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.
FAQs
Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo l Summary & Stud…? ›
Ama Ata Aidoo
What is changes a love story about? ›Esi, a woman living in Accra, Ghana, takes her career as a data analyst for the government seriously. An incident of marital rape, the result of her husband's anger at Esi's independence, leads to their separation. She is attracted to a married man named Ali who offers to make her his second wife.
What is the theme of the changes a love story? ›Like the theme of love, the theme of changes, or mutability, is well-worn in literature. However, Aidoo interweaves these two themes with those of gender, sexuality, patriarchy, polygyny and sisterhood--themes that are trenchant in contemporary cultural, especially women's studies, discourses.
What is the theme of the message by Ama Ata Aidoo? ›Major themes in Aidoos' short-story, The Message, include culture clash, lack of communication, and apartheid.
What is the summary of Aidoo's Changes? ›The novel follows the life of Esi Sekyi, a modern Ghanaian woman who is caught between tradition and progress as she navigates her relationships with two very different men. Through Esi's story, Aidoo examines the impact of colonialism and the struggle for women's rights in post-independence Ghana.
What is the climax of a Love Story? ›Almost always, the Climax of a love story will show the two characters getting back together. Usually, there's some romantic gesture or a scene where one of the characters proves their love for the other. It's the answer to the question asked in the Inciting Incident, “will these two characters get together or not?”
What is this theme of the story? ›What is the theme of a story? The theme of a story is the underlying message or concept that the author is trying to convey to the reader. The theme of a story is generally an opinion the writer wants to convey through their storytelling.
What is the meaning of Love Story? ›noun. : a tale of lovers.
What is the general theme of the story love and time? ›The novel's most prominent theme suggest that lovesickness is a literal illness, a plague comparable to cholera. Florentino Ariza suffers from lovesickness as one would suffer from cholera, enduring both physical and emotional pains as he longs for Fermina Daza.
What is the literary background of Ama Ata Aidoo? ›Aidoo was born on 23 March 1942 in southern Ghana to a royal family of the Fante ethnic community. Encouraged by her father to pursue western education, she began writing at 15. After completing school in Cape Coast, she attended the University of Ghana, where she majored in English literature.
What are the themes in Dilemma of a Ghost by Ama Ata Aidoo? ›
Ama Ata Aidoo's 40 year-old play unravels its tangled themes of tradition, assimilation and gender with clarity but rather too much speed. Shonel Jackson's Eulalie finds that her fantasy of African life runs quickly into the sand, but her decline into alcoholic rage is implausibly sudden.
Which is the purpose of the change theme? ›Purpose. The purpose of the knowledge in the Change Theme is to help you identify, assess and control any potential changes to the products that have already been approved and baselined.
What are the major themes in there there? ›"There There" is a powerful novel that weaves together the stories of twelve characters from the urban Native American community in Oakland, California. Through their interconnected narratives, the book explores themes of identity, belonging, and the impact of historical trauma on indigenous peoples.
What is the theme statement? ›The theme is the statement an author is making about a topic. Combine those topics with comments that reflect the author's observations about human nature.
What is the book Love Story about? ›Love Story is romantic and funny, yet tragic. It is the tale of two college students whose love enables them to overcome the adversities they encounter in life: Oliver Barrett IV, a Harvard jock and heir to the Barrett fortune and legacy, and Jennifer Cavilleri, the quick-witted daughter of a Rhode Island baker.
What is the purpose of a Love Story? ›According to Coyne, “Love stories give us prescriptive (positive) and cautionary (negative) tales to navigate love's emotional minefield. They give us tools to try out to attract a mate and behaviors to avoid.”
Why did esi marry oko? ›Esi's acceptance to marry Oko was simply gratitude because her mothers (mother and grand mother) were getting uncomfortable that she had remained single when she ought to had been married.
What is love stories about? ›The result is Love Stories - a warm, wise, poignant, funny and moving book about love in all its guises, including stories, observations and reflections on lovers in parks; people in cemeteries, hospital wards, pubs and bingo halls; and newlyweds walking out of registry offices.