In chapter 30 of “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the character Obinze is getting ready to marry Cleotilde for his green card. On the way to the civic center, Obinze is stopped by the police and is told that he can no longer stay in the UK. The policeman put Obinze in handcuffs and take him to a detention center. I chose this section of the book because these scenes demoralize immigrants and make them feel small. When Obinze tells the lawyer in the detention center that he is willing to leave, the lawyer checks off a form that says his client was willing to be “removed”. The text says that the word “removed” made obinze feel, “inanimate. A thing to be removed. A thing without breath and mind. a thing” (Adichie 345). The chapter further describes Obinzes’ experiences being deported back to Nigeria. In the end, he eventually arrives back in Lagos to be picked up by his mother.
Does the fact that Obinze was an illegal immigrant justify how poorly he was treated in the deportation process? Why or why not?
Adichie, Chimamanda. Americanah. Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC. New York. 2013. pp. 342-351.
Obinze should not have been treated poorly. I will never understand why immigrants are treated as less than human beings. There have been criminals treated better than Obinze, and all he did was try to make a living in the UK. Adichie notes in the book that Obinze is just a boy who is soft, eats corn flakes, and lives with his mom(347). However, all the lawyer and guards seen was an illegal immigrant. Racism, prejudice, and xenophobia are everywhere.
Why do you think people enter illegally after being deported on multiple occasions?
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah (Ala Notable Books for Adults) (p. 347). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
This is a great comment. To answer your question, I feel like that many Americans feel like we are better than certain people and or America is better than certain countries. I think that this plays into the roll of why people treat immigrants as less than human beings. The American citizen does not fully understand that the immigrant is trying to make a better life for themselves. To answer your question, I feel like they keep trying to enter after being deported is because they still want that American dream and that better life. They want that better life for themselves and for their family. It doesn’t matter what the cost is, they will keep continuing to come over until they get that better life for themselves and their family. They would do anything for their family.
I think in the many cases Obinze saw in detention there were men who had nothing else to lose and everything to gain by attempting to re-enter the country illegaly. He saw “men who casually changed names and passports, who would plan and come back and do it over again because they had nothing to lose” (Adiche 347). These men have been put in desperate sitautions in order to gain a better life than they would in Nigeria.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah. Penguin Random Grupo Editorial, 2017.
People enter illegally after being deported multiple times because they do not feel that their home country can provide them the life that they desire. Most of them grow up learning about America or England and how wonderful it is to live there, so from a young age they are taught to pursue those countries. For example, Obinze reads numerous American books and learns the culture, and his mother also insists that he read British literature. They both are obsessed with America and England, so they have trouble finding satisfaction within themselves in their home countries. Obinze was ashamed to be among the deported immigrants, and he notes, “They did not have his shame and even this, too, he envied” (Adichie 347). When immigrants grow older, they probably feel that they have no other choice but to keep trying to enter the country regardless of the consequences because they were taught not to be satisfied with the country they were from. The immigrants have no shame in entering illegally multiple times because they are desperate to live in another country, so they do not care and will continue to try again.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, p. 347.
You bring up an interesting point on questioning the matter of why immigrants constantly try and hope to get into America after being deported multiple times. Most immigrants don’t want to give up the hope of what America can truly be to them. Most immigrants don’t care about the risks of getting caught illegally or what that might mean to their future, as long as they know that there is a chance of having that American dream. This explains Obinze’s rationality when it comes to not caring how bad your going to be treated, as long as there is a chance that you can make something of yourself in America.
For example, even after admitting how bad Ifemalu feels, stating “I wish I had more” (Adichie 123), Obinze shows more hopeful view of America , not caring about how uncomfortable she might feel in America; because he thinks their is a chance for her to still have American dream. Obinze states “Ifem, no, you should go…You can study something else in America” (Adiche 123).
Sources:
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah (Ala Notable Books for Adults) (p. 123). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.