Photo (Symbol)
It is a symbolic, foreshadowing action that Adah chooses not to be in the photograph with Francis and his family before they go to England. She cannot explain why, but she just doesn't want to be a part of it. As a photograph is not only a documentary record but also a text that can suggest, connote, and symbolize, a photo without Adah is symbolic of her independence and her outsider status in this family.
The Noble House (Symbol)
The Nobles may own a home, but it is not exactly the best home on the block. Furthermore, it is between two houses occupied by whites, and the disparity between the two types of edifices is conspicuous. Emecheta writes, "The jutting end of the building was just like a social divide; solid, visible and unmovable" (87). Emecheta presents the Noble house as a symbol of his second-class citizenry, his inferiority. The houses next to it are in close proximity, yes, but they are more or less closed off to him and other Nigerians.
Scars (Symbol)
Adah sees her C-section scars as a symbol of what she has endured to bear Francis's child. They are also symbolic in a larger sense of women's physical, mental, and emotional scars endured because of a patriarchal society. She has scars from the cruel words he lobs at her, the scar from his burning her book, and perhaps scars from the times he has beaten her. Emecheta suggests women wear their trauma externally and internally.
Gray Bird (Symbol)
On her weekly visit to the public baths, Adah notices a gray bird which she admires for its "lonely freedom" and how it is "solitary but contented in its solitude" (140). This bird symbolizes Adah, for she too is a free woman but this comes at a cost, and she often laments how alone she feels.
Birth Control (Symbol)
The birth control pill isn't only a literal way to control women's fertility, but also a symbol of modernity. Its usage indicates that a woman wishes to decide when she has a child and when she does not, that she may want sex without strings attached, that she perhaps wants to focus on her career.
