Analysis of Ifemelu as a Character

Throughout the novel, Ifemelu develops as a very dynamic and interesting character. She marched to the beat of her own drum and doesn’t think or act like what is expected of her. It is evident in the flashback to her time in Nigeria when she is told to make decorations in a church. She replied by saying “Why should I make decorations for a thief?” (62) When she is questioned by Sister Ibinabo, she doesn’t apologize and stands her ground. She knows that what she said would get her in trouble, but she says it anyway.

            Her personality also shines through in her interactions in the hair salon. When Aisha was braiding her hair, she asks Ifemelu, “Why you don’t have relaxer?” To which Ifemelu responds, “I like my hair the way God made it” (15). Aisha didn’t understand why anyone would leave their hair natural instead of relaxing it. This shows how Ifemelu challenges what society expects of her. She is proud of who she is and will not change herself because of how others expect her to be.

            Also in the hair salon, the other women are focused on finding husbands. Aisha describes how there are two men and she wants to marry one of them. She talks about how they are Igbo and Igbo only marry Igbo. Much of the conversation revolves around these men and how she wants to get married. Ifemelu is not concerned with this. Marriage is not her top priority and she seems to stand out among the other women at the hair salon. She is more interested in moving back to Nigeria even though it likely means giving up her current relationship and marriage in the near future. Ifemelu doesn’t let this phase her and she continues down her own path.

            I think that Ifemelu is the type of character that one can connect with. She is a strong-willed individual. She possesses qualities that I think a lot of people aspire to have. She is her own independent person, who makes her own choices no matter what anyone else thinks.

Humility as an Expectation: Obinze's Character Analyzed

    In Americanah, there is no doubt that there is a certain tone and opinion on the will of certain characters to further their societal, academic, and economic standing. It is implied that characters who are outspoken and motivated are more likely to be successful in societal settings as well as in academia. An example of this may be the success of Ifemelu's blog, in which her brutally honest posts appeal to a mass audience and throw her into the world of online fame. When discussing the character of Obinze, one might say that his very nature is somewhat negative because of his lack of those character traits which epitomized the success of the blog: honesty and candor. However, it can be seen that although the man is reserved, his success in his profession has skyrocketed his social standing and that his reservation is now taken as humility. What makes Obinze such a thoughtful and righteously virtuous man is response to his so-called "humility" and his reactions to the extravagant, and sometimes sccurrilos, surroundings he has found himself in after the growth of his wealth.

   It can be argued that Obinze's humility comes not from a place of gratefulness, but rather comes as a result from his experiences in London and the forced silence he had to endure. Adichie describes this silence on page 318, "[Obinze] lived in London indeed but invisibly, his existence like an erased pencil sketch; each time he saw a policeman, or anyone in a uniform, anyone with the faintest scent of authority, he would fight the urge to run" (Adichie 318). When taking into account the fact that he was an undocumented immigrant to a strong nation, one can begin to see that his humility in the presence of Chief and other strong personalities may actually have been due to a survival mechanism he created for himself thousands of miles away. This perspective can add a deeper meaning to the scene in which Obinze says that "he wished Okwudiba would see that to call him humble was to make rudeness normal" (Adichie 40). To praise his Obinze's humility after later knowing what he has gone through would be to normalize his experience in the UK and the "invisibility" which he to suffer. It is known that Obinze is thoughtful and quiet, but his perspective on being called humble reveals much more of his personality than at first glance.

Corruption in Two Worlds

                In Adichie’s Americanah, one follows the journey of a young Nigerian woman named Ifemelu as she migrates from her homeland to the United States. However, unlike most immigrant stories, Americanah does not paint either country in a positive light. In fact, one observes throughout the novel that Ifemelu is dissatisfied with her life in either country because of differing types of corruption that plague each culture.

                In Nigeria, one finds that the corruption is far more physical and wide-spread in terms of the injustices dealt to the people. For example, early in the novel Ifemelu takes part in church activities because of her mother’s newfound Christianity. One of these activities involves making decorations to thank Chief Omenke, a military man who uses dirty money to donate two vans for the church. Fed up with celebrating criminality, Ifemelu refuses by asking the group’s leading sister, “Why should I make decorations for a thief?” (Adichie 62). In response to this protestation, Sister Ibinabo bluntly responds, “This church is full of 419 men. Why should we pretend that this hall was not built with dirty money?” (Adichie 62). This interaction encapsulates the Nigerian attitude regarding the acceptance and normality of corruption. Adichie only expounds on this with the relationship between Aunty Uju and “The General.” It is apparent that The General is only able to live a lavish immoral lifestyle with Uju as his mistress thanks to the misdeeds and flaws of Nigeria’s government. Despite that, Uju willingly dives into this wrongful luxury, and Ifemelu’s mother has no quarries with it, instead accepting TVs and other gifts from Uju (Adichie 90). Seeing the faults of her country’s social system firsthand and through the imploding life of her role model, Ifemelu loses faith in Nigeria. In fact, the persisting conflict between education and government is ultimately the catalyst that brings Ifemelu to America.

                Coming to America, the wrongdoings Ifemelu experiences are not as overt or as physical as Nigeria’s, but rather engrained in the racial biases of the people. For example, one day while working as Kimberly’s babysitter, she describes a tense interaction between herself and a white lawn maintenance man. As Ifemelu looks out of the doorway of Kimberly’s house, the lawn maintenance man “stiffened when he saw her. First surprise flitted over his features, then it ossified to hostility,” (Adichie 204). However, upon realizing that she was not the property owner he mollifies his expression and approaches her with warmth. In Nigeria, Ifemelu is accustomed to money and class playing as indicators of one’s social class, but as she writes in her blog post concerning the interaction, “Sometimes in America, Race Is Class,” (Adichie 205). In America it is evident that money, history, and intelligence are superseded by her racial and physical appearance, a statement that is exemplified through her quarrels with hair. After painfully straightening her hair for a job interview, Ifemelu explains to Curt that, “My full and cool hair would work if I were interviewing to be a backup singer in a jazz band, but I need to look professional for this interview, and professional means straight is best but if it’s going to be curly then it has to be the white kind of curly, loose curls or, at worst, spiral curls but never kinky,” (Adichie 253). Like the lawn maintenance man’s comfort with a black-looking woman being of a lower-class occupation, this excerpt reveals how black women must adopt a white look to make employers comfortable hiring them for more esteemed positions. These micro-aggressions cut away all parts of Ifemelu’s true personality as she is unused to being judged by the conformity of her appearance.

                Both cultures have their faults concerning the equality and justice of the individual. However, while Nigeria’s issues were external in the form of government and illegal funds, America’s internal issues were just as prevalent in the form of racial stereotypes and unspoken expectations. Each digs away at different aspects of Ifemelu’s being until all she has to drive her in either country are her relationships with family and loved ones.

The role of preconceived judgements in Americana

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is critical of race relations in the United States. Through Ifemelu, Adichie points out how often Americans attempt to cover the fact that they judge based off of skin color. Ifemelu’s race makes her judged until people realize that this is not a black American. Adichie’s novel is not only an argument against racism in the United States, but also an argument against preconceived judgements in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

Ifemelu consistently mentions throughout her story how she had to adapt to U.S. standards to ensure that her opportunities were not limited. She talks about the advice she received before her first interview. “Lose the braids and straighten your hair. Nobody says this kind of stuff but it matters” (250). To ensure success in the states, you need to look as white as possible. The racism in the states affects everyone at every age. Mr. White was accused of being a drug dealer just based off the fact him and his friend were black. Ifemelu mentions that “a white library employee, watching them, assumed that the two black men were dealing drugs” (424). Mr. White was a library security guard. Most likely the employee would have known him. Adichie adds in snippets of information like this throughout the novel to showcase how blacks in America are judged not only by strangers, but by friends and colleagues.  

Adichie is not only critical of America for its judgmental tendencies. She often brings up how Nigerians judge based off of a person’s international experiences and the appearance of wealth. In the beginning of the novel, Ifemelu is overwhelmed by the grandness of where Aunty Uju lives, owned by the General of course. It’s a show of his power in Nigeria. When she returns to Nigeria as an adult, she looks down upon such houses. “Here she was now, disliking it with the haughty confidence of a person who recognized kitsch” (485). She begins to notice that the Nigerians look up at those who are seen as more westernized as shown through their material goods and experiences. Her new boss brags upon Ifemelu’s foreign education. “Most of my staff are foreign graduates while that woman at Glass hires riffraff who cannot punctuate sentences!” (495). For Aunty Onenu and many others, a foreigner or a Nigerian educated abroad gives them a higher status. They automatically assume that they are better and smarter than Nigerians who never left.

Adichie draws parallels between Nigeria and America throughout Americanah. Although America is racist, Nigeria is elitist. By putting Ifemelu as a citizen of both nations, we see how neither judgements allow for an accurate depiction of character. Adichie tolerates neither elitism nor racism by making despicable characters out of those who are only focused on wealth and status (Emenike) and by not characterizing one race as better than the other. Americanah is an argument on how we should strive to overcome our judgements and focus on character alone. 

Justification of Relationship Failure in Americanah

   The literary structure presented in Americanah helps to show the justification of actions throughout the novel. By the frequent flashbacks being able to mesh with the current situations for the characters, Adichie is attempting to prove that many actions are well-ground and justified through years of conditioning and similar experiences.

   The novel focuses much of its effort on race, focusing on the actions of Ifemelu and Obinze, both Nigerian natives forced to deal with poverty in a predominantly white culture. This task, although difficult, is used by Adichie to address the obvious: that those who have darker skin do not get the same opportunities as people who have lighter skin. This is observed by Ifemelu in many of her blog posts, most clearly in her post entitled “Why Dark-Skinned Black Women- Both American and Non-American- Love Barack Obama,” where she describes the value that African Americans hold on the importance of how others view their skin tone, saying that “many American blacks proudly say that they have some ‘Indian.’ Which means … they are not too dark” and that “American black men resent light men, for having it too easy with the ladies” (Adichie 264-5). The importance of these observations in her blog post provide a platform to showcase a decision contrary to the mainstream belief. Many of her blog posts are in response to actions that occurred in her life and help to demonstrate the evolution of her thoughts that are based in her perception of America and its culture. 

   Her thoughts shared in the blog post almost always contradict the attitudes shared by many of Curt's friends. And, perhaps if Ifemelu had begun the blog posts earlier, the true reasoning behind her ability to cheat on Curt would be more evident to the reader who is unsatisfied with simply her being “curious” or interested in “self-sabotage” (Adichie 355-6). Perhaps she felt out of place and simply needed an excuse to leave the relationship and avoid racism. This would help to explain why she eventually allows Obinze to enter her life even though he left his wife and essentially turned on his child.

   These blog posts and continuous mistreatment by others help to justify Ifemelu’s beliefs and actions. Because of the consistent attitudes regarding culturally taboo subjects in America, Ifemelu is motivated to continue to seek her African roots in an attempt to avoid racism and stereotyping.

Honesty in Americanah

Ifemelu appears to be a forthright and honest person in Americanah, especially when we first get to know her. However, as the book progresses we see how her (and other characters) relationship with honesty becomes more blurred. Honesty and innocence are related in Americanah through the various ways that people are forced to be dishonest with themselves and others to survive and get what they want.

There are some instances of outright dishonesty in the book as characters manipulate the truth to get what they want. For example, Ifemelu lies to Blain about why she didn’t come to his protest on campus. Another particularly poignant example is Obinze’s mother lying to get him a visa to England. This is dramatic for him as “she was a woman…who would not lie” (290) and yet she had to get him a better life because his mind was no longer in Nigeria. The book has a mixed reaction to these choices. On the one hand, it excuses these acts as necessary for survival and personal happiness. Obinze notes that “truth had indeed, in their circumstances, become a luxury” (290), and for Ifemelu it allows her to escape the bubble of Blaine’s self-righteousness. However, dishonesty leads to unhappiness and distress; Obinze gets deported and Ifemelu gets into a fight with Blain. This isn’t to say that good things always happen when characters are honest and bare their souls either. When Ifemelu tries to be honest about race at the various conventions she is invited to she gets a very cold reaction, and realizes that her audience doesn’t want her truth. I even saw this  in the way people reacted when she started wearing her true hair as opposed to relaxing it. But in the scenes where the characters allow themselves to honest with others, their best qualities often come forth.

While the honesty with others is important to character development in this book, I think that the characters’ honesty with themselves is even more important. Characters often ignore their true feelings or problems. For example, Ifemelu refuses to admit that she had a major depressive episode saying, “depression was what happened to Americans, with their self-absolving need to turn everything into an illness” (194). This prevails throughout the book, as many characters lie to themselves about the status of their mental health. Another interesting example is her parents, who both indulge in their own self-deception. Her father likes to speak high-brow English even though he is a blue-collar worker, and her mother blames all her problems on the Devil and refuses to admit fault. The self-deceptions tell us a lot about the characters’ self-image. One could posit that Ifemelu refuses to admit to mental health issues because that would prove she is a fragile American and not a true Nigerian who (according to her) don’t have those issues.