"Americanah" Week Six (Ch. 38 - 55) - The Final Stretch!!

Before you read: So, Week Six is longer than all the other ones because my book club did a vote and we decided to take two weeks to read the final 18 chapters before meeting again. Week Six is going to be a long one, so if you want to break it up into a Week Six (Ch. 38 - 46)and a Week 7 (Ch. 47 - 55), be my guest. I will also be doing Week Six differently because I didn't finish the book (so I'm using SparkNotes, my looking through the book, and my friends' retellings as a basis) because I mentally couldn't handle some of it. **It is also to be noted that "Americanah" is adult fiction, so please be advised.**

Basic Rundown of Chapters 38-55

Some of the beginning chapters focus some more on Ifemelu's relationship with Blaine and how it becomes difficult. Ifemelu doesn't support Blaine's social justice pursuits and becomes close with one of Blaine's colleagues (who is African, and can relate to Ifemelu a lot about her contentions with America) that he hates. She ends up missing an important protest of Blaine's to go be with the other professor, which upsets Blaine. They stop having sex and it seems like they are at their breaking point with each other. However, Obama getting elected and their shared love/support of him gets them to reconcile. However, the cracks in the foundation of their relationship are still there, which lead to her discontentment and part of her later decision to move back to Nigeria.

We then jump to after Ifemelu gets her hair done, Aunty Uju calls her and tells her that Dike tried to commit suicide (he was taken to the hospital), which was due to his difficulties at school and not knowing who he is/where he came from (since Aunty Uju doesn't talk to him about his father or Nigeria). The book kind of skims over Dike's suicide, but it does touch upon mental health - most importantly, Ifemelu's mental health. Aunty Uju thinks that Ifemelu is depressed, but Ifemelu brushes her off.

During all of this going on with Dike, Ifemelu is emailing back-and-forth with Obinze, which kinda starts this emotional affair. They share moments in their life, such as Obinze telling her that his mother died and Ifemelu telling him about Dike's suicide attempt.

Ifemelu moves back to Lagos, Nigeria and starts a job at a magazine. She sees that she is treated better by society as she is seen as Americanah. Her new status is similar to those at the top of the caste system in place. She starts to slowly believe that she is better than other people and treats people like shit when she's upset.

Ifemelu and Obinze meet up for coffee to catch up and reminisce about the past. Ifemelu finally explains why she ghosted him, and finally gets emotional about it, while Obinze empathizes with her. Obinze talks about life in England when he was an illegal immigrant. They continue to meet up, and Ifemelu initiates sex, which surprises Obinze. He was against it at first, explaining he is married (although unhappily) but eventually gives in and they start an affair. However, after a period, Ifemelu starts to resent the fact that she's a mistress and demands that Obinze leave his wife for her.

Obinze agonizes over this but eventually comes to the decision (partially because of Ifemelu, but also because he doesn't want his daughter to grow up in an environment where her parents don't love each other) to divorce Kosi, who has known the whole time about the affair and won't hear of the divorce. They fight a lot, but Obinze eventually leaves her. The story ends with him arriving at Ifemelu's apartment and telling her he left Kosi. Ifemelu lets him in and the ending is left ambiguous.

My Final Thoughts of the Entire Book

I'm going to be honest: I was not a big fan of the book. This book made me both angry and depressed at the same time. I resented having to read it, and I would drag my feet whenever I set time aside to actually read.

My biggest issue was the fact that the story is kind of sold as a love story (also as a funny book, which baffles my mind), but the actual love story takes a back seat to politics and opinions. I'm not really a fan of political fiction/writing because I am constantly surrounded by it at home and with being plugged into the world. I will say that it was interesting to see some aspects from the point of view of someone of color that wasn't American.

I really couldn't stand Ifemelu, from start to finish. I normally enjoy flawed characters, but she was just way too negative and judgmental for my taste. She also seems to encompass a lot of negative traits you find in people/yourself. It almost seems like Adichie made her the epitome of the negatives in the world. I'm not saying that her character hasn't gone through a difficult life, but I don't see her learn from anything. As her friend Ginika says, "You're looking for ways to self-sabotage". Ifemelu just goes through life, but doesn't seem to actually live it. I mean, she might have but with how the book is written, the reader never actually sees her living life. Instead we get Ifemelu's internal criticism of everyone/everything around her. It's frankly exhausting by the time you get to Part Three, which switches to Obinze.

I will say that Obinze was better, although I lost all respect for him in the end due to him picking Ifemelu over his family. I do feel bad for Kosi, but I don't think they were in a loving marriage. However, I do think she treated him better than Ifemelu. I get that Obinze doesn't want Buchi to grow up in an environment where the parents are just playing a part for her sake, but I wish he didn't come to the realization after Ifemelu tells him to divorce Kosi (well give him an ultimatum, but same thing). It gives off the impression that he can't really think of himself, or that Ifemelu is his only reason for living/way to be happy. I wish he hadn't tried to get over her by marrying a woman who he didn't love, even though she fits the profile of perfect wife by Lagos standards. I just feel really bad for Obinze's daughter, Buchi, and how this will affect her growing up (divorce doesn't seem normal in Nigerian culture, so that's gonna be possibly a little rough for her. Lord knows how her mother is going to act during and after the divorce. Also, will Ifemelu even accept Obinze's daughter and treat her right?

In conclusion, this book wasn't it for me. I want to escape from the world I live in when I read, not be thrust back into it. I did find the different perspective interesting, but I couldn't read a book that is almost 600 pages about it.