JAC : A Journal Of Composition Theory ISSN : 0731-6755

Solidarity of Women: An Analysis of Sefi Atta’s

Everything Good Will Come

Mrs. S. UMARANI,
Assistant Professor of English,
Research Scholar,
Poompuhar College (Autonomous),
Melaiyur – 609107,
Nagapattinam (District).

Dr. S. KUMARAN,
Assistant Professor of English,
Research Supervisor,
Thiruvalluvar Govt. Arts College,
Rasipuram – 637401.

Abstract

Sefi Atta is one of the most prominent and leading contemporary women writers of Nigeria.
Her novels highlight different forms of repression, exploitation and marginalization that
breed gender inequality. Sefi Atta gives her voice against male chauvinism and expresses her
desire for the equality of both of the sexes. Patriarchy, gender inequality and female bonding
and solidarity of women are the dominant themes of her novels. The author encourages
women to form strong bonds with one other in order to survive patriarchal oppression, failed
conjugal lives and political disturbances. The paper explores how female characters resort to
female bonding and solidarity of women to overcome all forms of oppression and how they
find out their self identity and empower themselves in a male dominated society with
particular reference to Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come.

Keywords: patriarchy, gender inequality, female friendship, freedom

Sefi Atta is one of the most prominent and leading contemporary women writers of
Nigeria. Her works of art speak boldly for the emancipation of women and other
marginalized sections of her society. They explore themes such as subordination of women,

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patriarchal dominance, social injustice, polygamy, gender bias, religious intolerance, racial
discrimination, ethnic struggles, the desire for selfhood, freedom and social, economic,
cultural, political and psychological factors that impede the growth and development of
contemporary Nigerian women. Her novels highlight different forms of repression,
exploitation and marginalization that breed gender inequality. Sefi Atta gives her voice
against male chauvinism and expresses her desire for the equality of both of the sexes. She
succeeds in portraying the trials and tribulations of women. Through her writings, Sefi Atta
champions for the emancipation and empowerment of women. Patriarchy, gender inequality
and female bonding and solidarity of women are the dominant themes of her novels. The
author encourages women to form strong bonds with one other in order to survive patriarchal
oppression, failed conjugal lives and political disturbances. According to Atta, female
bonding is essential for the survival of Black women. The paper explores how female
characters resort to female bonding and solidarity of women to overcome all forms of
oppression and how they find out their self identity and empower themselves in a male
dominated society with particular reference to Everything Good Will Come.

The female characters such as Enitan and Sheri in Everything Good Will Come are
projected as the victims of patriarchal authority. In Everything Good Will Come, Sefi Atta
explores the burden of patriarchy and gender discrimination. She persuades Nigerian women
to raise their voices both in the private and in the public spheres. When the action of the
narration unveils, Enitan, the protagonist, is an eleven year old girl. She is ignorant, naïve and
inexperienced. After Enitan’s younger’s brother’s death at an early age, Arinola, her mother,
appears to be an alienated figure in the family. So Entian is so affectionate and close to Sunny
Taiwo, her father. Sunny shows a pack of contrast. When Enitan is young, he talks to her
about the liberation of women. He criticizes Niigerian women for their lack of involvement in
the political life. However, he suppresses his wife at economical and psychological levels
using his patriarchal power. Enitan becomes aware of her father’s hypocritical acts after she
grows up as a matured and experienced woman.

Enitan studies law at London University. After the completion of the graduation, she
comes back home and joins her father’s firm. She is startled to see the patriarchal authority of
her father in his each move in the office that she had failed to observe during her childhood
days. Enitan is quite angry when her father’s staff members are not paid fairly. She expresses
that her father “was a different person in the office and kept his face as closed as one of the
hardback books he’d stashed along his sleeves. I’d also discovered just how stingy he was.

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He had not increased lunch allowances in over five years and I really wasn’t surprised” (Atta
119). He justifies his action by telling her that as a lawyer, he has to scrape a living.
However, Enitan knows that he can scrape enough to acquire a large estate. She realizes that
he is a typical, patriarchal father who restricts both his wife and his daughter. The hypocrisy
of Enitan’s father comes to light when he refuses to obey the orders of the court to transfer
one of his houses to his wife’s name after their divorce. Even he defends himself by saying
that “After what she’s done, bad mouthing me all over the place, trying to get me disbarred”
(Atta 108). Enitan fails in her attempt to convince her father to transfer his house to her
mother’s name. Through this event, Atta clearly exposes the patriarchal dominance of men
and their unfair and abusive treatment of wives in her society.

Enitan is totally collapsed when she discovers that her father has a son out of
wedlock. She cannot tolerate when her father, too, has caught traps in mere weaknesses of
men of her Nigerian society. She is not ready to reconcile with her father. Thus, she leaves
his home. Her discovery of her father’s hypocrisy and infidelity provide her a chance to
understand her mother’s mental trauma. She realizes that her father’s insensitivity,
wickedness and patriarchal authority are sole reasons for her mother’s anger and
hypertension. Though Sunny Taiwo, as a patriarch, does not inflict physical abuse on
Arinola, his wife, but he afflicts emotional, mental and psychological abuses. The revelation
leads her to clearly understand that her mother’s choice of leaving her husband is just to
restore her dignity and peace of mind. Enitan’s mother is later found dead in her solitary
home because of having consumed expired medication. Thus, Sunny’s patriarchal authority
turns Arinola an eccentric figure throughout the novel.

Enitan, too, confronts great challenges in her conjugal life. Through the life and
experiences of Enitan, Atta highlights the crucial issues of marital disharmony. Niyi Franco,
her husband, is a divorced catholic. He was once a lawyer but now works as a manager in an
insurance company. Generally, the restrictions and limitations imposed on women by
patriarchal society create problems for them. Motherhood is always viewed as positive and
central in the lives of Black women. However, it becomes problematic when the institution
upholds the strict traditional norms against women based on their biological roles. Enitan’s late
pregnancy causes problems in her conjugal life. When Niyi’s relatives scold her outright and
force Niyi to abandon her, she wants to shouts at them: “We were greater than our wombs”
(Atta 188). The day she becomes pregnant, she cries out of joy.

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Enitan also faces challenges when she gives voice against her father’s incarceration.
Sunny Taiwo calls for the national strike for the release of the detainees during the military
regime. So he gets arrested. Enitan decides to participate in the movement that campaigns for
the release of the prisoners, including her father, against the military rule. However, Niyi
does not want her to get involved in it. He engages himself in a cold war and uses silence as a
weapon to bring his wife under his control. He stops talking to her. His silence causes mental
trauma to her. Unable to cope with the patriarchal oppressive forces, she leaves him with her
new born baby, Yimika. She can no longer wait after she witnesses her mother’s death. She
cannot remain the same as she was before. She proclaims: “Otherwise my memory of her
would have been in vain and my survival would certainly be pointless” (Atta 332). “Black
daughters identify the profound influence that their mothers have had upon their lives”
(Collins 112). Though the female characters in Everything Good Will Come confront great
challenges in their lives, they resort to female bonding in order to overcome them.

According to Sefi Atta, Black women should form strong bonds with one another in
order to survive. The mutual female bonding or friendship provides women the strength,
ability and moral support to revolt against the impact of patriarchy and to tackle other
problems successfully. Atta’s novels acknowledge the importance of female bonding. Black
women guide and care for one another. They treat one another equally. Black women who
live in harmony with their own gender can create their identities both in the families and in
the larger society. In Everything Good Will Come, the author discusses the true spirit of
solidarity of women that paves female characters the way to identity their individuality. The
female friendship between Enitan and Sheri forms the main thrust of the novel. They undergo
similar experiences, understand and help each other in the time of crisis.

Enitan’s vision of life and perspectives on the world becomes sharpened and matured
only after her friendship with Sheri Bakare, her neighbour. The female friendship between
Enitan and Sheri helps them overcome the different patriarchal challenges and political
disturbances in their lives. Their friendship provides Enitan and Sheri the moral and
emotional support. Enitan and Sheri never allow their religious and ethnic differences affect
their friendship. Instead, they strengthen it beyond the differences. Their friendship lasts
forever. It serves them to comprehend the world beyond the domestic sphere and also to
discover their own identities. Enitan is the one who supports Sheri morally when she is raped
by Damola and his friends at Iyoki Park. Initially, she is quite ignorant and believes that
Sheri’s close acquaintance with the boys is responsible for the misfortune. However, it is

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much later in her life that Enitan realizes the fact that sexual violence cannot be justified at
any cost. However, this incident teaches two friends to be more careful with men.

Enitan’s strong desire and determination liberates Sheri from her relationship with the
Brigadier and helps her to secure economic independence. Sheri becomes the sugary girl for
the old Brigadier. The old Brigadier treats Sheri as a sexual being. Sheri spends most of her
time in the kitchen to cook for the old Brigadier. Enitan tells her: “You are not his cook”
(Atta 103). As Enitan has discovered the hidden potential of Sheri, she urges her to set up a
business on her own to free herself from the shackles of patriarchy. Sheri has the ability to
cook for numerous people. So, Enitan encourages her to set up the catering business. Thus,
Enitan understands the plight of Sheri and sympathizes with her. She rescues her friend from
the abusive life. When Enitan comes to know that her father has a son outside wedlock, she
feels depressed. The painful incident urges her to leave her father’s home. When there is no
place to take shelter in, she goes to Sheri’s house where Sheri takes care of her and nurtures
her like her mother. The friendship helps Enitan to recover from her emotional breakdown.
Thus, these two women help each other during their hard times.

The quarrel between Enitan and her husband begins when she denies to be a
submissive “kitchen martyr” (Atta 105). “Atta uses Enitan’s refusal to cook all the time for
Niyi to refute the obnoxious dictum in traditional society that the place of the woman is in the
kitchen” (Akung 120). Enitan is really worried when she has to spend most of the time in the
kitchen cooking for her family. The day her father is arrested by the military government,
many relatives pay a visit to Enitan’s home to enquire about him. Enitan is in a position to
cook for many people. Sheri comes to rescue her. Sheri clearly understands the truth that in
Nigeria even educated and economically independent woman cannot escape from discharging
her duty as a wife. Sheri states that “Education cannot change what’s inside a person’s veins.
Scream and shout, if you like, bang your head against this wall, you will end up in the
kitchen” (Atta 104). So, she rushes to save Enitan. She helps Enitan to cook for her family
and in-laws.

The friendship between Sheri and Enitan survives patriarchal dominance, broken
relationships, failed marriages and also the effects of political instability. When Enitan’s
father is arrested, she feels desolate. Sheri and Enitan perceive their friendship as a positive
force to confront the difficulties. Enitan reminds that “she was my oldest friend, my closest
friends, but so were most sisters and she was the nearest I’d come to having one in this place

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where families were over-extended” (Atta 211). During the military regime, both of them try
to live a normal life. Sheri and Enitan support each other morally whenever they confront
difficulties in their personal lives. Sheri is abandoned by her own mother. It really bothers
her. She is raised by her grandmother. She learns to face the world boldly even after her
grandmother’s death. Sheri comes forward and offers her help voluntarily during Enitan’s
mother’s death. When the nurse’s aide refuses to wash the dead body, Mrs.Williams, the
neighbor of Enitan’s mother, washes her. It is another form of solidarity of women. Women
understand the plight of their own gender and provide support, care and help in the time of
crisis. Sheri also takes care of Enitan’s baby as if she were her own daughter. Even Enitan
chooses “Sheri as her [Yimika’s] godmother” (318) Over the years, their friendship has
evolved and become stronger. “Sheri leaves brigadier’s house and concentrates on her
flourishing business; and Enitan walks out of her marriage to pursue a life where she can
freely fulfil her destiny- She becomes an advocate for women prisoners under the dictatorial
military rulership oh her country” (Oluwayomi 379). Thus, female friendship inspires Black
women to overcome all the hardships and helps them to empower themselves as well as their
community.

Atta’s Everything Good Will Come discusses how solidarity of women plays a major
role in bringing women together and encouraging them to struggle for the welfare of other
people in the political unstable nation. Enitan’s friendship with Grace Ameh, the journalist,
brings out enormous changes in her life. Their meeting brings positive changes in Enitan’s
life. Grace supports Enitan and encourages her to struggle for her father’s release. Thus,
Enitan joins the Human Rights cause and becomes an activist. She strives hard for the release
of all the detainees including her father. Even the experiences of Enitan and Grace Ameh in
prison help them to form a strong bond with the fellow prisoners. Enitan’s experiences in
prison sow the seeds for her involvement in the political campaign that gives voice for the
release of the detainees during the military dictatorship.

When Enitan and Grace understand that they are helpless and are unable to do
anything for the release of women prisoners in prison. However, they understand their
misfortune and sympathize with them. They discover that along with men, women are also
arrested everyday during the military rule and undergo intolerable pain and suffering. They
all share the similar experiences and they are subjugated in terms of gender. The shared
recognition of the female experiences let Black women to “see the need to value Black

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womanhood” (Collins 113). In order to fight against the subjugation and subordination of
women, the author demonstrates that female solidarity is the only solution which is likely to
revolt against all such constraints and difficulties. “The woman must align with other women,
because standing alone, the woman becomes another victim” (Akung 119). Enitan and Grace
involve numerous women in their political campaign. The involvement of women at political
level challenges the military government and contributes effectively for the liberation of all
the prisoners including Enitan’s father. Thus, solidarity of women creates awareness and
awakening among women. This kind of solidarity of women awakens the spirit of women
and motivates them to join the struggle for the rights not only for women but also for the
whole community. Thus, Atta encourages all women to gather together to struggle to achieve
the common goal of emancipation and empowerment of women. She feels that women must
realize the power of cooperation, unity and solidarity of women and fight for the survival of
the whole Black community including men, women and children.

Works Cited

Atta, Sefi. Everything Good Will Come. Interlink Publishing Group, 2005.
Akung, Jonas, E. “Feminist Dimensions in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come.” Studies
in Literature and Language, vol. 4, no.1, 2012, pp. 114-22.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of
Empowerment. Routledge, 2009.
Oluwayomi, Edward. “Society and Gender Identity in African Fiction: Re-evaluating
Women’s Identity in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come.” International Journal
of Innovative Research and Development, vol.2, no.1, Jan.2013, pp. 369-381.

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