Sin Is A Puppy That Follows You Home Essay

In a world that often seems to revolve around patriarchy, we are all taught about gender roles and pressured to adhere to them, whether they are enforced or not. For example, the female gender role involves women having children, cooking and cleaning, and being overall submissive. The male gender role focuses on men being the “bread-winners” and “protectors” of their household, by working, being tough, and having a dominant nature. In both Purple Hibiscus and Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home (commonly referred to as Sin is a Puppy), two West-African based novels written by female, feminist authors, the characters seemed to fit into their stereotypical gender roles perfectly, especially Beatrice and Rabi, the two matriarchs of the novels,

On the other hand, Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, the author of Sin is a Puppy, is a Hausa woman who wrote her story in Hausa, intended for Hausa audiences (Sotonwa). Therefore, Purple Hibiscus is meant to feature plot twists, dramatic characters, and traumatic events in order to keep a western audience entertained. While, on the other hand, Sin is a Puppy was written for a secluded, Muslim audience, so its storyline is mundane, realistic, and probably relatable to the Muslim audience. For example, the very first chapter of Purple Hibiscus features Papa, also known as “Eugene”, throwing a missal intended to hit his son, which is meant to provide initial shock value for the drama-craving Western audience. However, since male-dominant gender roles are traditional in Muslim Nigerian society, Yakubu gives her Muslim audience what they would expect (the patriarch being unfaithful, a man swooping in and saving Rabi’s daughter from ending up like her, Rabi giving in to accepting her husband back, etc.). There is not much shock value in a man in a traditional Muslim society seeking other women and leaving his family, and it is only expected that he be accepted back. However, there is shock value in a seemingly quiet and subservient woman deciding to act out of character and murder

For example, when Jaja, their son, stated that his grandfather, who Papa hated, may not have wanted to convert before death, Beatrice quickly tried to divert Eugene’s attention from him so he would not become angry and strike Jaja (Adichie, p. 191). Rabi, even though her kids were suffering, did not complain, beg, or ask any help from her husband. Instead, she decided to care for them on her own, even though it meant she had to ask for hand-outs from her family members. Since Abdul’s way of abuse was more mental and verbal, Rabi’s response was to be quiet and independent. However, since Eugene was more of a physical abuser who did provide for his family, Beatrice’s response was to be submissive and dependent, yet protective of her children. It’s important to note the author’s intent with this as well. Adichie, being an outright feminist (Flanagan), is a strong believer in female-independence and in women standing up for their children. However, due to the limits set by the gender expectations of Igbo society, she could not make Beatrice independent, so it was important that she give her some “fight” per say, at least in the defense of her own children. It can also be argued that Yakubu expressed her feministic views by making it so Rabi never fully depended on her husband and still did all she could in order to provide for her children while simultaneously caring for them. However, due to the limits