care. She tears the letter to shreds and knows that she will feel no repercussions for doing so. The money, status, and power of Nigerian high society insulates these people like Big Madam who do not need to worry about being investigated by the authorities. The same letter which represented Adunni’s growing status also represents the scale of wealth and power Big Madam possesses. For all of Adunni’s growth, she will never be able to reach the protection and the influence afforded to the wealthy and the powerful.

The Book of Nigerian Facts

Adunni finds The Book of Nigerian Facts in Big Madam’s house. She is intrigued by the book which teaches her facts about her country. Adunni’s fascination with it is illustrated by the use of facts from the book at the beginning of each chapter. Adunni infuses her narration with the information she learns. Her growing conception of Nigeria as a nation begins to influence how she sees the world around her, and she passes her increased knowledge of the world is the reader. She is so enthusiastic about this newfound knowledge that she cannot help but share the information with the audience. The Book of Nigerian Facts is a symbol for the way in which Adunni’s idea of the world grows and evolves.

The book is a repository for knowledge. The facts in the book are isolated fragments of information which are not necessarily given context. Information about politics, culture, and history is given in one or two sentences. Adunni takes these disjointed facts and weaves them into her own story. She finds a way to make the information relevant to her life, illustrating her learning process. Adunni searches for context and relevance even when the book is not intended to provide guidance of this sort. The way in Adunni uses the book to influence her narration is a symbol of her intelligence. She takes a simple collection of context-free facts and makes them relevant to her life. Nigeria is no longer limited to one or two sentences. Nigeria, the country Adunni comes to understand, becomes the lens through which she views every part of her life.

The limitations of Adunni’s childhood are also shown through her relationship to The Book of Nigerian Facts. Adunni grows up in a small village, has limited access to education, and does not know much about the outside world beyond what she glimpses on television. The book of facts represents an untapped resource, albeit one she does not know how to use. Adunni must use the book of facts in tandem with the dictionary in Big Madam’s library. She looks up words and researches their meaning before applying them to her life. Adunni does not always succeed in figuring out the exact meaning, but the way she uses the book becomes a symbol of her desire to learn. Adunni is relentlessly curious and constantly overcomes the barriers placed before her. The Book of Nigerian Facts is another example of how she refuses to be held back by her circumstances.