Family and Fulfilling Desires

There is a stark contrast between Aloma and Orren’s desires in the novel. The surface-level difference is apparent: Aloma wants to leave the place where they live, while Orren wants to stay. However, these desires stem from a more fundamental difference between them: family. Aloma never truly had a family, and therefore never had any emotional bond tying her to where she was. Even though she lived with her aunt and uncle and then with students at school, these places “pressed on her ceaselessly,” and what she wanted “more than family...more than friendship...more than love” was to leave (13). She also has very few material belongings, so all of her dreams are based on the intangible: she wants to make beautiful music, she wants freedom from darkness, she values beauty. Even the most physically grounded of her desires, leaving, is only a vague wish for anywhere else—far from concrete. These intangible desires are also ones that she can easily fulfill alone, without family; her dreams are emotionally independent.

Orren, however, feels connected to his physical surroundings because he grew up in a loving family. His true desire is for his family to be alive again, so he grasps at the only material remnants of his family life by moving into his childhood home and attempting to leave the newer house untouched after they die, because, he says, “This is their house” (157)—is, not was. He is dependent, if not on people, than on the world around him, because controlling it is his way of coping with grief. Bringing his family’s farm back to life seems to be a way of trying to bring them back to life, as if by filling their roles and preserving their home it will be like they are still with him.

The characters’ desires are incompatible both practically (staying vs. leaving) and emotionally, since Orren tries to physically revive what he has lost and Aloma strives for happiness from intangible sources. Neither of them truly fulfills these desires by the end of the novel, but instead, these desires shift, and there is some hope for their fulfilling their new desires sometime beyond the novel’s ending. When Aloma tells Orren “Emma and Cash don’t live here anymore...They’re dead” (157)”, it seems this finally sets in: his eyes take on an “emptiness” (157). But after the birth of the calf, he is “better than daylight” (184): instead of trying to bring his parents back to life, he finds happiness in bringing new life into the world. After this, he is more willing to change: he’s open to getting rid of the old piano and moving some pictures, and most notable, suggests marriage.

Aloma also changes by the end of the novel and begins take more pleasure in her life: after the fight with Bell, she at least finds the old house “bearable” (173), and when Orren later calls for her, she finds “her heart rising” (175). She also shows Orren the carving his parents made, letting go of some spite and at least partially accepting Orren’s deep emotional connections to his past. Because of the characters’ changes, I think it’s possible for them to someday compromise about the things on which they disagree, and help each other be happy.

Who Really is Ifemelu?

THE FOLLOWING POST IS KATIE GARCIA'S:

Ifemelu appears to be a headstrong, unwavering woman that views herself has outside of the standards of a typical woman. In fact, Obinze loves her because “she can argue. She can talk. She never agrees” and unlike the others, she’s not just “a sweet girl,” (Adiche 73). A “sweet girl,” according to Ifemelu, has the underlying meaning of being malleable and submissive. Curt fell in love with Ifemelu’s uniqueness to the point that he had never felt the same about any other woman.

Personally, I think that she is not as much of an outlier as she and everyone thinks. Ifemelu judged Aisha, the American-African hairdresser, for obsessively wanting to marry two men who will never marry her. Though she views this woman as pathetic, she herself obsessively fantasized about being with a man who will never marry her, Obinze. She also judges women, even her own friend, Ranyinudo, who date rich, married men and rely on them for financial support. With this judgement, Ifemelu is hypocritical. If it weren’t for Curt, she wouldn’t have been able to get her green card in America. Even though she wasn’t with Curt for money, Ifemelu would not have had her quality of life without him. Furthermore, after returning to Nigeria, Ifemelu eventually started seeing Obinze, who is, in fact, a rich, married man. Another point to notice is that despite Ifemelu being extremely judgmental of other people, she needs a clubs and groups to feel at home. For example, when she was at Princeton, she felt uneasy until she joined the ASA. And when she went back to Nigeria, she finally felt comfort when she joined the Nigerpolitan Club.

Ifemelu’s principal problem seems to be the ability to feel at home somewhere. She felt out of place in America as an African, yet she feels forever changed by America after returning to Nigeria. I believe that her main goal is to find a place where she belongs. This goal is personal and independent, the two adjectives that Ifemelu, in my opinion, wants to emulate. In spite of this, Ifemelu’s actions taken to achieve this goal are dependent on other people. The book ends with her writing all of her blogs with Obinze in mind, her calling two past men in her life, Blaine and Curt, and her having a sex with Fred, a man whom she likes, but will never be able to feel strongly for. Ultimately, Ifemelu portrays a person who is independent and self-aware. She fronts these qualities through her judgements on other people and her blog posts. Looking beyond Ifemelu’s outward façade, I believe that she is just as insecure, reliant, and basic as the rest of us.

Searching, but for what?

Modern-day culture is obsessed with “finding” ourselves. In Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses the story of young a Nigerian, Ifemelu, to explore the difficulties of trying to find oneself in a world filled with expectations and racism. Before Ifemelu moves to America, she has this idealistic view of what life in America will be like. She imagines it will be something like “The Cosby Show”, but quickly discovers that American reality for a Nigerian immigrant is much more complex than it is portrayed on television. Not only is the culture different than Ifemelu imagined, but the impact that Western Culture has on immigrants shocks her. During her first summer in America, Ifemelu notices changes in her Aunt Uju. Ifemelu feels as if Uju has given up part of herself to be accepted into this new world. The whole summer, Ifemelu feels as if America is unfulfilling, and in Chapter 10, when thinking about American commercials, Adichie writes, “She ached for the lives they showed, lives full of bliss, where all problems had sparkling solutions in shampoos and cars and packaged foods, and in her mind, they became the real America…” (p. 139) This quote exemplifies a common feeling that many people have when dreaming of a life better than their own. I think that Adichie is drawing on a broader human issue with the theme of craving a new identity in Americanah. We all want things we do not have, and we all dream of a world where these things are attainable; when she discusses the emptiness that Ifemelu feels in America, she is exploring the idea that happiness does not necessarily come with attaining the unattainable.

Adichie dives deeper into this theme when Ifemelu’s long-time boyfriend, Obinze, moves to England. Like Ifemelu, Obinze had a picturesque image of what life in England would be like, and upon arrival, he discovered that the “universe would not bend according to his will” (p. 287). Despite his worldliness and intelligence, Obinze struggles with getting a green-card and is forced to do mindless labor jobs, such as toilet cleaning. This shows that in a place like England, where Obinze discovers the true ramifications of racism, intelligence does not matter as much as social standing. Obinze sees first-hand the fear that people have towards immigrants. As Obinze is on a train in Chapter 27, Adichie writes, “The wind blowing across the British Isles was odorous with fear of asylum seekers, infecting everybody with the panic of impending doom…” I like this quote because I feel like it may always be relevant. We, as a people, are afraid of what we do not understand. Americanah showed me that sometimes, you do not have to search the world to find happiness. In the end, both Ifemelu and Obinze end up in similar places where they started, though more aware of the fear and rejection that exists in the world.

Obama's Presidency: Deepening the Bond

Ifemelu and Blaine's relationship is on the verge of unraveling after Ifemelu lied to him about why she did not take part in his protest. However, it is Obama’s campaign for presidency that helps reignite some passion between them and enables them to find common ground. Prior to, Ifemelu feels as though her and Blaine’s union “was leached of passion,” (437) but after reading Obama’s Dreams from My Father, an unspoken bond is formed. It is a bond that not only connects Ifemelu and Blaine to each other, but so many Black Americans who are all hoping for one thing: change.

Throughout the duration of their Ifemelu and Blaine’s relationship, Blaine, being an academic, has always held strong opinions about race and the ideals of race in America. The first time Ifemelu informed Blaine of her desire for Obama to become president, his eyes lit up and Adichie notes that Blaine “had not dared hope she would believe the same thing that he believed” (438). It is this line that we begin to see the rekindling of the flame between them. Ifemelu taking an interest in one of Blaine’s passions allowed them to connect on a deeper level than they had not been able to before. When Obama was announced as the Democratic Party nominee, Ifemelu and Blaine made love for the first time in weeks. During their lovemaking, “Obama was there with them, like an unspoken prayer, a third emotional presence” (442). He was the glue that held the cracks in Ifemelu and Blaine’s relationship together.  This deep physical and emotional connection was only made possible due to Obama’s victory.

Not only was Ifemelu able to bond with Blaine over her newfound love of Obama, but she “no longer felt excluded” (441) from his group of academically-inclined friends. As all of Blaine’s friends were Obama supporters, Ifemelu could contribute to the conversation at their gatherings, without fear of criticism. They shared the same hope for a world in which a black man could become president as Adichie later notes, “their friends, like her and Blaine, were believers. True believers” (442).

Obama had inspired hope and deepened bonds, not just for Ifemelu and Blaine, but for many others within the black American community. One day, Blaine came home with news that while working for the Obama campaign, he met a woman who told him she “didn’t think that this would happen even in [her] grandbaby’s lifetime” (441). Obama was a role model that black Americans could look at and relate to due to his skin color. After Obama was projected to be the next president of the United States, Ifemelu received a text from Dike saying, “I can’t believe it. My president is black like me” (447). Ultimately, Obama aided in fixing the divide in America, yet also in Ifemelu and Blaine's relationship.

Hair, Prejudice, and Identity in Americanah

            The first day in class discussion of Americanah, we watched an interview with Adiche in which she said the novel is about, among other things, hair. It left me wondering how something as seemingly trivial as hair can be a central point in a bestselling novel. I've never really had to think about my hair as a reflection of my character, but the societal standards for hair throughout Americanah illuminate the shift in identity that some individuals have to go through in order to be taken seriously in the adult world.
            Hair is central to Ifemelu's story from the very beginning of Americanah. In Chapter 1, Ifemelu has to travel from her home in Princeton to the nearby city of Trenton in order to get her hair braided, because the few black people in Princeton are "so light-skinned and lank-haired that she could not imagine them wearing braids" (3-4). The fact that Ifemelu has to travel to the part of the city with "graffiti, dank buildings, and no white people" to get her hair braided sets up an immediate standard for what is considered appropriate of certain classes throughout the novel (10). From the very beginning of Americanah, hair braiding is portrayed as central to Ifemelu's character, and also in contrast with the expectations of the society in which she lives.  Ifemelu does not completely belong in Princeton or Trenton.
            Throughout the novel, Adiche juxtaposes the American view of braided or natural hair with the pride felt by Ifemelu for her braids and the braids of those around her. For example, when Ifemelu first comes to America, she is taken aback by Aunty Uju, whose life seems to be in disarray, and how " the old Aunty Uju would never have worn her hair in such scruffy braids" (135). For Ifemelu, well-braided hair is a point of pride, and Uju's messy braids are an outward inclination of her inner turmoil, and that "America had subdued her" (135). Ifemelu's pride in her hair is also what makes it so difficult and demoralizing for her to get her hair relaxed for job interviews in the future. When Ifemelu does finally give into the pressure to make her hair look like that of a white woman, she feels like a part of her natural self has died and become replaced with a painful lie. Relaxed hair, like speaking in an American accent, is Ifemelu's eventual inclination of how American she has become, until she starts fighting back against the trends, wearing her hair natural and speaking in her own voice.
            When Ifemelu comes back to Nigeria, she joins the Nigerpolitan club, which is essentially a gathering in which returnees from America and England can get together and criticize both Nigeria and the country from which they returned. They discuss how "the hairdressers struggled and fumbled to comb natural hair, as though it were an alien eruption, as though their own hair was not the same way before it was defeated by chemicals" (501-502). This conversation is pivotal, because it illuminates the continuity of experience between Ifemelu and those who were in similar situations. It makes it impossible for the reader to say "maybe we as a society are accepting of all hair and Ifemelu just got in with the wrong people. It makes us as a whole take responsibility for the prejudice we have against some hair over others, which can lead to a favoring of certain people over others.

Blessed Be The Honest

When I say honest, what type of person comes to mind? Is it a child, whose naïve nature results to honest blunders? Is it an elderly person, whose honesty the younger generation perceives as “having lost their filter”? Or is it a person whose faith consumes them, who lives a “pure” life for the impure intention of a perfect afterlife?

 In the novel Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie challenges this global convention of religion and moral purity equating to honesty by pitting honesty against religion. Using characters who are either honest or religious, Adichie effectively created a contrast between honesty and religiousness, and has in turn challenged globally moral norms.

When it comes to honest characters, Adichie clearly paints them in a positive light, although the characters themselves lie within a ground of moral murkiness. Ifemelu, a character whose journey to and from America was documented for a grand majority of the novel, is an excellent example of a morally ambiguous but honest person. Her blog, Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black, was a true representation of her honest, yet controversial, character. In a blog post titled “What’s The Deal?”, Ifemelu almost supports the notion of racism due to genetic variances by stating “…black people have a worse kind of breast cancer and get fibrosis.And white folk get cystic fibrosis and osteoporosis,” (pg 374). Although this post is honest and does provide specific examples to support her legitimacy as a blogger, her viewpoint is wholeheartedly controversial. However, she is being honest, which leads to success in her blog. Therefore, by being honest and being successful in her endeavors as a blogger, Adichie has promoted honesty as a quality for success. And perhaps the most interesting way that Adichie has used honesty to promote success is by showing the digression of characters when they lean toward dishonesty. Obinze’s mom, the college professor that raised her son to actively look for honesty (which draws him to Ifemelu initially), has this dynamic character shift when she is trying to send her son to Britain. She sends her son overseas by fudging his reasoning for a visa, and when her son is astonished by her even recommending this route she responds, “I understand this type of thing is done nowadays,” (pg 290). Obinze’s adventure in Britain ends with his deportation, and this is fueled by layers and layers of lies. Obinze’s mom’s dishonesty is really the catalyst for Obinze’s misfortune. Adichie is doing this purposefully, as we see the “role model” of honesty, Obinze’s mom, dramatically go against her beliefs only to have it lead to ruin for other characters. Overall, Adichie has emphasized the importance of honesty by correlating it directly to success.

Religion, on the other hand, does not correspond with success directly; religion corresponds with a dishonesty that leads characters to become unsuccessful or unhappy. Ifemelu’s mom, a religious woman who yearned to be part of any religion, fully portrayed the average religious Nigerian woman who attempted to use religion to go ahead in class. When Ifemelu refused to make the wreath for the 419 men in church, her mother was upset at this defiance. “Do not judge. Leave the judging to God!” (pg 63). By relying on God as the moral judge of all, Ifemelu’s mom gave herself a pass for supporting a church that openly supports crime bosses. Conventionally, a church is thought of as a place to help the poor and heal the sick, not to glorify donors and support social class. But since these actions are done under God’s house, many people like Ifemelu’s mom think that it is okay. This is perhaps why Adichie reinforces the disparity that Ifemelu’s family lives in compared to most people of their church, to prove that the dishonesty and corruption within this institution does not benefit anyone. Besides socially and economically losing in the name of religion, Adichie pulls another aspect of human life that is lost through the lens of religion: happiness. Kosi and her marriage to Obinze support this notion through Kosi’s obsessive need to please everyone, especially including God. When Obinze first initially tries to leave Kosi and she reveals that she knows that he has been cheating on her, Kosi proclaims, “You took a vow before God. I took a vow before God. I am a good wife,” (pg 572). She is using this defense of religion to keep her marriage intact, although they are both unhappy. Kosi had been dishonest by not revealing to her husband that she knew he was cheating and by continuing to let him do it. Her religion told her to be a “good wife” and so she obeyed, although it made her extremely unhappy. Adichie has proved her point; dishonesty in the name of religion makes one’s life worse.

Honesty and religion, as proved through Americanah, are not synonymous qualities. In our society, perhaps people are not as transparently honest or religious as the characters of this novel are; people are more in a spectrum of honesty. We are not inherently honest or dishonest, but we can not assume that being religious or endowed in a faith makes us an honest, “good” person. This is perhaps the truth that Adichie alludes to, through giving honest characters success and giving dishonest, yet religious, characters ill fortune. She has proven through the usage of her characters that the global societal standard of moral purity and good fortune towards those who believe is, if I am being honest, untrue.   

Being Racist in Modern America

While reading Americanah I came across one particular blog post of Ifemelu’s that I found to be extremely thought provoking and interesting.   In her post, titled Job Vacancy in America – Arbiter in Chief of “Who is Racist,” Ifemelu makes a bold and slightly shocking assertion that “In America, racism exists but racists are all gone.  Racists belong to the past.”  (Adiche, 390).  This assertion is quickly followed up with an explanation that made me think deeper about the topic of racism and what it means to be racist.

The final lines of her post read “Somebody needs to get the job of deciding who is racist and who isn’t.  Or maybe it’s time to just scrap the word ‘racist.’ Find something new. Like Racial Disorder Syndrome. And we could have different categories for sufferers of this syndrome; mild, medium, and acute,” (390).  While I believe Ifemelu may be poking fun at the fact that (at least in her mind) Americans have a “self-absolving need to turn everything into an illness,” (Adiche, 194), I also believe that she is touching on something very important when it comes to advancing the conversation of racism and what it means to be racist.  In his TED Talk titled How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race, Jay Smooth expands on this idea and discusses how in today’s society the idea of someone being racist is extremely black and white.  What he means by this is that people are put into two distinct categories and those categories are the person is either racist, or they are not. Too many people, including myself before reading Americanah and watching Jay Smooth’s TED Talk, think this way and view the entire subject of racism as a simple, black and white issue, when in reality it is much deeper and complex and has a very big grey area.  While I don’t agree with Ifemelu when she states “racists are gone,” (390), I think that she is on to something when she suggests having different categories for racism (or “Racial Disorder Syndrome” as she calls it) and believe that it is a good start when it comes to advancing conversations surrounding the topics of race and racism. 

This is because Ifemelu’s “categories” acknowledge the fact that racism is a spectrum and isn’t black and white.  People, as Jay Smooth states, make mistakes and may occasionally say something racist or offensive, even though it is not their intention (like Kimberly and Curt).  While what they said should not be downplayed and should be brought to their attention immediately due to the fact that it is serious, they should not have to worry about being labeled as a full-blown racist because that will only make them shy away from touching on the topics of race and racism in the future, when instead they should be openly discussed so that people can learn from their mistakes and advance the conversation, which is something that I believe Ifemelu would want.