The novels Things Fall Apart and The Joys of Motherhood both present Nigeria as a competitive and consumer-crazed country. Each novel therefore also creates a parallel between Nigeria and Western capitalist societies, but each shows that the differences lie not in degree, but in the details. Additionally, Things Fall Apart and The Joys of Motherhood both present alternative views on the impact of colonialism on the country's traditional morals and values. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay At the beginning of The Joys of Motherhood, Emecheta foreshadows that Nigerian society will change forever. He writes: “The Ibuza people...fought and won many civil battles against their hosts” (11). In the same way, Achebe continually describes how Igbo culture is caught between the primitive and progressive worlds, but belongs to neither. Both novels question the motivations of not only the colonizers, but also the natives, who are not as different from their oppressors as they might like to believe. There is no romanticization of Nigeria's cultures in Things Fall Apart or The Joys of Motherhood; instead, both authors express immense courage in presenting the truth about their heritage, without choosing to simply show outsiders as corrupting influences. Things Fall Apart is primarily the story of an agricultural existence, taking the yam and its position as a cyclical crop so necessary for the survival of civilization as a symbol of masculinity. As Achebe writes: “The yam, the king of crops, [is] a very demanding king” (34). The metaphor expands from there, including the representation of women as working models without whom production would collapse. Women do the chores and raise the children, but they are never as important as the yam itself...or the man. In The Joys of Motherhood, however, the divergence between life in the small village and life in the city is more problematic. Even if the lives left behind were far from perfect, social ascension to the sophistication of urbanity is not a panacea. If the country can be seen as a link to a primordial past and the city represents progress, this novel seems to say that emasculation awaits men and commodification awaits women. This sad state of affairs is addressed by Nnu Ego when she despairs "that by the time her children grew up, the values ​​of her country, her people and her tribe would have changed so radically, to the point that a woman with many children might face a lonely old age, and perhaps a miserable death all alone" (219). Death, despair, and the loss of humanity seem to be inescapable elements of progress. Perhaps the ultimate message is that There is no escape, only a transformation from one set of problems to another. Nnu Ego's shock with the strangeness of life in Lagos is manifested by the introduction of Adaku La. polygamy is not new to Nnu Ego What is different in Lagos, however, is that the value of women is no longer based on incalculable fertility, but has sunk into the same economic means of production as everything else. the rest The choice of language used by Nnaife could not be more succinct or more profound: “Did I not pay your dowry? Am I not your owner? (48) In Ibo society, polygamy was considered "natural" because all wives shared the same share and, in theory, lived in harmony. HAS.