Q. Role and Function of Obinze's mother.
Obinze's mother is presented as a professor at the University of Nigeria, she is intelligent and plainspoken, feeling no shame about discussing sex of injustice. The fact that she is named in the novel exhibits her as a minor character but she has a lot of influence on Ifemelu and Obinze's life making her an important stepping stone to set the story in motion.
Obinze's mother moves to Lagos with Obinze when she accuses a male professor of a wrong doing and he slaps her because he couldn't bear to be accused by a woman. Thus she is the reason Obinze and Ifemelu are able to meet each other. Later on when Obinze is not able to gain any success in Nigeria or in being able to move abroad, his mother helps him reach London and find his footing before she leaves him to fend for himself. Her death is a particular blow to both Ifemelu and Obinze.
Obinze's mother is a widow, she raised Obinze herself and it can be seen through Obinze's actions that and reactions to Ifemelu's that he has been raised such that he is unaffected by Nigeria's gender bias towards men. He respects women just as much as he respects men. We can see how he is not troubled by Ifemelu's bold and outspoken behaviour like other Nigerian men are, an example of such men is Don who starts getting tired of Raniyido once she stops being submissive. Obinze is also depicted to follow his mother's footsteps by having keen interest in his education and literature. We also see him taking advice and turning towards his mother when he needs help like when he is unable to get visas to America. When she finds out about Ifemelu, she wants to meet her her which is considered unusual in Nigerian culture. This reflects her laid back and calm character as well as her honest relationship with her son. It shows she trusts him to be mature and allows him enough personal space that he wouldn't go behind her back to date Ifemelu unlike most restricted Nigerian children would.
For Ifemelu Obinze's mother is shown to be a mother figure. She is someone Ifemelu can trust and be honest with. One example of Obinze's mother's causal personality is when she has a 'sex talk' with Ifemelu. At first perhaps Ifemelu feels awkward but soon comes away with a soothing, down to earth feeling about Obinze's mom, 'Yet she felt the absence of shame. Perhaps it was Obinze's mother's tone, the normalises of it.' At one point Ifemelu moves in with Obinze and his mother and when she gets sick Obinze's mother takes her to the hospital and takes care of her when she is discharged. When compared with Ifemelu's mother and Aunty Uju, Obinze's mother is a modern, educated feminist who sees and interacts with the world from a rational knowledge base. Unlike Ifemelu's mother she recognises her own agency in life and does not dislike that responsibility on God. As Ifemelu resents her mother's blind faith in repligion an dthe church she is naturally drawn closer to Obinze's mother who is as outspoken as herself about injustices in the Nigerian society. Obinze's mother is also a realistic woman, she paints a real picture to Ifemelu by stating that 'Nature is unfair to women. An act is done by two people, but if there are consequences, one person carries it alone.' thus further separating herself from Ifemelu's mother who would place responsibility of the consequences on God rather than Ifemelu and certainly not on Obinze much like she does when Aunty Uju gets pregnant with Dike. Ifemelu, via her personal level of education is able to relate to Obinze's mother's way of looking at the world above her own mother's perspective and when she is leaving for America Obinze's mother's said to her, 'Have a plan.', these words give Ifemelu courage to embrace the upcoming changes, 'she would sometimes remember his mother's words...and feel comforted.'
Adichie's intent to introduce Obinze's mother is not only to bring Ifemelu and Obinze together but to also represent a strong, independent, modern woman, someone who influences Ifemelu positively and boosts her morale when women around her drown in traditions and obsess themselves with marriages and money. She represents single mothers in our society and in contrast with Aunty Uju we see how unlike Uju, Obinze's mother does not let her husband's death halt her, instead she rises stronger and becomes closer to her son, unlike Uju who gives into the pressure and fractures her relationship with her son as well.