Campbell University Changes A Love Story Discussion

The book for the discussions are attached below and each Discussion has be 100 – 150 words each.

Discussion Question #1

How do Ali’s elders in Nima respond to Ali’s decision to have a second wife? Why do Ali’s elders send their wives to talk to Fusena? How do Ali’s female relatives feel about Fusena’s situation? Why does Fusena say “yes, … yes” to their suggestion? What do you make of her response? Did Fusena have any choice here? Despite that some Ghanaian women have received modern western education, the older women are shocked to realize “how little had changed for their daughters — school and all!”. What has not changed for women in postcolonial Ghanaian society?

Discussion Question #2

Why does Esi’s grandmother tell Esi, “My lady Silk, remember a man always gained in stature through any way he chose to associate with a woman. And that included adultery. Esi, a woman has always diminished in her association with a man. A good woman was she who quickened the pace of her own destruction”. What does Esi’s grandmother think of Esi’s decision? Why does Esi’s grandmother tell Esi about many young women in her days who felt her wedding day was more like “a funeral of the self”? What is Esi’s grandmother trying to say here? What does marriage mean to women in Ghanaian society? Does marriage as an institution oppress women in Ghanaian society?

Discussion Question #3

After encountering initial disapproval from her grandmother and mother about her decision to become Ali’s second wife, Esi questions the education she received in “strange and foreign lands” and she feels that she is in “the dangerous confusion”. To what extent has Esi’s modern western-education affected her view of love and marriage? Why did Ali not follow the traditional procedure for polygamy with Esi? Were Esi and Ali influenced by the “white man’s customs” in their decision to love and marriage? Is romantic love a dangerous western idea for Ghanaian women? Or, is the notion of marriage based on love just an idea (or an ideal) that cannot be fulfilled in modern Ghanaian society that is dominated by patriarchal cultural ideology?

Discussion Question #4

What does Esi realize through her polygamous marriage with Ali? What is her delayed “awakening” about? Does Esi become a victim of Ali’s patriarchal domination of her body? Towards the end of their third year of marriage, Esi tells Ali: “Ali, I can’t go on like this” . Why does she feel this way regarding their relationships? Is Esi’s idea of modern romantic love in conflict with the traditional patriarchal culture of Ghanaian society? What does Esi’s dilemma symbolize in the novel?

Discussion Question #5

Why does Esi decide not to divorce Ali? What does her decision to remain in her marriage with Ali signify? Does Esi make a choice for herself at the end of her third year of marriage, or does she find herself being trapped? What do you think Aidoo is trying to convey by using Esi’s grandmother’s voice/advice (“My lady Silk, remember that a man always gains in stature any way he chooses to associate with a woman – including adultery. . . But, in her association with a man, a woman is always in danger of being diminished”) as Esi’s moral guidance while she was in confusion? Does Esi make a realistic decision or does she have no other viable alternative? Does Esi manage to navigate her life path within her unhappy polygamous marriage, or is she stuck in her polygamous marriage with Ali? Why do you think Aioo put Esi as the protagonist of the novel? Do you think Aidoo is sympathetic to Esi and her situation?

Discussion Question #6

Tuzyline Allan in “Afterword” writes about Aidoo’s Changes: “Aidoo’s commitment to female autonomy, her belief in a salvational force preserved in pockets of traditional African life, and her knowledge of the destructive nature of oppression combine to create a fervent and conflicted voice for change that speaks with compelling authority in Changes” . Allan also notes that “Changes is as much about stasis as it is about change”. What do you make of Allan’s comments on the novel? What prevents Esi (Fusena and Opokuya) from achieving her autonomy as an educated female professional in postcolonial Ghanaian society? What could be “the destructive nature of oppression” that creates a dilemma for Esi, Fusena, and Opokuya (women in modern Ghanaian society) to fulfill their career, ambition, and satisfaction in life?