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.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your post, I never really put much thought into how the structure of the novel played into our view of Iflemelu. However, when I look back and reflect on the earlier portions of the novel, and my notes and comments, I can clearly see how my perception shifted as we saw more of what led to Ifemelus decision. An example of this, from the very beginning, is when Iflemelu tells Blaine that she’s moving back to Nigeria. Rather than offer the reader, or Blaine, an explanation or a reason, the narrator states this: “But she had not had a bold epiphany and there was no cause; it was simply that layer after layer of discontent had settled in her, and formed a mass that now propelled her” (Adichie ). While at the beginning I was a little confused, and didn’t understand quite what she meant, after reading of her experiences and her discontent I began to understand the reasoning behind her decision. I felt that her blog posts were also a great way for Ifluemelu to show her increased understanding of American race and the growing discontent that came with that understanding. With every blogpost, she seemed to say more and more that others were unwilling to, and I believe that the popularity of the blog can be attributed to that boldness. Ultimately, I agree with you that as we learn more about Ifluemelus experience in America that her decisions make more sense and we gain a better understanding of her as a character.
That is an excellent point and really explains why Ifemelu and Obinze’s cheating at the end of the novel did not bother me as much as it should have. There was a distinct lack of mentioning both Kosi and Buchi during their affair, a fact that is even pointed out by Ifemelu, who notices that “looming over them now was the marriage he never talked about” (554). And truly, Obinze and Ifemelu’s affair is wrong, especially considering his young daughter, but still both of their actions are justified by the overall structure of the novel. We, the readers, know what Ifemelu and Obinze have gone through. We have seen Ifemelu’s unhappiness in all of her American relationships, and the crises of identity she had to go through while adjusting to American life. We have also seen Obinze get kicked out of the UK, sacrificing his American dreams, until he eventually finds himself in a stable but unsatisfying marriage to a woman he merely tolerates, but is not “the woman [he] love[s]” (558). For this reason, Obinze’s return to Ifemelu at the end of the novel is seen as an overwhelming victory for two people who truly love each other, rather than an amoral decision that leaves Obinze’s wife and child without a husband and father.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how the other members of this class felt about Ifemelu and Curt, but I can assure you I cringed every single time I read about those two. It is completely surprising to me that a headstrong person such as Ifemelu dealt with insufferable events like every interaction with Laura and the constant white-man heroics of Curt (think back to when the salon would not do her eyebrows). Every time these happened, it was just plain awkward, and in Laura’s case, insensitive. This led me to the conclusion that Ifemelu’s choice to cheat on Curt was no mistake. Her subconscious concluded that she was finally fed up with all the tomfoolery/coping and was compelled to end the relationship in a non-confrontational manner. As the book is presented through Ifemelu’s eyes at that moment, we, the readers, are told the same version of the story that Curt receives. It is a classic “its me, not you” breakup that I can fail to see as anything other than a mental fabrication to avoid blaming nice-guy Curt. Think, which of these sounds worse; “I self-sabotage and that’s why I cheat” or “You and your family is super subtly racist and I am done with it”.
ReplyDelete