Second-Class Citizen is a novel written by Buchi Emecheta. It was first published in 1974 and follows the story of Adah, who eventually leaves her homeland and moves to Great Britain, following her childhood dream of living there and hoping to lead a life free of the restrictions she would have faced back home in Nigeria.

In order to answer your question, it is important to point out that Adah does not move to Great Britain on her own. Instead, she follows Francis, her husband, who had moved there first. Francis and Adah got married before moving to England, and their first child is called Titi.

Titi was born in Nigeria and spent the first part of her childhood there. The move to England is quite difficult for Titi. You can see this in the fact that it leads to her behavior changing. For example, you could explain that Titi was initially a happy, talkative child back home in Nigeria, but she stops being as open and talkative after moving to England. This is totally understandable, given that life in England is very different to the life she had been used to in Nigeria.

However, you might also want to point out that this is probably also caused, at least to some extent, by Titi's relationship with her very strict and dominant father. Living in England without her friends and family and being forced to converse in English rather than her native language would have been very difficult for Titi.

How old is Titi in Second-Class Citizen?

Titi is almost two years old and Vicki nine months when Adah falls pregnant with another child. Although Adah is a loving mother who regards having children as a blessing, she's also aware that it represents a lack of control over her life.

As her husband refuses to use contraception or to allow her to use contraception herself, Adah ends up getting pregnant at regular intervals, often at the least convenient times. Her latest pregnancy is all the more inconvenient because Adah has just found a new job as senior library assistant at the North Finchley Library.

Titi's age, which, as we've seen, is almost two years old, combined with Vicki's age—nine months—is an indication of Adah's fecundity, her remarkable ability to produce offspring on a regular basis. Adah's husband Francis, wedded as he is to traditional Nigerian ways, may regard this as a good thing, but it's holding back Adah from doing the things she wants to do in life.

Adah is all too aware of this, which is why she makes inquiries concerning contraception. Such options weren't available to her back in Africa, but in the Britain of the 1960s, where the Pill is widely available, she can now seriously consider taking control over her body and its reproductive capacity.