This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood. The relationships of Nnaife family are

Analyze the question: The question asks about the nature of the relationships within Nnaife's family in Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood. It is asking about the relationships (how family members relate to one another), not their material conditions.

Concept / background: The novel follows Nnu Ego and her husband Nnaife Owulum in colonial Lagos. Key points about their family life:

• Nnaife is a washerman for a white family (the Meers). He is often subservient and humiliated by his employers, and he is also belittled by Nnu Ego, who sees him as unmanly at first.
• Nnu Ego and Nnaife frequently quarrel, especially over money, school fees, food, and his inheritance of his brother's wife, Adaku.
• Co-wives (Nnu Ego and Adaku) clash over status and the treatment of their children.
• Sons Oshia and Adim, and later the family as a whole, disagree with parents over education and duty. Oshia resents the burden placed on him, and Nnaife later goes to prison and abroad.
• Nnu Ego dies alone, neglected despite having many children.

Evaluating the options:

• A. Humiliation and disagreement. This fits the relationships: constant quarrels, power struggles, shame and resentment.
• B. Sickness and joblessness. These are circumstances, not relationships, and are not the main theme.
• C. Poverty and hunger. These are real hardships, but they describe conditions rather than relationships.
• D. Togetherness and happiness. This is the opposite of the novel's irony. The "joys" of motherhood are bitterly ironic.

Answer: The relationships in Nnaife's family are marked by humiliation and disagreement, which is option A.

Exam tip: When a literature question asks about "relationships," look for words describing how people interact (conflict, love, respect, humiliation), not material conditions like poverty or sickness. Also remember that the title The Joys of Motherhood is ironic: the book shows the burdens and sacrifices of motherhood far more than its joys.