messiah-lutheran.org
Last month we read Americanah, critically praised as one of the best books of 2013. A celebrated author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers a unique perspective on racism in the United States through the eyes and voice of Ifemelu, a Nigerian immigrant who arrives in the States to pursue a dream. While growing up in her native land, skin color was not an issue, but in America, a place of golden opportunities, Ifemelu discovers a nation still reeling from the aftershocks of slavery nearly one-hundred-fifty years later. Racial slurs, political correctness, and social order based on skin color are confusing in this new world, but become fodder for irreverent observations on the popular blog she creates later.
vogue.com
Ifemelu's love for Obinze, the high-school boyfriend who encourages her to go to America -- says he will come later, is the thread that drives this love story. Unfortunately, the America she encounters is not a land of milk and honey, but a land that threatens Ifemelu's very existence. Up against a wall, she's forced to make a bargain with the devil for her survival. In the aftermath, Ifemelu loses herself and Obinze too. After she returns to her native speech pattern (she abandoned it to fit into her adopted country) and decides to wear her hair natural, Ifemelu finds her way. She graduates from college, and stability and respect follow, anchoring her to solid ground and a more predictable future. But, like many heroines before her, the pot at the end of Ifemelu's rainbow is not the one she set out to find.
Much of Adichie's plot unfolds as backstory from a beauty parlor in a northeast urban neighborhood. Seated in the chair for a hair appointment, Ifemelu watches, listens, and even interacts with a mix of colorful characters who discuss personal relationships and business affairs, all while they iron, straighten, cut, and set customers' hair. The narrative returns repeatedly to the significance of hair to black women of African descent -- an entertaining literary device for exploring the theme of identity woven through the novel. In the end, Ifemelu's story is about a solitary journey spanning two continents with vast differences in search of singular meaning and love. I found the novel highly relatable. Anyone who's left the comforts of family, home, or a job to settle in new places, cultures, or jobs that challenge their social norms may recognize the difficulties of adapting to the new environment. The pangs of love lost will also resonate, especially when new loves end or fall short. The echo of home rings loud and clear. Whether you grew up in Nigeria or New Mexico, and move to Alabama or Africa, certain remnants of childhood and home remain intact, like DNA, as a point of reference for all that follows.
