The Joys of Motherhood is a novel that shows the social constraints and stereotypes that are put on women in Africa and in some aspects all over the world. Nnu Ego was thought of merely as a baby maker and her social status in her community relied solely on if she could produce male offspring. When Nnu was younger she dreamt of how fulfilling being a mother would be but unlike what the title of this novel would suggest, it is nothing that she expected.
At the beginning of the novel Nnu was afraid that she was barren and would not ever become pregnant, after she marries her second husband, Nnaife she believes that she is blessed because she is able to have a son. When her son Ngozi dies in infancy the novel takes a drastic change. Nnu tries to kill herself but she is persuaded not to do so by other citizens in her tribe. Nnu's gift of being able to become pregnant soon becomes her enslavement. After Ngozi's death she has a stillborn daughter and then her three children abandon their responsibility of caring for her and she dies alone on the side of the road.
Nnu Egos life was a self less life that was only filled with sadness and no fulfillment. The one quote in this book that affected me the most was "Her love and duty for her children were like her chain of slavery." (119) It just proves that she was a slave to society. Because Nnu followed the societal traditions of having many children and put so much work into raising and caring for them, then reeked none of the rewards that traditionally should have been granted to her is like working your whole life without any compensation, so it was ultimately like slavery for Nnu.
I believe that today women are still greatly pressured to become mothers and if a women is barren or chooses not to have a child society will look down upon her because she is not fulfilling her duties. I think that this social constraint is meant to control women into staying at home and raising children and restricting them from fulfilling what ever they strive to do in their life whether it be a career they wanted to pursue or any other activities that would make them happy.
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I agree that Nnu Ego was fooled when she was taught that motherhood would bring about the greatest joys and lead to a happy, comfortable old age. It was very unfair for her to learn the changing of times in such a harsh way. If she had had children a generation before, living in Ibuza, she would have had an amazing old age and her life would have been taken care of by her children. I do think that in today's society, it is definitely more acceptable to choose other routes besides motherhood and a woman's worth does not depend on whether she is a mother or not.
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