This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's Second Class CItizen. Adah faces discrimination based on

Analyze the question: The question asks about the types of discrimination Adah, the protagonist of Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen (1974), faces.

Explain the concept: The title itself points to the theme. Adah is treated as "second class" in two major ways:

1. Gender (sexism): In Nigeria, she grows up in a patriarchal society where a girl's education is considered a waste. Her brother's schooling is prioritised, and her family cares more about her bride price. In marriage, her husband Francis exploits her earnings, takes her for granted, and mistreats her. She is expected to be a submissive wife and a bearer of sons.

2. Race (racism): In England, she is a Black African woman. She faces racial prejudice in housing, where landlords refuse to rent to Blacks with children, and in everyday interactions and work, where she is looked down upon.

Step-by-step check of the options:

• A. Gender and race. This fits. The novel is built around these two forms of discrimination, in Nigeria and in England.
• B. Education and social status. Adah actually fights for education and succeeds in it. Education is her tool of resistance, not the basis of discrimination against her.
• C. Age and religion. Neither is a central theme.
• D. Nationality and language. Adah speaks English, so language is not a barrier. Nationality is only loosely related to the racial prejudice she faces.

Answer: The correct option is A. gender and race.

Exam tip: For Second Class Citizen, remember the phrase "Double Disadvantage": Black + Woman. Whenever a question asks about the discrimination or themes of the novel, think of gender (sexism), race (racism), and also the themes of migration, education as liberation, and female independence.