Americanah, by CHIMIMANDA NGOZIE ADICHIE
(deconstructed)
Overview - This book centres around a young adult woman, Ifemelu, who struggles with becoming ‘Americanized’ after leaving Nigeria to attend university in America. Her struggle extends to the hard acceptance of her immigrant, minority status, the blatant racism that is attached to her new identity, the faux success that immigrants are limited to and a strained long distance relationship with her secondary school beau. She eventually returns to Nigeria and re-acclimatises with life there.
Favourite Themes - Americanization and identity are the main themes of this story. The story unravels the falsehood of the American dream…wealth and status…and the disappoint it brings to Ifemelu and her loved ones as they strive to assimilate to the different social construct in the eastern United States. The first-person point of view in which the story is told gives a more in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the catastrophic influence the western world has had on aspiring immigrants.
Ultimately, Ifemelu is given the nickname Americanah because, though she resists it, her years in New Jersey have made her more brazen and straightforward, no longer identifying with the conversation etiquette in her hometown.
Love is the second theme that resonates in this book. Her relationships with African and African-American men, her love for family, culture and country, her love for herself as her identity changes time and again.
Characters – Ifemelu is the protagonist. She is from Lagos, Nigeria, leaves to study in America and eventually returns to Lagos. She becomes a nanny, has a blog centred around racism, gets a job in public relations but eventually moves back home.
Obinze – Ifemelu’s first beau from Lagos. He is wealthy and has status in Lagos. He is denied a visa to the US and goes to Britain instead. Is eventually deported back to Nigeria but builds a business in Lagos. Aunty Uju – though she a cousin, Uju acts as a big sister and aunt to Ifemelu. Uju is financially taken care of by the General, an older wealthy man. Uju has a house, clothing food, etc. and is also a financial saviour to Ifemelu’s family at times. Her relationship with the General leads to a child. After the General’s death, Uju also moves to America with her son (Dike) and tries to continue her medical studies.
Dike - Aunty Uju’s son who attempts suicide after he fails to fit into American culture.
Blaine – one of Ifemelu's American boyfriends and a prominent professor. He studies and writes about race and status. Ifemelu moves in with him.
Perspective: The story is written in a conversationalist style from a narrator’s voice, Ifemelu. There are pockets of thought and insight that help the reader understand and empathise more with the characters. There are multiple sub plots with characters closely related/connected to Ifemelu. There is comedy and emotion and a lot of race and racism.
Main Arch – the hurdle in this book is how to embrace and assimilate with American culture not only as an immigrant but as an immigrant of colour – an African immigrant. It focuses on how Ifemelu navigates her new identity while living in the States. The backdrop stories of Obinze’s and Aunty Uju’s experiences with the western world make the overall problem of escaping the psychological displacement of migration.
The book reaches a major turning point when Ifemelu migrates back to Nigeria having been jaded by American culture and its racial deprecation and realises, though her interactions with other Nigerians, that she is scarred by America and resists the nickname the Nigerians have given her: Americanah. She has forgotten what its like to be Nigerian. Although the book centres heavily on race and identity, it ends with love. After 13 years, Obinze and Ifemelu get back together.