The quest for justice in Buchi Emecheta's fictional works

Abstract

In this thesis, we investigate Buchi Emecheta's treatment of the quest for justice in four of her fictional works, namely: The Joys of Motherhood, Kehinde, Destination Biafra and Gwendo/en. We scrutinize how the writer handles the subject of motherhood and leadership as a way of determining her view of justice as it relates to women and men. We set out to study how her experiences in the African diaspora influence her quest. Further, we explore the author's vision of women's advancement. In our investigation, we establish that motherhood and how it is regarded in the societies under scrutiny is an obstacle to the quest for justice by women. It hinders or limits the nature of choices they make. Placing motherhood on a sacrosanct pedestal, even as it becomes a tool of oppression, diminishes the quest for justice as it restricts the socio-economic and political horizons of women. This negative outcome also negates the moral stature of men, as they appear intent on maintaining the status quo of oppression (of women) at all levels of community life. Patriarchy is therefore identified as a hindrance to the struggle for, and maintenance of, justice. It engenders an environment in which men engage in mutual duplicity and corruption. This leads to the failure of leadership. The diaspora experience enables the author to see the problems faced by black women and their struggle for justice in perspective. However, Buchi Emecheta presents untenable situations in which only those women characters that go to London achieve some sense of personal fulfilment. This, we aver, poses problems to the establishment of situations in which the rights of both women and men are upheld right within Africa and African societies. We further ascertain that black male characters whether in Africa or the African diaspora, are mostly portrayed as perpetrators of injustice against women and the society at large. They are treated as weak and dispensable caricatures. Conscious attempts are made to portray women characters positively at all times. However, these fail, as the women are stereotypes of individuals who are socially, politically and economically subjugated. They are incapable of achieving self-esteem and a sense of justice. Consequently, the pursuit for justice is equivocal as the affirmation of the principle in the key characters is either missing or incomplete. There is no synthesised vision of women's advancement or of justice.