You must never behave as if your life belongs to a man. Do you hear me?' Aunty Ifeka said. 'Your life belongs to you and you alone.

In this admonition, Adichie (through Aunty Ifeka) articulates a feminist ethic of self-ownership: a woman’s life is not a possession transferred to, managed by, or lived for a man. The line pushes back against social scripts that equate female worth with marriageability, obedience, or sacrifice, insisting instead on personal agency and moral autonomy. The rhetorical urgency—“Do you hear me?”—frames the advice as protective, almost intergenerational, as if hard-won knowledge is being passed down to help the younger woman resist coercion disguised as love or tradition. The quote’s power lies in its clarity: it names a boundary and makes self-determination non-negotiable.