What did you think about the way the men in the story were portrayed?
The men were weak, not seeming to fight against family and cultural expectations. Did they really love the women, or were they using them? Sometimes the lines were blurred. They didn’t seem to stand up for the women in their lives, nor fight for them.
I think both Golden Boy and Zubby loved Mo and Eniiyi and would have married them. I think they would have stood up to their families.
If any characters were weak, it was the women who accepted the curse - even Eniiyi who had studied genetics and should have known better. The women created their own problems - not the men.
The men seemed to be secondary characters; however, the primary reasons for the women to think, “See!!! We’re cursed.”
I was surprised that both Golden Boy and Zubby were so easily discouraged. One little bump in the road and they’re gone? Really?
I agree that the men in the novel were weak. I think most of their characters were underdeveloped because so much of the premise of the book was concentrated on developing each woman’s association with the family curse.
This was such an interesting piece to the book. On the one hand, the men are largely seen as irrelevant. Take the family tree; hardly any of the men are even named and instead are represented with an X. On the other hand, the curse is centered around love and the relationships the women had with the men.
I agree with the others that the male characters were the weaker of the sexes, which makes sense in a book focused on this family of women.
Additionally, Tolu was a minor character but having been with these women most of his life, getting his POV would be super interesting.
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They were weak and secondary to this novel. They certainly didn’t stand up for the women they were supposedly in love with at all. Only one with any backbone was her newly found father. Any little bump in the road of love and both Golden Boy and Zubby were gone. I would like to think Zubby might have had a chance if he too left Nigeria for the UK
I agree with everyone here…the men were secondary “back-up” to the plot line. All were weak. The family tree even pays tribute to that…simply someone who contributed to the bloodline, but not worthy of mention by name. Seems to be the curse of women in general - the guy has one fun encounter and the woman is left to deal with the repercussions. Maybe a better curse would have been to make the males impotent or infertile so as not to spread their weakness outside the initial bloodline. I guess that would have made for a fairly short story, though…hahaha.
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The men were portrayed more as casual acquaintances. Golden Boy wanted his parents’ approval, however, Zubby might have remained with Eniiyi. Eniiyi didn’t give him a chance after the awful meeting with his parents. Ebun ghosted Osagie after she became pregnant. It was nice to see that they married at the end of the book, so it seems that Ebun had worked out her issues with the curse.
I think the men were portrayed as weak, but the women were so inclined to blame the curse for all of their man problems that they gave the men a pass to be weak and didn’t press them to do the hard things for the relationships. That was the most frustrating part of the book for me.
I agree with Judith V, that the women were raised to believe in the curse, so they didn’t expect the men to be anything other than weak. And they were.
I agree with all of the posts that the men were secondary to the story and thus portrayed as weak.
The men involved with the Falodun women were either periphery or reveered and somewhat unobtainable. Of course the relationships continued to further the family lines, however it was the women who promoted the fate of these relationships due to the “curse” laid upon them generations ago. Both Monife and Eniiji desired to be loved, yet held partners at arms length due to the back story promoted by their elders.
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I thought they were realistically portrayed. From what I know, Nigeria still has a very male dominated culture. However, the male characters were the secondary characters in this novel and served to allow the author to make her plot points with the female characters.
The men were not as well fleshed out as the women. The men were essentially catalysts for the drama that played out. Due to the curse, men are destined to leave so it makes sense.
She was constantly reminded that she wasn’t her own person. Until she broke away she would never be able to be her own person. The birthmark is a reminder that she had a father and he literally left his mark on her.