Week 12: Aidoo's Changes Part 1

Instructions for posting your answers to Discussion Questions are as follows:

Please provide your in-depth interpretation and analysis on the questions (at least 100 words per Discussion question #1, #2, and #3). Please try to include textual evidence (direct quotes along with the Act and Scene #) in your answer.

When you need to summarize the plot, please do not copy words/sentences from the text. You should briefly summarize/paraphrase the plot in your own words.

Discussion Question #1 for Aidoo's Changes (1991, Ch. 5-7, pp. 31-67)

Oko thinks that Esi puts her career over him, disregarding her duties as a wife. Was there a time when Esi put her marriage above her career? When Esi and Oko married 6 years ago, they moved to live in Kumasi. Why? What did Esi do at that time? Was Oko sympathetic to Esi's feelings about her job? Why did Esi marry Oko and why does she now decide to leave him? Why do you think Esi's mother calls Esi "a fool" (39) regarding her decision? Is Esi's decision irrational and unreasonable? 

Discussion 2.

What is Opokuya concerned about Esi's decision? What does she try to say by telling Esi "Our societies have no patience with the unmarried woman" (48)? Why are single women in Ghanaian society "branded witches" (47)? Is Opokuya implying that there are no viable alternatives to marriage for women in Ghanaian society? What do you make of Opokuya's thoughts here? Opokuya also tells Esi, "No matter what anybody says, we can't have it all. Not if you are a woman. Not yet" (49). What does Opokuya try to tell Esi by saying this?

Discussion Question #3

Why did Fusena decline a marriage offer from a rich powerful man when she was 26 years old and how did her mother react to her decision? What was the circumstance that pushed Ali and Fusena's marriage? Why did both families insist that Fusena should get pregnant before Ali left? While teaching and looking after their first child in Ghana while Ali was gone for 3 years, Fusena's mother [Mma Abu] thought "whether it was a real marriage Fusena was involved in" (64). What do you make of her thoughts here? Why did Ali send for Fusena and their son to come to England if he was not going to return to Ghana immediately? Staying with Ali in London, Fusena felt, "life should offer more than marriage" (66). Why did she feel this way? After they returned to Ghana, Fusena wanted to resume her teaching, but Ali discouraged her from teaching and instead bought a kiosk for her to run. What was his reasoning? What do you make of Ali's decision here?