Sejal Says, "Americanah Redefines The Idea of Identity"

Just to give everyone a little backstory, the book I am reading in class is Americanah and I discussed the major themes on my note page. One key theme that my team discussed is the loss of identity due to the main character, Ifemelu's, transition to America from Nigeria and how she plans on regaining it throughout the story. 

As I mentioned, identity is an important theme in the novel, as the plot follows the two main characters, Ifemelu and Obinze. The story starts with their childhood and segues into them growing up and finding their place in the world. Because of their situations, their identity is linked to their race and where they are originally from- Nigeria. When they were teenagers Ifemelu was smart and outspoken, and Obinze is calm and thoughtful, and as they grow up these qualities are then affected by outside cultural forces. In America, Ifemelu has to struggle with her identity as an American-African, or someone seen as an outsider. First she deals with this by taking on an American accent and straightening her hair and then she even has to use a fake identity to look for work. Later Ifemelu gains confidence and comes to embrace her Nigerianness, even as she adapts more easily to American culture and finds success there. She feels that her own identity prior to coming to America is simply not good enough so she must try her best to assimilate to American culture. This is similar to the short excerpt we read in class since Ifemelu herself has a fractured identity as she finds herself stuck between two cultures.

Obinze has a more difficult experience adapting to a new cultural identity in England. His visa expires and he is forced to take on other people’s identities to find work, and to buy into a green-card marriage. Everywhere there is a fear of immigrants, and Obinze feels invisible and worthless because of it. He is finally caught and deported back to Nigeria and then sets about building a new identity for himself, having been forced to give up his old dream of America. Apart from these two, many other characters also relate to this theme, like Emenike, who totally changes his personality to become a cultured and wealthy British citizen. Overall the situations shown in this novel represent the many things that go into composing one’s identity.