Throughout Americanah, topics of success, racism, wealth, happiness, and love are explored through the perspective of Ifemelu. Though this Nigerian character begins and ends her journey in the novel in her home country, her distinct experiences abroad facilitate new kinds of growth. Upon having completed Americanah, the way the outlook of Ifemelu evolves over her time in America was the most interesting aspect. Through her judgemental tone that develops while blogging, especially as Ifemelu chases romantic love in America, there is so much learned about the struggles of being African in America.
As Ifemelu travels to America from Nigeria, she is immediately struck by the stark differences the country reveals. She wishes for the “lives full of bliss” shown in American commercials (139) but quickly finds that America is perhaps just as full of poverty and struggle as Nigeria. It was interesting that since everything around her has changed so drastically, from the learning styles of her classrooms to the sudden emphasis on the color of her skin, Ifemelu does not immediately run back to the people and places she has known. For someone characterized as so independent and strong-minded by Obinze at the novel’s beginning, she is unpredictable in her willingness to abandon her existing closeness with characters like Obinze and Aunty Uju; instead, she dives into new relationships and judges all she can about America through the worlds of new partners. Adichie writes, “She hungered to understand everything about America, to wear a new, knowing skin right away” (166), and with Curt and Blaine, she does just that. The judgemental tone of Ifemelu’s perspective grows as she adjusts to life in America. Her blog posts, where she interrupts the story to add her perspective on American life as an African, become much more frequent and scathing as soon as she starts seriously dating in America. Whereas her early posts have titles that entertain the notions of “Understanding America” and use comforting language, like “it takes a while to figure it all out,” and “the longer you are here, the more you start to get it” (227-228), her posts after beginning to date an upperclass, white man, Curt, become more scathing. They shift even further as Ifemelu dates the academic Blaine, bleeding into the narration of the book as Ifemelu interacts with Blaine’s friends. Blog post sentences like “‘Oppression olympics’ is what smart liberal Amerians say, to make you feel stupid and to make you shut up” (253) and social accusations like “academics were not intellectuals; they were not curious, they built their stolid tents of specialized knowledge and stayed securely in them” (401) reveal the wall of judgement Ifemelu has put up as she experiences life in America with these two men. Shedding her skin and adapting to life comes with consequences for Ifemelu: at the expense of gaining an awakened and critical eye for the culture of racism in America, she becomes hyperaware of her own predicament and a shell of the happy, independent woman she once was.
I think it was also interesting to see the difference between Ifemelu’s perception of America versus when she was living in America. Prior to moving, Ifemelu had thought of the dreams and aspirations that could be pursued as a result of coming to America, yet after moving in with Aunty Uju that perception quickly changed. She no longer saw America as a wealthy land where anyone can pursue any aspiration they had, and quickly she saw how coming to America she would have to work much harder than those around her because of her ethnicity. The shift Ifemelu had in her blog posts was also an interesting remark, as she became more critical of America throughout the blog postings we saw towards the end of the novel. From criticizing the perception of Michelle Obama’s hair not being naturally straight to defining an individual that is racist, the immigrant perception of America is prevalent throughout the blog posts as they show a shift in perception and their critiques of America as a whole. In addition, it is important to note how quickly Ifemelu wanted to adapt to America and make the country her new home. When the novel states “She hungered to understand everything about America, to wear a new, knowing skin right away” it demonstrates how willing Ifemelu was to leave her Nigerian practices as she moved to America and how this developed throughout the book as well, such as changing her hair and not keeping in touch with Obinze.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting that she looked down on those people who forgot their roots and became more American than the person they were before they immigrated. As time progresses, the only real thing she maintained from Nigeria was her Nigerian accent and the foods she ate. When it comes to ideals and the things she thought and wrote about, we see through Obinze's perspective before Part 6 that she has now changed and thinks about things that she previously would never have thought about. He says "he had last known her when she knew little of the things she blogged about, he felt a sense of loss" (Adichie 367). Even though he is saying she was ignorant and didn't know these things in her blog, if she were in Nigeria for those years, she would still not know most of the things she wrote about. I also liked the ending of your blog post how you mentioned the consequences of her learning more about America that you mentioned the loss of her own independence. This independence she had was something she only truly had in Nigeria and her going back allowed her to find herself again.
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