How does Buchi Emecheta use imagery in The Bride Price?

The imagery is full of metaphor. Emecheta uses extended metaphors in this story. The first exemplifies the conflict that Akunna and her brother feel, caught, as they were, between traditional culture and European customs. She creates an image of fish caught in a net, referring to Aku-nna and Nna-nndo as

helpless fishes . . . [who] could not as it were go back
into the sea, for they were trapped fast, and yet they
were still alive because the fisherman was busy debating
within himself whether it was worth killing
them.

In another, longer metaphor, Emecheta has Aku-nna and Chike sitting under a tree, watching a group of brown ants.

No single ant deviated from the main column, all followed
the same route one after the other, as if at the
command of a power invisible.

With this metaphor, Emecheta uses the ants and their willingness to follow that invisible power as an example of the people of Ibuza following the traditional ways without questioning the reasons behind them. When Aku-nna asks Chike why the ants are following one another, Chike responds: "Because each ant would be lost if it did not follow the footsteps of those in front, those who have gone on that very path before."

Aku-nna's death could be read as a metaphor. Why did she die? Was it because she was too young and malnourished as suggested by the doctor? Or was it because her stepfather, in vengefulness and voodoo-like practice, calls her spirit back home? If her death is looked at as metaphor, it plays out the main conflict of the story. Inside of Aku-nna, the clash between the European (scientific) world and the African (traditional) world ultimately lead to her death. Aku-nna's death acts as metaphor for all young African women who struggle with the new culture that cries out for independence and reliance on self, and the old culture that thinks with a male-dominated, group mind. Her death is symbolic of the psychological deaths that these women must pass through in an attempt to be reborn into a new role for themselves.

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life. Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set. Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

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Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

http://www.bookrags.com/

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

http://www.bookrags.com/

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.

Buchi Emecheta's The Bride Price is a captivating novel of courage and resilience. The novel follows Adah, a young Nigerian girl who lives in Lagos in the late 1940s. Throughout the novel, Emecheta paints a vibrant picture of the customs, the people, and the society of the time. She does this through vivid imagery that she uses to bring her characters to life.

Emecheta uses imagery to convey the notion of the bride price, a tradition that still exists today in many parts of the world. She describes the bride price as “a pound of gold, a bundle of coral beads, a length of cloth, and four brass basins”, conveying the value and importance placed on women in traditional Nigerian societies. She also uses imagery to illustrate the plight of women in a society that places a great emphasis on gender roles, such as when Adah’s father says “I am a man, I need a son.” This phrase is symbolic of the patriarchal society in which the novel is set.

Emecheta’s use of imagery is integral to the novel’s themes and works to provide a vivid depiction of the traditional Nigerian society. Through her vivid descriptions, she examines the effects of the traditional customs on the characters in the novel.