Chapter 1 of Americanah is filled with questions, recognitions and hesitations to being acclimated in new cultures. This theme can also be a lesson for readers as well. Ifemelu has recognitions of differences in herself and cultural surroundings as she travels through New York City from New Jersey to go to a new hair salon. As she travels through New York City, she finds a sense of relief that other black passengers get on the train with her. However, she notices that white passengers get on as well. She is not particularly use to this because everyone from her town in New Jersey is white and thin whereas back in Nigeria, everyone is just the opposite. Coming to America has made her realize that she missed home in Nigeria and wants to travel back. After the encounter with the man at the grocery store calling her “fat”, her self confidence began to slowly spiral and she stopped writing on her blogs. Ifemelu realizes that it is time to go home as she breaks up with her current american boyfriend, Blaine. “It brought with it amorphous longings, shapeless desires, brief imaginary glints of other lives she could be living, that over the months melded into a piercing homesickness” (Adichie 7).
Ifamelu begins to realize very early on in the book that she does not want to live in America anymore and that she misses her old life. What do you think was the ultimate factor for her to decide that she wants her old life back?
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.