Buchi Emechetas Ona

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not only because of her individual desires, but because of her respect for the cultural norms of her society.
From the onset of the story we learn that Agbadi proposes marriage to Ona. Since Ona's father, Chief Obi Umunna, had no sons, he raised Ona to be very assertive and assume what is considered boylike traits. Thus, like a man, her father raised her never "to stoop to any man" (629). Does this mean that women and men are not considered equals in this society? Evidently, it seems the only reason Ona was thought not to stoop to any man was because she was raised essentially to behave like a man. Men and women are therefore not considered as equals in this culture. Nevertheless, Chief Umunna maintains that Ona "was free to have men, however, and if she bore a son, he would take her father's name thereby rectifying the omission that nature had made" (629). Two important deductions can be made here: first that men are free to be promiscuous (she is free to have men) and that ...

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and thus prove his manhood. From this deduction, it also becomes evident that marriage in this society is the social institution that binds a woman to a man through ultimate obedience. This is why Agbadi feels it is so important to get Ona's hand in marriage, and the reason why, in accordance with her father's wishes, Ona plans never to get married. Marriage thus represents women's submissiveness in this society, and men's power and dominance over women.
Thus, in one sense "Ona" is a love story because Agbadi and Ona actually have true feelings for each other. However, given the reality that in this society women who marry become mere symbols of their husband's manness, and given the fact ...

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