Americanah, written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, centers around the journey of the protagonist, Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman living in America. In addition, it details how this development in her character translates into her life when she returns to Nigeria. Ifemelu’s internal strife about assimilating into American culture, as captured by her perception of beauty standards and use of language, illuminates the challenges of immigration.
Ifemelu’s relationship with her hair reveals a deep sense of loss and exemplifies her exasperation towards assimilating into American culture. Prior to her job interview, Ifemelu has an encounter with her hairdresser that challenges her sense of identity and leaves her frustrated. After the application of the
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Describing the hair salon experience as “of something organic dying which should not have died,” Ifemelu expresses regret for this attempt at conforming to American standards. Therefore, Ifemelu grieves the loss of her identity as she leaves the hair salon. After “she breezed through the job interview,” Ifemelu wonders “if the [interviewer] would have felt the same way had she walked into that office wearing her thick, kinky, God-given halo of hair, the Afro” (252). By describing her hair as a “God-given halo,” Ifemelu captures the sanctity of her natural hair (252). Despite her success in the interview process, Ifemelu remains disgruntled about her new relaxed hair, which “is like being in a prison” (257). Desperate to resist caving into the pressure of assimilating into American culture and to reconnect with her Nigerian roots, Ifemelu allows Wambui to cut her hair, “leaving only two inches, the new growth since her last relaxer” (258). While Ifemelu initially cedes to American beauty standards to achieve success, she ultimately rejects them to stay aligned with her Nigerian …show more content…
As a result of this pressure to conform, she began to cultivate an American accent. After devoting time to practicing her accent, “new words were falling out of her mouth. Columns of mist were dispersing” (167). Not only does the American accent become second nature to Ifemelu, but she with practice unconsciously becomes fluid with American diction. The accent became so ingrained that the telemarketer comments, “you sound totally American.” Instead of feeling proud of her achievement, she begins “to feel the stain of a burgeoning shame spreading all over her.” She feels ambivalence and disdain for thanking him and accepting his remark as “a garland that she hung around her own neck” (215). This incident makes Ifemelu realize how deeply conflicted she is regarding assimilation to American culture. Although she did perfect her accent and “had won,” Ifemelu’s “triumph was full of air” (216). Initially, Ifemelu feels that perfecting her accent is a victory because it allows her to be at an equal standing with her classmates at Princeton and Cristina Tomas. However, it was an ephemeral victory, leaving her feeling empty and stripped of “her pitch of voice and [her] way of being” (216). Recognizing this sense of loss, Ifemelu “resolved to stop faking the American accent” (216). Similar to her strife with her hair, Ifemelu initially submits to the pressure to adopt
Alice Walker’s short creative nonfiction, Dreads uses imagery to convey her narrative about a hairstyle that was inspired by singer, Bob Marley. Dreads are defined as a “hairstyle in which the hair is washed, but not combed, and twisted while wet into braids or ringlets hanging down on all sides”, according to howtogetdreads.com. Imagery was chosen for this paper by the depth of Walker’s illustration of beauty that natural hair has that might seem to be abonnement or not professional by society standards. This reading sparks interests just by the title a lone. That people have mixed feeling about dreads, some might see it as being spiritual; or as a political statement. However, Walker loves the way her natural hair is supposed to form without
White supremacy was widely present in the readings “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza” by Gloria Anzaldua and “A People’s History of the Untied States” by Zinn Howard. Both readings had vast examples of how white supremacy had run economic, social, political conditions of non-white peoples, land, and everything in between. White superiority was the belief that motivated them to conquer lands that originally did not belong to them; by doing so they converted natives to aliens or unwelcomed and inhabitants to slaves or casualties. In Gloria Anzaldua article “Borderlands/La Frontera; The New Mestiza” she describes how the Southwest of U.S (Aztlan) was conquered by the whites and how they used the border as white mans way of segregation
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
Somehow, everything about the whites appear to elicit a reigning beauty that raises hatred and envy the black girls have against the white girls. Packer argues that even small thing like hair contributes to hostility. The fourth grade says; “their long, shampoo-commercial hair, straight as spaghetti from the box” (Packer, 16). These reinforcements are ingredients of prejudice that brings about racial discrimination. The black girls get jealous of the white girls’ hair, and this leads to discrimination against them. It is worth noting that the prejudices are handed down by the environment and society that people are brought up in. Arnetta, remembers a mall experience when she and her mother were being seen as if they were from China. They were being discriminated because of their race. The various treatments given to black people has played a vital role in intensifying the issue of prejudice, magnifying people’s sense of inferiority, and shaping the views of the black people on the white people. Arnetta says; “Even though I didn’t fight to fight, was afraid of fight, I felt I was part of the rest of the troop; like I was defending something” (Packer, 12). This is a clear indication that society has the power to influence youths. It depicts how society joins hands to fight for what they think is their right. Owed to the fact that this is a society. Everything and everyone is interlinked in a given way, making racism and prejudice hard to do away
In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to those who were unable to understand her mother’s broken english. She tells about her mother’s broken english and its impact on her communication to those outside their culture. Her mothers broken english limited others’ perception of her intelligence, and even her own perception of her mother was scewed: Tan said, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (419) The use of standard english was a critical component to Tan’s assimilation into American culture. Standard English was an element she acquired to help her mother but more importantly is was an element that helped in her gain success as a writer. Tan changed her ‘Englishes’ (family talk) to include standard English that she had learnt in school and through books, the forms of English that she did not use at home with her mother. (417-418) Tan realized the ch...
She talks about how after writing her novel she was conversing with an American who had just read the novel. He stated that it was a shame how Nigerian men where physical abusers, such as the man in her novel had been. She is quick to tell him that she ’ had just finished reading the novel American Psycho, and that it was a shame that all young American men were serial murders’ (Adichie 11:04). It is here that we see how a single story can affect our image of a group of people. Obviously, not all Nigerian men are abusers, in the same sense that not all American men are serial murders. The man that she was talking to had made an inference based on reading one Nigerian book, a single story. She goes on to say that because of Americas economic and political power she had read many novels about America, resulting in many stories, widening her perception of
The tone of the short story “America and I” changed dramatically over the course of the narrative. The author, Anzia Yezierska, started the story with a hopeful and anxious tone. She was so enthusiastic about arriving in America and finding her dream. Yezierska felt her “heart and soul pregnant with the unlived lives of generations clamouring for expression.” Her dream was to be free from the monotonous work for living that she experienced back in her homeland. As a first step, she started to work for an “Americanized” family. She was well welcomed by the family she was working for. They provided the shelter Yezierska need. She has her own bed and provided her with three meals a day, but after a month of working, she didn’t receive the wage she was so
In the recent past year or two, a woman’s natural hair has become a big thing. Before, African American women, to be specific, were so disgusted by their hair. They would do anything in their power to change the “nappy” aspect of their hair to “beautiful”. They would use relaxers very so often and hot combs.
Something as seemingly simple as hair can be much more complex when we take the time to think about another person’s perspective, history, values, culture, and feelings. The interaction in Seminole, Texas wasn’t just about a haircut.
Fletcher is not the only one obsessed with looks. Leota is a beautician after all. The setting of the story taking place in a beauty parlor is significant, as is Leota’s job as a beautician. Leota’s character is almost stereotypical in appearance from what is learned, she has black and blond hair, long red nails, and obsessed with a single pastel color, lavender (Welty 1094). Her occupation is to enhance the beauty of women but it is no secret that she lives up to the gossiper stereotype surrounding beauticians. There is not a single person who does not gossip with the person who cuts their hair, especially if they go to a beauty shop. In this shop, the ugliness of gossip and judgment rears its head, ironic is a place where women come to make themselves
In “I Want to Be Miss America,” Julia Alvarez examines her adolescent struggle to be “American.” For Alvarez, her Hispanic culture becomes a burden to her inclusion in American society. So, Alvarez and her sisters, struggle to become what they are not, Americans. Alvarez uses a somewhat biased stereotype to identify the model of an ideal American, but she does make clear. The struggle of all American teenagers to fit into or molded by a standard which for many of them is impossible to achieve.
Typical American by Gish Jen demonstrates the different struggles that a traditional immigrant family encounters. The book being discussed will be explained by means of historical influences and biographical influences during Jen’s life that affected the novel. This essay will also contain a critical analysis of the book and an analysis of the critical response from others.
Hooks, Bell. “Straightening Our hair”. Good Reasons. eds, Lester Faigley, Jack Selzer. Boston: Longman Publishers, 2001. 446-452.
This paper will argue that to be a Black woman with natural hair, is deviant in the eyes of white culture. Natural hair is regarded as unkempt, unclean, and unprofessional (Thompson 2009). American society seeks to demonize the hair of Black women because natural hair disregards Eurocentric beauty standards (Robinson 2011). To rebel and wear one’s hair naturally comes with a price - especially in the workplace and school environment - because there are discriminatory dress-codes that prevent Black women from meeting institutional requirements (Klein 2013). Black women face discrimination for their natural hair due to the power imbalance of white men in work and educational structures.
“The Shampoo” by Elizabeth Bishop was written near the beginning of Bishop’s residence in Brazil and is a direct homage to her lover Lota. Bishop uses the mundane act of washing a loved one’s hair as the basis for a brilliant meditation on the nature and progression of time. In “The Shampoo” Elizabeth Bishop uses imagery, metaphor, and diction to compare the gradual movements in nature over time with the process of aging. Bishop draws a contrast between the process of aging and the timeless relationship she has with her partner.