"Americanah" Week Three (Ch. 15 - 22)

Week Three is upon us! This section has a heavy trigger warning for sexual assault/molestation! **It is also to be noted that "Americanah" is adult fiction, so please be advised.**

Ch. 15: A darker part of Ifemelu's life in America is the focus of this chapter, and we finally know why Ifemelu and Obinze stopped talking to each other. Ifemelu gets sexually assaulted while she is tight for money. At this point in the story, Ifemelu is out of money and has not been able to obtain a job. When her rent is due, Ifemelu goes to the house of a man she had previously interviewed with, who told her she can help him relax. Even though Ifemelu tells him she will not have sex with him, the man still touches her and makes her touch him. In the end, she is paid for her service, but she leaves the house in a state of shock. Afterward, Ifemelu spirals and falls into a pit of depression. She doesn't talk to anyone about her assault and ignores Obinze because of the shame she feels. Truthfully, I can't blame Ifemelu for her actions following her sexual assault, as I have never been in this position. I do think that she should have told someone about what happened to her, however she does come from a different culture and it's even hard for American women to come-forward in our own society. I can see she was probably scared of getting deported because the man who assaulted her was white, and she knows that he could easily spin it to make her look bad, as well as get her deported.

Ch. 16: A small part of Ch. 15 that comes into play this chapter is Ifemelu meeting a wealthy, white family through Ginika, who helps her get a job as their babysitter/nanny. This chapter focuses on Ifemelu working for said family and her experiences. Ifemelu looks after two kids, haughty Morgan (the eldest and a girl) and energetic Taylor (a boy), for frail Kimberly and her husband, an ego-maniac that has to be the center of attention. Ifemelu also interacts with Kimberly's overbearing sister, Laura, and constantly compares the two sisters in how they interact with her and her blackness. Ifemelu feels for Kimberly because of how the egos of her husband and sister make Kimberly feel insecure. It's interesting to see Ifemelu connect with the family and also call Laura out on her self-righteousness. The best part in the whole chapter though is when Ifemelu acknowledges (to herself) that she has depression and she struggles to work through it. I think working for Kimberly helps her get out of her head and interact with people on a daily basis.

Ch. 17: Ifemelu meets Blaine, her most recent ex in the present, for the first time. She meets him on a train to New Haven when she is going to visit Aunty Uju for a weekend while in college. The two are a little awkward in the beginning (mainly Ifemelu who really wants to impress Blaine), but soon they are talking about American accents and American tribalism. I really don't like Blaine because he comes off as such a poser/hipster with how he can only have "intelligent" conversations and drinks pomegranate juice. In my notes, I point out that Ifemelu falling for Blaine reminds me of Aunty Uju falling for Bartholomew. She sees him as a black man who has done well for himself, which is similar to Aunty Uju only without the requirement of him being Nigerian. I've also heard the opinion that Blaine is a watered-down, American version of Obinze, which is also true as you get to know him later on (and not true in other senses, but I won't spoil just yet). The chapter ends with a post from Ifemelu's blog on American tribalism, and I will say that it definitely shows off how her writing has changed in the long run because the post doesn't have a lot of research onto the background of certain groups she writes about (mainly when it came to Jewish people and Anti-Semitism). As I am currently further in the book, I will say that her writing and points get better, as well as her rhetoric.

Ch. 18: This chapter focuses on white Americans who fetishize black people: Ifemelu talks about two people in this chapter: Kelsey and Curt. Kelsey is the white female that fetishizes the styles of black/African fashion, but at the same time tries to be woke. Ifemelu finds Kelsey to be increasingly annoying the more time she spends with her in the hair salon (as Kelsey is getting African braids done). Meanwhile, Curt is the kind of white male that fetishizes black/African women because he finds black women to be exotic. However, Ifemelu doesn't seem to mind Curt's fetish and actively participates in roleplaying Foxy Brown. Even in the present (long after they have broken up), Ifemelu remembers Curt with fondness, which confuses me because I don't understand how she cannot see that he was into her because she was exotic. All he seemed to care about was her exotic appearance, especially her hair. He loves her hair long and in braids, and hates when she straightens it for a job interview. He also becomes upset when her hair gets cut off in order to heal after she is burned by the chemicals used to straighten it in the first place. Maybe Ifemelu's issue with Kelsey also has to do with the fact that she is a woman, as she seems extremely critical of them when she is in the salon.

Ch. 19 and 20: I combined these two chapters because they both focus on the unique combination of Ifemelu's relationship with Curt, and her relationship with her hair. I read the two as interconnecting because, as she is hitting milestones in her relationship with Curt, she is changing. For example, their relationship hits a rough patch after Ifemelu decides to make her hair natural again and not straighten it. She also cuts her hair because she needs to heal her scalp after it gets chemical burns from straightening it for a job, which she feels guilty about doing. Curt is more upset about the length than anything (he likes it when her hair is in braids), and it is found out that he has been talking to another woman online. The woman, who is in DC, has long luscious hair, and Ifemelu thinks she's pretty. I like how Ifemelu is taking her hair back and not conforming. I truly didn't know how bad the process of straightening your hair is for black people until talking to my friends who have gone through the process. I dislike Curt even more now because he comes off as so selfish. He doesn't seem to grasp that she cut her hair to make it healthy again. Every woman of every race has probably cut their hair to make it healthy again. Ifemelu didn't do it as a punishment towards Curt (or whatever he was feeling), but because that was what her friend told her was the easiest method of getting her hair back to natural. However, just like her hair, their relationship survives this tremulous time.

Ch. 21: An Aunty Uju chapter that focuses on her coming to her senses about Bartholomew, who she's married to at this point (I think - the timeline is very confusing at points). Aunty Uju lives in a small town outside of New Haven in a house with Dike and Bartholomew. She is extremely unhappy and is just going through the motions. Dike has picked up on the mood of his environment and has been acting out at school, which Aunty Uju blames the school for. I feel agitated at Aunty Uju because I feel that she doesn't take responsibility for her own actions. She also blames Bartholomew of everything wrong in the relationship, but she wouldn't be in this relationship if she had given herself standards that weren't just "he's a Nigerian". That being said, she finally leaves Bartholomew and moves out with Dike. So thank the high heavens!

Ch. 22: A short chapter that connects Ifemelu back to Obinze through an old high school friend of theirs, Kayode. Ifemelu runs into Kayode at a mall in Baltimore while she's out with Curt. Kayode informs Ifemelu of Obinze living in London, and Ifemelu feels betrayed and angry that Obinze never told her, and writes him an email in the car with Curt. Although Curt knows something is wrong and is annoyed she won't share, he doesn't press on the matter. At this point in the timeline, Obinze and Ifemelu haven't spoken in years since she ghosted him. I said before, I don't blame Ifemelu for not speaking to Obinze because of what she went through. I do have an issue with her feeling like he owes her anything and then contacting him out of the blue. She wouldn't have given him a second thought if she hadn't run into Kayode. At this point, I feel like she is toying with Obinze's emotions, and that isn't okay. She shouldn't have contacted him again because he doesn't deserve that.

Final Thoughts: A lot has happened in this week's reading, and it is a little emotionally taxing, especially with the first chapter. Ifemelu goes through a lot of changes, both emotionally, physically, and mentally. I did find myself greatly frustrated at her in the end because of how she treats Obinze after she ghosted him for several years. When I was reading it, I remember just being so done with the book because I find Ifemelu to be a very selfish character with not a lot of good attributes to her personality. However, Adichie does this to show how she became such a discontent/bitter person in the present. I also get that she's young and when you're young, you make mistakes. And while I do like to read flawed characters, I think that the book in general (realistic fiction) isn't my cup of tea. However, I want to finish the book (just to say I did) and so I must press on.

Week 4 should be posted by the end of Wednesday (August 19th), and Week Five by the end of Friday (August 20th). Week Six will be posted sometime before next Thursday (August 26th).