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1. How would you describe the relationship between Cobbe and Effia?

Cobbe is proud and protective of Effia. He asks that Baaba show the child love, and he beats Baaba every time she beats Effia. Cobbe thinks that Effia is special and wants the best marriage for her--one with the upcoming chief of the village, not a British soldier. He always shows affection for her and helps her to understand what is going on around her, especially when it comes to politics and the ways she can gain power through her beauty.

2. What clues do we have that Baaba is not Effia’s real mother?

First, it is clear that there is distance between the two when Baaba just lets the baby scream (or covers the child's mouth when she screams). Then, there is the fact that Baaba does not produce milk to feed the baby. Further, the way that Baaba begins to beat Effia, who has just dropped Fiifi, Baaba's first-born son, shows that there is a difference in the way the woman treats the two children. Finally, Baaba's desire to get rid of the girl (first depicted in her fantasies of leaving the child in the wilderness, to limiting her ability to marry within the village and asking Effia to lie) makes clear that she does not have the girl's best interests at heart.

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