Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of sexual assault, gore, violence, war, and slavery.

Throughout the novel, strict gender norms subjugate Ya Ta and the other women and girls in the story. Long before Ya Ta is kidnapped and taken into the Sambisa forest along with her friends, she lives a life that is different from the boys in her family. This life, in contrast to what is to come, seems wonderful, but Ya Ta was always aware that her place as a girl is expected to be socially lesser than her male counterparts: “Back at home, the men and boys know everything, but here in school, I know more than all the boys” (5-6). Ya Ta has to do all of the chores and care for her siblings. She expresses deep shame and embarrassment about her period, calling it “disgraceful and dirty” (38), and she and most other girls stay home from school when they are menstruating. Ya Ta knows she is lucky to be one of few girls who goes to school at all and spends most of her days thinking about her scholarship because she knows what it means for her and for all Nigerian women.

The prospect of marriage presents both positive and negative aspects for the girls.