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Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo l Summary & Study Guide
This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.
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First published August 10, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 19, 2020
Changes is a love story written by Ama Ata Aidoo. Some of the themes in the story are marriage, love, education, modern verses tradition and the theme of feminism.
Esi, Oko and Ali are the major characters. Some of the minor characters are Fusena, Opokuya, Kubi, and Mmaa Danjuma.
I will focus on how the author portrayed Esi as a feminist in this amazing story. Esi is a masters degree holder and is a qualified data analyst at the Department of Urban Statistics. Her level of education gives her the opportunity to be an independent woman and it also gives her a say in things that goes on in her life. She cannot be bullied or manipulated by anyone not even her first husband Oko or her colleagues at work.
Esi is definitely a force to be reckoned with at work. She is a workaholic. To show her love and dedication to her work, she leaves for work very early, participates in all meetings and even brings work home to finish up. Because she's able to successfully compete with her colleagues in a male dominated field, she earns great respect from them. She also earns a higher income than her husband Oko. As the icing on the cake, the banglow she and her husband and daughter live in is as a result of her work incentive. This is usually not so in the Ghanaian society. But she has proven that wives or women can also earn their own salaries and accommodation. She actually does not mince words when she makes it known to her sisters in-laws that she rather earned more than their brother. This is when they thought that she being the wife as usual was over spending her husband's income. But to their surprise it was the other way round.
In her marriage, she proves as a feminist that she cannot be manipulated to succumb to the wishes of her husband and his family. Usually, in our African settings, the extended family of couples interfere in the married couple's life. Esi once again stands firm against all the hatred from Oko's mother and sisters as a result of her refusal to have a second child. When Oko complains to her about what his friends say about him, she responds by saying that, 'we all make friends'. 'They either either respect us or they don't'. 'And whether we keep them or not depends on us'. 'I cannot take care of what your friends say to you, think of you or do to you'.
Many African women suffer abuse in their marriages but are afraid to come out of it or seek help. When Esi decides to end her marriage because her husband sexually abuse her, she proves to us that the sexual rights of women really exists and must be respected. She officially sends a divorce letter to him and gains her freedom.
On the social life of Esi, her independent nature and swiftness in driving her own car impresses Ali Kondey when they first meet. He will later on become her second husband. Upon reaching reaching the Hotel Twentieth Century, she rounds up the off by ordering for a bottle of beer. As a feminist, she tells herself that she is tired of all the continual misunderstanding about a woman being alone in a hotel and drinking alcohol. She does not care about what the society thinks about single women and goes on to enjoy her new found freedom.
She does indeed succeed to gain and sustain her independence from the traditional roles designed for women. She sensibly ends her second marriage with Ali but continues to enjoy sex with him without any demands from both sides.
Esi, Oko and Ali are the major characters. Some of the minor characters are Fusena, Opokuya, Kubi, and Mmaa Danjuma.
I will focus on how the author portrayed Esi as a feminist in this amazing story. Esi is a masters degree holder and is a qualified data analyst at the Department of Urban Statistics. Her level of education gives her the opportunity to be an independent woman and it also gives her a say in things that goes on in her life. She cannot be bullied or manipulated by anyone not even her first husband Oko or her colleagues at work.
Esi is definitely a force to be reckoned with at work. She is a workaholic. To show her love and dedication to her work, she leaves for work very early, participates in all meetings and even brings work home to finish up. Because she's able to successfully compete with her colleagues in a male dominated field, she earns great respect from them. She also earns a higher income than her husband Oko. As the icing on the cake, the banglow she and her husband and daughter live in is as a result of her work incentive. This is usually not so in the Ghanaian society. But she has proven that wives or women can also earn their own salaries and accommodation. She actually does not mince words when she makes it known to her sisters in-laws that she rather earned more than their brother. This is when they thought that she being the wife as usual was over spending her husband's income. But to their surprise it was the other way round.
In her marriage, she proves as a feminist that she cannot be manipulated to succumb to the wishes of her husband and his family. Usually, in our African settings, the extended family of couples interfere in the married couple's life. Esi once again stands firm against all the hatred from Oko's mother and sisters as a result of her refusal to have a second child. When Oko complains to her about what his friends say about him, she responds by saying that, 'we all make friends'. 'They either either respect us or they don't'. 'And whether we keep them or not depends on us'. 'I cannot take care of what your friends say to you, think of you or do to you'.
Many African women suffer abuse in their marriages but are afraid to come out of it or seek help. When Esi decides to end her marriage because her husband sexually abuse her, she proves to us that the sexual rights of women really exists and must be respected. She officially sends a divorce letter to him and gains her freedom.
On the social life of Esi, her independent nature and swiftness in driving her own car impresses Ali Kondey when they first meet. He will later on become her second husband. Upon reaching reaching the Hotel Twentieth Century, she rounds up the off by ordering for a bottle of beer. As a feminist, she tells herself that she is tired of all the continual misunderstanding about a woman being alone in a hotel and drinking alcohol. She does not care about what the society thinks about single women and goes on to enjoy her new found freedom.
She does indeed succeed to gain and sustain her independence from the traditional roles designed for women. She sensibly ends her second marriage with Ali but continues to enjoy sex with him without any demands from both sides.
April 14, 2023
Good book
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews