The Unique Story Structure of Americanah
Emily Chen
After reading Purple Hibiscus in class, which I found very interesting, I saw another book written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Written in 2013, Americanah is a novel that follows Ifemelu through her journey as she moves to America after growing up in Nigeria. There, she attended University and struggled to make a living despite her academic success, all while half a world away from her high school boyfriend, Obinze. The two parted before Ifemelu left for America, but hope to get together again. Their dreams are dampened when the two drift apart after years without the two seeing each other. Obinze later gets married to a beautiful, but quiet, unintelligent, and submissive woman, who is the exact opposite of Ifemelu, who is bold and always speaks her mind. Americanah depicts Ifemelu’s life as she struggles with new ideas surrounding race and, for the first time, finds out what it means to be black in America.
Americanah is told in an unusual format; the novel starts off with Ifemelu having already made the decision to return to Nigeria. It depicts Obinze’s life in Nigeria with Kosi at that same moment, then jumps back in time, to Ifemelu and Obinze’s high school years, when it is revealed that the two met at a party. The novel slowly progresses towards the present, describing Ifemelu’s time at University and her life afterwards, as well as mentioning Obinze’s stay in England and his later marriage. The novel ends at what is presumably the present, with Ifemelu already being back in Nigeria for over a year.
This story structure creates more suspense in the novel, as readers are first plunged into Ifemelu’s life with no background information about her childhood or past decisions. This information is revealed slowly throughout the book as it progresses forward in time, starting with Ifemelu’s time in University. By telling the story this way, Adichie highlights Ifemelu’s growth over many years and her heightened awareness of race before and after moving to America.
The way that Adichie chose to tell Americanah reminds me of Purple Hibiscus, which also begins in the past, then skips back a large amount of time and slowly tells the story to the end. This type of story structure centers the entire novel around one major event, clearly showing the difference in the character’s lives before and after it has happened. In Purple Hibiscus, this event was Jaja skipping church and his father going into an uncontrollable rage, which significantly alters their lives. There is a clear contrast between the before and after surrounding that event, and the novel opening with it gives it a greater sense of importance. In Americanah, this "event" is Ifemelu’s last moments in America, which signifies her different perspectives on race. Before coming to America, Ifemelu had not paid much attention to race, as it was not as noticed in Nigeria. However, after coming to America, race and racism looms over her daily life, and plays a much bigger role in her life than it did in Nigeria. Ifemelu notices this, and reflects on her various encounters with racism and race by writing for her blog, Raceteenth. "Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I’m Jamaican or I’m Ghanaian. America doesn’t care," is just one of the many statements about race that Ifemelu makes on her blog (Adichie, 273).
I think it is very interesting that you chose to read another work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie after we had read one of her works as a class. The topic of immigration and self identity pertains to our society more now than it has ever before. The way in which you presented the themes and topics in this blog post was well done, and it was very interesting to read. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI like how you commented on the unusual format of the book and how it created suspense within the novel, as well as how it highlighted the protagonist's character development throughout the story. I also think it was a good move to relate this book to Purple Hibiscus, as it's a book everyone reading this blog post is familiar with. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and found the things you said interesting. The structure reminds me of the way that Purple Hibiscus was also told, with relation to Palm Sunday. The story sounds compelling and important to read. I liked your description of the book but also analysis of structure, story and comparison to PH. Great post, and i may even check this out!
ReplyDeleteI like how your blog post focused on the structure of the book, and it does remind me of how Purple Hibiscus was structured. I also like how you compared it to Purple Hibiscus, as in how the story revolves around one event and there is change before and after that event. The plot and the protagonist's development after coming to America seem to be interesting. I will consider reading this book. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Purple Hibiscus, I find this post to be very interesting. The comparisons between the two books really helps me to understand the authors preferred writing style. I appreciate how you include how the format if the book impacts the suspense of the novel. From your description it seems like the author does a great job at drawing the reader in. This seems like a pretty intriguing book. Great job!
ReplyDelete