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AN ANALYSIS OF METAPHORIC EXPRESSIONS 

AGAINST THE FEMALE GENDER: A STUDY OF SEFI 

ATTA’S EVERYTHING GOOD WILL COME 

 

Nnenna Roseline Uche-Okoro 
Department Of English Language and Literature 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 

Email:ucheokororoseline@gmailcom 

Abstract 

This paper critically analyses the metaphoric expressions against 

the female gender in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come. 

Metaphor is part of our everyday life and it is a matter of 

language, thought and action. However, Linguistic expressions 

being containers of meaning equate two things that are not the 

same even the state of mind. History reveals that the metaphoric 

expressions against the female are geared towards their tainting, 

humiliation and oppression. This work seeks to unveil some of 

them and sensitize the female gender to ignore them and be the 

best they are created to be. The researcher hinged on Critical 

Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a model that takes account of the 

social context and explores the links between textual structures 

and their function in social interaction to analyze the metaphoric 

expressions in Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come. The 

findings show that expressions against the female gender are 

culturally and socially inculcated. 

Key Words: Critical Discourse Analysis, Metaphors, Social 

Interaction 

Introduction 

Language helps in maintaining social relationship. It also aids 

the stratification of group identity, social stratification and social 



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grooming. This enigmatic nature of language is evident in its use 

in virtually all areas of human endeavour. Language however is 

most often used to alienate the female gender in the society 

having been oppressed mentally, physically and emotionally. 

This is perpetuated by choice of language in various interactions. 

Ogunyemi stresses that;  

Language is sometimes used in an oppressive way to 

tailor the satisfaction of the heterosexual beings and 

that reductionist concept of subjecting the woman 

based on genderisation is illuminated when crude 

words like ‘prostitution’, ‘harlot’ among others are 

freely used by male chauvinist to poor presentation 

and projection in some post-colonial literature.(48) 

 

This implies that expressions against the female gender is meant 

to make the males look, feel, and act superior over the females 

and buttresses Akujobi’s point that “this expression especially in 

its metaphoric forms makes one feel victimized, dominated and 

inferior”(4). 

This situation further explains the “unproblematic unity that 

evokes solidarity of identity in the areas of sex and identity” 

(Butler as quoted in Ogunyemi, 48). Ogunyemi explains that 

Butler observes that Witting's observation of the male gender’s 

handling of language places the female gender as a subordinate 

entity and further argues that women are projected as 

‘materialists’ when placed as a subordinate but rather, there is 

need for another order of ‘materiality’. What Butler means is 

that language is sometimes used in gender and identity to tailor 

the satisfaction of the heterosexual beings. 

 Udenweze stresses that; 

Our cultural practices denigrate the image and status 

of women in the society mostly by the language we 



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use on them because male and female children right 

from birth are assigned different roles, values and 

status by the society where they are born by 

continuous use of different languages meant 

particularly for each sex group but surprisingly, the 

female gender is usually addressed using negative 

metaphoric expressions unlike that used to address 

the male gender. (1) 

Gender based oppression is the “oppression that reflects the 

existing asymmetry in the power relations between men and 

women and perpetrates the subordination and devaluation of the 

female as opposed to the male” (Ngendahayo, 2014). 

Ngendahayo further explains that gender based oppression exists 

within the framework of patriarchy as a symbolic system that 

engenders an array of day to day practices which represent the 

female gender poorly with the aim of oppressing them and 

relating them to the background. Gender based oppression 

comes in form of sexual, physical, mental and verbal 

oppressions. 

The underlying factor in patriarchy is power and status. 

Stressing further, Ifechelobi (18) says that “traditional African 

society as a patriarchal society is characterized by current and 

historic unequal power relations between women and men where 

women are systematically disadvantaged, subdued and 

oppressed”.“Patriarchy is a broad network or system of 

hierarchical organization that cuts across political, economic, 

social, religion, cultural, industrial and financial spheres, under 

which the overwhelming number of upper positions in society 

are either occupied or controlled and dominated by men” (Okpe 

as qtd in Makama, 117). 



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In fact, any system that gives men undue advantage over women 

is considered patriarchal and oppressive against the female 

gender. A male is considered the head of the household and he 

controls productive resources, and reproductive capacities based 

on the notions that he is superior while the female is inferior. 

Ogbazi wraps it up by saying that “First, Patriarchy, essentially, 

makes reference to a male–dominated world, a world that has 

been strengthened by cultural prejudices and assigning 

traditional gender roles to the male and female sexes” (17). 

Oppression breads injustice which is discriminatory, 

dehumanizing and inferiority. It is usually imposed by the 

oppressors upon dominated and exploited individuals. It further 

serves as a means of enforcing oppression in order to secure 

advantageous conditions of living for its 

perpetrators.“Oppression means the exercise of tyranny by a 

ruling group (men) which creates injustice in other 

circumstances as well and not only cruel tyrant with bad 

intentions that oppress people but a well-intentioned democratic 

society can place system-wide constraints on groups and limit 

their freedom, choices and liberty” (Young,33). 

 Metaphoric expressions against the female gender is a form of 

verbal oppression and manifests in form of regarding the female 

gender as a sex object/machine, an ever-dependent variable, a 

money-making machine, a baby factory and an incomplete 

individual without marriage. 

 Individuals are part of the society, their existence is shaped and 

influenced by the language they use and the individual's 

language use is constrained by the conventional and 

unconventional provisions of the society they live in. Therefore, 

part of the individual's approach to issues is conditioned by 

society, and society thrives on language. In essence, language, 



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gender and culture are knotted. Language helps in shaping 

peoples' culture and gender issues are language influenced in 

line with Cameron's argument that: 

 Our linguistic habits often reflect and perpetuate 

ideas about things which are no longer embodied in 

law, but which continue to have covert significance in 

the culture. This is one reason why feminists have 

often paid detailed attention to language and 

discourse: our ways of talking about things reveals 

attitudes and assumption we might consciously 

disown, thus, testifying to the deep-rootedness of 

sexism. (16) 

Conceptual Metaphor as revolutionized by Lakoff and Johnson 

(1980) “is not just a characteristics of language alone, a mere 

rhetorical ornament or literary device but a powerful means by 

which individuals make sense of selves and the world around 

them” (Ahmed, 90). Zubair (766) observes that “metaphors are 

reflective of the modes thought of the members of the linguistic 

community that employ them”. Metaphor, in this view, is seen 

“not as a literary form or as a deviation from some supposedly 

literal language, but rather as one of the building blocks of our 

thinking, at both the level of language acquisition and language-

use” (Montasheri,107).Metaphors are used to “enrich language 

or to understand something abstract in more straight forward 

terms. It equates two things that are not the same; it goes beyond 

physical resemblances to compare complex state of feeling” 

(Ezeife, 143). From the above scholars, it is now clear that 

metaphor is a daily affair that is already inculcated in our lives 

and has formed part of our culture. 

In Sefi Atta’s Everything Good Will Come, the writer depicts 

societal happenings and views about the female gender and 



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refocuses the attention of the society on the right and correct 

views of whom the female gender is, using the characters. 

Cultural beliefs and tradition are interwoven in language which 

is an aspect of culture. Sefi Atta brings into limelight in a 

literally discourse what has been inculcated in the minds of the 

individuals unconsciously but is a major cankerworm that has 

eaten the society deeply especially the female gender. 

However, the social relevance of discourse makes it give rise to 

the issues of power. Discursive practices can help (re) produce 

unequal power relations through the manner in which they 

represent things and people and are happenings that fall into the 

categories of the (re) production of social, historical and cultural 

life manifesting not only linguistic mechanisms but also devices 

of a different order, such as those which reproduce ideology and 

maintain the power structure. The study of implicit ideologies is 

a major preoccupation of CDA: a theory that seeks to unravel 

connections between discourse practices, social practices, and 

social structures, connections that may be opaque to text 

consumers. It is important to realize that discursive practice is 

constitutive of social structures, just as social structures 

determine discursive practice.  

Therefore, discourse is not only socially constitutive but also 

socially conditioned. That is, it constitutes situations, objects of 

knowledge, and the social identities or relationships which exist 

between people and groups of people. The social relevance of 

discourse makes it give rise to the issues of power. Sefi Atta 

gives a textual analysis of the social structures and social 

practices by creating some metaphoric expressions that has been 

inculcated in the day to day affairs of the individuals.  

Woman as Sex toy /Machine- The female gender is portrayed as 

a body or entity which is composited of sexual meaning. Women 



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in general are turned into items which men exploit for their 

sexual pleasure. This concept regards woman as a sex piece; an 

item to be used as toy for sexual satisfaction by man. In this 

concept, the woman is exploited for sex by the man. This 

metaphoric measure is characterized by words/expressions 

relating to sex, sexuality or the sexual organs of a woman just as 

the narrator says;"I was walking the streets, one foolish man 

approached me ... The fool touched my breasts, I slapped his 

face. He pushed me to the ground."... (EGWC,265) 

A woman that is faced with the worst difficult time of her life - 

Lost her husband to the cold hands of death, denied access to her 

children (a set of twins), stalked naked and alone in a room and 

forced to drink her late husband's bath water to prove of her 

innocence. Walking around with sorrow in her heart, she was 

now approached by a man who only came to take advantage of 

her. A man who sees a stranger and moves to her directly to rape 

her is a proof of what he takes the female gender to be - an 

object for sexual satisfaction. Her rights are never considered. 

Woman as Money-Making Machine - The female gender is 

being portrayed as the bread winner in their families which is 

originally regarded as the sole responsibility of the males. But 

the humiliating part of this is that the male gender now shifted 

the responsibility of providing money for the family to the 

female gender without any remorse for their idleness or low 

income but with all pride and arrogance that the female gender 

should do it as part of their duty. The male gender now 

approaches a female for marriage with consideration to her 

earnings and the possibility of inheriting her wealth with the sole 

reason of being her husband.Sunny, Enitan’s father boldly told 

Enitan this; My mother's mother was a trader. She saved 

money for her children's education under her mattress. One 



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day my grandfather took the money she'd been saving and 

used it to pay the dowry for a second wife. (EGWC,151) 

Woman as a Baby Factory - The responsibility of procreation is 

laid on the female gender. Nature designed her with the 

properties that give her the ability of nursing a younger one in 

her and bring her/him forth to life. This makes it that whenever a 

woman is unable to give birth to children, she is always blamed 

and regarded as the worst and even addressed as so. Worst still, 

if a woman gives birth only to female children, she is being 

cajoled, abused and oppressed using different languages. Enitan 

narrates her ordeal in the hands of her family members, in-laws, 

friends and even her personal self. 

I got pregnant and shortly after had a miscarriage.... I cried 

until I soaked my pillow. I got pregnant again. This time, 

the baby grew out of my womb and could have killed me 

had it not been for one smart doctor. I had to have an 

emergency operation. The doctor told us my chances of 

having after that were reduced.  'But keep trying," he said. 

A year later, we stillwere, Niyi's relation began to press, 

"Is everything all right?" They looked at my stomach 

before looking at my face. Some scolded me outright. 

"What are you waiting for? My mother invited me to her 

vigils; my father offered to send me overseas to see other 

doctors. I asked why they harassed women this way. 

(EGWC,185) 

Why should Enitan soak her pillow with her tears? This is 

because she knows that all fingers are pointed at her and has 

accepted that giving birth to a child is the only proof of being a 

female.  

Sheri who is Enitan’s friend stressed it harder when she says; 



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Better to be ugly, to be crippled, to be a thief even, 

than to be barren. We had both been raised to believe 

that our greatest days would be; the birth of our first 

child, our wedding and graduation days in that order. 

A woman may be forgiven for having a child out of 

wedlock if she had no hope of getting married, and 

she would be dissuaded from getting married if she 

didn't have a degree. Marriage could immediately 

wipe out a sluttish past, but angel or not, a woman 

had to have a child. (EGWC,105 - 7) 

Woman as Ever- Dependent Variable - It has been believed and 

accepted by the society that the males are superior while the 

females are inferior and should be dependent on the male 

gender. The female gender is believed to be receivers of 

instructions while the male gender is the instructors. Enitan on 

her bid for freedom and quest for fairness says; “In my Country, 

women are praised the more they surrender their rights to 

protest. In the end they may die with nothing but selflessness to 

pass on to their daughters, a startling legacy, like tears down a 

parched thwart”. (EGWC,117) 

Enitan complains on why the female gender should be so 

dependent on the male. A woman's muteness is praised and 

appreciated but the moment she got an idea to share, it is 

regarded as abnormal and she is taken to be wild. She however, 

have no choice than to suffer in silence and also advices her 

daughters to follow the same footsteps as to avoid being labelled 

"wild". "In the end it will be a startling legacy, like tears 

down a parched thwart”. 

Woman as Incomplete without Marriage - The Oxford English 

Mini Dictionary defines marriage as “the formal union of a man 

and a woman as husband and wife” (354). Marriage has been 



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regarded as the highest honour that a woman can attain. Once a 

female gender reached a particular age that she is believed to be 

better positioned by a man's side, it becomes a concern to the 

female herself, family and well-wishers. They become restless 

and ready to give her away to whoever that asks for her hand in 

marriage just to ensure that she is married off else, she will be 

regarded as an ill-mannered and not fit for any man.  

The researcher examines the words of Sheri with the today’s 

happenings in the society. Enitan is married, Sheri is not 

married. Enitan complains of her experiences in the hands of her 

husband and reconsiders Sheri as being happier in her unmarried 

state but unknown to her that Sheri is not happy in her unmarried 

state. Sheri opens up for Enitan in her words as follows;She 

shook her head. “It is not easy on your own. Men thinking you 

want them; women pitying you and not wanting you around their 

homes. Your own mother talking about you as if you have 

terminal cancer: Ah Enitan, she's still with us. Ah, Enitan, we 

pray” (EGWC,245). 

Conclusion 

Sensitization and Education; The Way Out - The era of limiting 

the females either with words or actions is obviously over. The 

females are created with equal biological attributes with the 

males and so should not be oppressed because of their sex. The 

education of the female should go beyond acquiring the skills in 

the kitchen to proper formal education with open opportunities 

that will help them harness their special God-given talents. A 

woman lost her husband to the cold hands of death and they 

wanted her to drink his bath water as to proof of her innocence 

but she blatantly refused.  

In her despair, a man comes to take advantage of her condition 

to rape her. The man called her hey baby but she immediately let 



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him know that she must not be addressed in such a manner that 

she is well educated and knows her rights.“I was walking the 

streets. One foolish man approached me. He called me Hey 

Baby”. “I said I'm not Hey Baby. I'm a secretary typist, 

qualified1988” (EGWC, 265). 

Proper sensitization and education made it happen. Enitan 

having acquired education made her own efforts at sensitizing 

Sherifat who is her childhood friend. Enitan counselled Sheri to 

stop the illicit love relationship she was having with Brigadier, a 

polygamist and whose first daughter is around Sheri’s age. 

Brigadier keeps Sheri at home for preparing all kinds of dishes 

for him and his friends and must not find her absent on his 

return. Enitan counselled Sheri to start –up a catering business 

with that, she will be getting money to solve her needs and not 

being a sexual victim to Brigadier for the sake of money. Their 

conversation goes thus; 

Ibrahim wants me to stop my business; what will happen to me 

when my rent is due? Bid time, I said. Until your next rent is 

paid. After that, find more clients. There are weddings, 

burials, christenings, every weekend in this place. Next year, 

you ‘be paying your own rent. You're bright, you're young 

and this man is treating you like his house girl… (EGWC, 138). 

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