They are the dirt that begs for spit.' (p.45) (Metaphor) Referencing the seasons also helps the reader track Effia's age and the progress of time overall, which is important because the author does not directly reference years and specific historical events until later in the book. Effia sees a similarity in the large, ripe fruit and her own growing stomach, linking herself to nature. 'Her stomach jutted out, soft and fleshy, its own kind of fruit.' (p.32) (Simile)Įffia becomes pregnant with Quey in the spring, around the same time that the fruit trees near the Cape Coast Castle began to drop ripe mangoes. Using a comparison to a lioness stresses Effia's power in her relationship, though objectively she has been treated as a resource to be traded much like her sister who is sold to the British as a slave. In this case, Adwoa encourages Effia to behave like a lioness in the bedroom in order to get pregnant and not be sent back to her village. This quote, like the quote spoken by Fiifi about competing male birds, again poses Akan and Europeans in opposition and likens the Akan person in question to the female animal. She mates with her lion and he thinks the moment is about him when it is really about her, her children, her posterity.' (p.27) (Simile) 'Tonight, you must be like an animal when he comes into the room. By comparing evil to a shadow, Effia also highlights the way evil can be subjectively perceived by others, such as in the lives of Abena and Yaw. Evil or curses being linked to places, objects, and people is a theme throughout Homegoing, and Effia's descendants seem especially affected. It follows you.” (p.70) (Simile)Įffia tells her son Quey this when she finds out that he will be returning to her village to do business for the British. The quote also demonstrates how valuable slaves were and the power that the Akan tribes were able to exert over the Europeans during the period before the British took control of the Gold Coast. The comparison of the Fante and the European trading companies to birds shows the Akan people's connection to nature in their way of life and thought.

And when they have sung their voices out, then and only then will she speak up.Quey, this village must conduct its business like that female bird.' (p.60) (Simile)įiifi uses this metaphor to explain the way his tribe, the Fante, intends to let the various European trading companies battle for their business in slaves and natural resources. She is quiet, quiet, listening to the male birds get louder and louder and louder still. Buy Study Guide “What you cannot hear, Quey, is the third bird.

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