Answer: In The Girl Who Can by Ama Ata Aidoo you have the theme of conflict, innocence, freedom, insecurity, connection and pride.
Explanation: Taken from her collection of the same name the story is narrated in the first person by a young seven year old girl and after reading the story the reader realises that Aidoo may be exploring the theme of conflict. Nana and Maami argue about two things. The narrator’s skinny legs and the narrator’s father. It is as though Nana is in disagreement with Maami when it comes to both issues. She does not consider that the narrator will have the ability to have children as her legs will not support the hips that Nana believes are needed for a woman to carry a child. This may be important as in many ways Nana may not only be criticizing the narrator but she might also be criticizing Maami and blaming her for the fact that the narrator has such skinny legs. As to Nana’s judgement on the narrator’s father the reader can only assume that again Nan is criticizing Maami for her choice of husband. Which may leave some readers to suggest that there is a conflict between both Nana and Maami with Nana always getting the upper hand possibly due to the insecurities that Maami may feel due to the criticism she gets from Nana.
