National versus Identity in Adiche's 'Americanah'

Andrea Kraft

American Immigrant Literature

Nationality versus Identity in Americanah

Both Ifemelu, an opinionated and independent young writer, and Obinze, a calm and well-read young man, are Nigerian ex-pats who search for new identities abroad and discover through their successes and failures that identity transcends nationality. Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah explores the intersection of nationality, culture, and race through the lives of Ifemelu, who leaves Nigeria to study in the United States, and Obinze, who emigrates from Nigeria to find work in London. When Ifemelu first immigrates to the United States, she tries to reconcile her Nigerian culture and “Non-American Black” identity with the fact that she is now culturally grouped together with “American Blacks” by assimilating into American culture. In a similar but more literal way, Obinze attempts to erase his Nigerian heritage once he arrives in London by changing his name to find work and attempting to marry for a green card, even though, like Ifemelu, he ultimately returns to Nigeria. For both characters, the relief and challenges that they encounter after returning home prove that one’s true identity is formed independently from nationality.

After putting in a lot of effort to assimilate into American culture, Ifemelu is eventually successful and becomes comfortable in the United States, all the while embracing her “Non-American Black” identity. For instance, her hair becomes an important symbol of her Nigerian culture that is being cast away to meet American expectations, especially in a professional setting. When Ifemelu is offered a job and is going in for an interview, she explains these expectations to Curt, her race-blind and aloof boyfriend, by saying “’My full and cool hair would work if I were interviewing to be a backup singer in a jazz band, but I need to look professional for this interview, and professional means straight is best but if it’s going to be curly, then it has to be the white kind of curly, loose curls or, at worst, spiral curls but never kinky,’” (252). When Ifemelu first arrives to the Unites States, she wears her hair in loose braids, which is common and traditional in Nigeria and also a symbol of her cultural identity. However, due to the professional expectations in the United States, she feels pressured to change her hair with dangerous treatments for the sake of conforming, thus shifting her appearance and physical identity to a more American style. Additionally, her work as a culture blogger also shows how she is embracing her new identity as a “Non-American Black” working to combat racism, which is a new role for her since she never experienced racism in Nigeria where everyone is black. When describing how she approaches people to interview them, Ifemele’s process is “If they asked her what she did, she would say vaguely, ‘I write a lifestyle blog,’ because saying ‘ I write an anonymous blog called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black’ would make them uncomfortable” (4). A noteworthy part of Ifemelu’s identity before she comes to the United States is that she has never experienced racism to the same extent that it exists in the United States (Nigeria has a strict class structure, but race is not usually a target issue), so the fact that she is, rightfully, speaking out on this injustice shows that she is incorporating American cultural issues into her new identity. Furthermore, Ifemelu’s choice of partners throughout the novel, especially during her time in the United States, is analogous with her path to discovering herself. For instance, in her peak of seeking acceptance and assimilation, Ifemelu enters into a relationship with Curt, a Caucasian young professional who is intrigued by how exotic Ifemelu is but is also blind to most of the systematic racism that she experiences. Her general view of herself changes during this relationship because, “With Curt, she became, in her mind, a woman free of knots and cares . . . She was lighter and leaner; she was Curt’s Girlfriend, a role she slipped into as into a favorite, flattering dress” (241-242). While experiencing herself as a function of Curt, Ifemelu reaches her peak as an “Americanah” and fully develops a new identity as such.

With similar goals to Ifemelu, Obinze also leaves Nigeria, except to go to London, where he tries to force his assimilation in England and is unsuccessful in changing his cultural identity. For instance, Obinze attempts to erase his Nigerian identity in a very literal way by taking a new name so that he can legally work. Working under the name Vincent Obi, who is actually another Nigerian living in London, Obinze borrows identification cards and deposits his earnings into the real Vincent’s bank account. This attempt at changing his identity was a business exchange, and during it, Obnize noted that, ”Vincent’s Igbo had a rural accent. He put the National Insurance card on the table and was already writing his bank account number on a piece of paper. Iloba’s cell phone began to ring. That evening, as dusk fell, the sky muting to a pale violet, Obinze became Vincent” (310). After working under the name Vincent, Obnize is eventually suspected of working illegally and is asked for his passport, which only reinforces his Nigerian citizenship and identity that he cannot get rid of. Furthermore, Obinze then tries to pursue a sham marriage in an effort to get a green card by negotiating and organizing his wedding to Cleotilde, who is English. He works hard to orchestrate the event to be as convincing as possible, but is still surprised by the number people who continue not to realize the importance of immigration, all the while he has to make this the focal point of his life. While Obinze was re-kindling his friendship with Emenike, who went to secondary school with him in Nigeria and had a documented re-location to London only to find posh success there, Emenike’s English friends caused Obinze to realize “They would not understand why people like him, who were raised well fed and watered but mired in dissatisfaction, conditioned from birth to look towards somewhere else, eternally convinced that real lives happened in that somewhere else, were now resolved to do dangerous things, illegal things, so as to leave, none of them starving, or raped, or from burned villages, but merely hungry for choice and uncertainty” (341). No matter how hard Obinze tries in England to work legally and get citizenship, he will never be able to completely throw away his Nigerian identity and assimilate into a new culture merely because of how hard he is pushing to do it. Even when he gets closest to his goal- on the day that he is supposed to marry Cleotilde- Obinze is arrested for setting up a false marriage and is being deported immediately to NIgeria. During the deportation process, Obinze reflects, “The last shard of his dignity was like a wrapper slipping off that he was desperate to retie . . . [the lawyer] was going to tick on a form that his client was willing to be removed. ‘Removed.’ That word made Obinze feel inanimate. A thing to be removed. A thing without breath or mind. A thing,” (345). The process of being deported forces Obinze to finally confront his failure at assimilating into any culture other than his own. Additionally, when he compares himself to an inanimate object that can moved, Obinze also realizes that he will never be as important to the United States or to England as those two countries, and all the freedoms that they symbolize, are to him.

When Infemelu and Obinze return to Nigeria at different times for different reasons, both become immigrants to their own country since their experiences abroad molded their identities so significantly. When she first arrives back, Ifemelu struggles to take back the Nigerian portion of her identity, which she gave away to her American self. For instance, she is shocked by the most basic aspects of day to day culture, after having become too entrenched in the American way of living life. Driving home from the airport on the first day of her return, Ifemelu is unnerved because “She had grown up knowing all the bus stops and the side streets, understanding the cryptic codes of conductors and the body language of street hawkers. Now, she struggled to grasp the unspoken” (475). Considering the depth that Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie, the author of Americanah, dives into to describe the richness of Nigerian culture and emphasize its differences from the American culture, it is clear why Ifemelu struggles to re-gain her footing once she returns. Conversely, after Obinze is deported from England, the transition back from England to Nigeria that Obinze describes is significantly less grueling than the adjustments that Ifemelu had to make coming back. However, it was the shift from being a man of meager means to a rich and powerful businessman that truly rattled him. For instance, Obinze recalls being initially interested in his wife because “He was also newly rich and newly disoriented; one week he was broke and squatting in his cousin’s flat and the next he had millions of naira in his bank account” (565). Because Obinze never fully shed his Nigerian skin while abroad but continued to live modestly, it was more startling for him to meet his wealthy self than to rediscover his Nigerian identity. Living his new life as a successful Nigerian businessman, with all of the respect that comes along with his status, is such a stark contrast to battling the contempt that people had for him while abroad in England.

Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah travels with Ifemelu and Obinze through their lives as they go from being ex-pats, to immigrants, to “returners” in Nigeria, and there are significant changes to their identities throughout, which show how identity is more substantial than just nationality. The changes to Ifemelu’s identity that occur while abroad are fueled by her need to conform to society in order to progress, and they only make her transition back into Nigerian life more difficult. Conversely, Obinze never fully assimilated to a new society, but he still struggled to adjust to his new identity as a wealthy businessman after he returns to Nigeria. The experiences that Ifemelu and Obinze have while abroad and returning home to Nigeria prove that nationality is only a small part of one’s identity.

You can purchase Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah here.

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