3 ideas
Uhamiri, the woman of the lake, gives her worshippers prosperity, beauty and spiritual standing but no children. For a woman whose status is blocked by infertility, devotion to her turns a private failure into a sacred calling, offering a recognized identity outside motherhood. The novel ends on the unresolved question of why women worship a goddess who has never known motherhood herself.
In the community of the novel, a woman's economic success earns her respect but does not settle her social worth, which is measured by whether she bears children. Efuru is praised for her trading and generosity, yet neighbours still judge her as incomplete, and the same wealth draws envy and suspicion. Money and motherhood work as separate systems of value, and the first cannot be converted into the second.
The women's constant talk at the market, the stream and in compounds works as an informal court. It interprets events, assigns blame and enforces norms about marriage, fertility and conduct.