This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood. In the novel, it is necessary that Ona has to leave her father's house because

Analyze the question: This asks why Ona must leave her father's house in The Joys of Motherhood. You need to recall the early plot about Agbadi, Ona, and their child Nnu Ego.

Key background:

• Agbadi is a powerful chief. Ona is the daughter of Obi Umunna, a proud man who has no sons.
• Umunna refuses to let Ona marry. He wants her to stay in his house and bear children for his lineage, so the family line continues through her.
• Ona has a relationship with Agbadi and bears him a daughter, Nnu Ego, while living in her father's compound.
• When Umunna dies, the arrangement that kept Ona in his house ends. Ona then has no reason to stay there and is free to go to Agbadi. She goes to live with Agbadi, taking Nnu Ego with her.

Step-by-step reasoning:

1. Option A (safety of her child): the novel does not give this as the reason.
2. Option B (love for Agbadi): she does love him, but her love is not what makes leaving necessary. She had stayed there despite it.
3. Option C (her father is dead): her staying was tied to her father's wishes. Once he dies, the reason for her remaining is gone, so she leaves.
4. Option D (tradition): tradition did not force her out. It was her father's unusual arrangement that kept her in.

Answer: C. Her father is dead.

Tip: In literature questions, watch the word "necessary." It points to the event that forces the action (here, Umunna's death), not to a feeling or motive that was already there (her love for Agbadi). Always trace the cause-and-effect chain in the plot.