Blog Post #11: Beatrice

Beatrice is the perfect example of a dynamic character. She starts off believing that it is okay for her husband to treat her and her children in the way that he does. She thinks that it's okay because she is his property; he controls her life. Because she is not the focus of the story, and because the narrator, Kambili, is in Nsukka and away from her mother for the majority of the story, we do not see the progression of Beatrice's change. All we see in the beginning is her belief that she is owned by Eugene. "A husband crowns a woman's life, Ifeoma. It is what they want," Beatrice says to Aunty Ifeoma, who has the opposite belief as Beatrice-- she thinks that a woman should have control over her own fate (Adichie 75). We don't know how much Beatrice truly believes what she is saying, but her actions seem to support this belief pretty well. Her beliefs do a complete 180 when she murders her husband. Somewhere in the story, while Kambili and Jaja were in Nsukka, Beatrice finally snapped. At the end of the story, it can be assumed that Beatrice was much more independent than she was before. She could still have the same belief, just not towards Eugene, but the fact that she is still single years after Eugene dies shows that she has probably changed since the beginning of the story.

Another thing we know about Beatrice is that she cannot prevent her children from being hurt by her husband. All she can do is try and make them feel better afterwards. We even find out early in the novel, as Beatrice is talking to Aunty Ifeoma, that she believes that children should know their father's family. Kambili and Jaja barely know Eugene's father because Eugene thinks he is a "heathen." Clearly Beatrice disagrees with the lack of interaction her children have with their grandfather, but she says nothing about it. In fact, besides in this exchange, Beatrice never even brings it up. Even in this exchange with Aunty Ifeoma, Beatrice sneaks in her opinion about her own family subtly.

Beatrice is defined through most of the story by her passiveness. Another character that is similar to her is Mrs. Das from "Interpreter of Maladies." Mrs. Das is also very passive. Like early Beatrice, she does nothing to fix the situation with her husband. She doesn't love him, but she does not tell him this, nor does she tell him that one of her sons is not his. Both Mrs. Das and Beatrice are wives who are characterized by their passiveness.