Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said it herself: "[Americanah] is about love....race....and hair". Americanah is indeed a love story, following the two main characters Ifemelu and Obinze both during their relationship and after their estrangement. Ifemelu dates two other men after she cuts off contact with Obinze: both Americans, and both very, very different from her.
Ifemelu dates a wealthy, handsome, adventurous white man named Curt, and later after cheating and breaking up with him, dates an almost-saintly black Yale professor named Blaine. Oddly, Ifemelu is portrayed as being restless and dissatisfied in those relationships, despite both men being (in a superficial sense, and from my perspective as a woman who dates men) outwardly near-perfect partners. The only man in the novel that Ifemelu seems to be truly compatible and content with is her Nigerian teenage sweetheart. She is unhappy with her American boyfriends, going as far to self-sabotage both relationships so they end.
Interestingly, the concluding paragraph of a blog post that Ifemelu recites at a dinner party addresses black-white interracial relationships. (This blog post was written after Ifemelu and her white boyfriend broke up.) Ifemelu writes, "The simplest solution to the problem of race in America? Romantic love....real deep romantic love, the kind that twists you and wrings you out and makes you breathe through the nostrils of your beloved....and because American society is set up to make [romantic love] even rarer between American Black and American White, the problem of race in America will never be solved" (366-367). If Ifemelu was unhappy while she was with her different-race white boyfriend and was only truly happy with her same-race black Nigerian boyfriend, what point is Adichie trying to make about love and race in America?
Race is not a biological construct, but rather a social categorization (Adichie says it more succinctly: "race is not genotype; race is phenotype"). So it isn't inherently Curt's white skin and Ifemelu's black skin that ultimately breaks them apart - it's the socialization corresponding to their different upbringings that causes them to be so dissimilar and incompatible. This is the same case with Ifemelu's relationship with Blaine: though Blaine is black too, he is American, which means his ideals and politics and what he experienced growing up is very different from Ifemelu, causing her unhappiness as well. I don't think Adichie is trying to make a point about how interracial relationships in America are completely impossible and are destined to fail. I'm happy in mine, and I know and am related to many successful interracial couples who have been married for a long time, even - gasp! - immigrant people of color and white Americans. Frankly, nearly every romantic relationship in Americanah is portrayed in a negative light, with the exception of the bond between Ifemelu and Obinze.
Ultimately, I don't think love is or really should be racial or political. It's simply too complex to encompass all of these things. Chaucer said it best: "love is blind". Barack and Michelle love each other, and my white Dutch uncle and my Indonesian aunt love each other, and yes, Ifemelu and Obinze love each other too.
This post makes a very good point about what Adichie is trying to say through her use of various relationships in this novel. I was confused at first about her use of a same race relationship between Ifemelu and Blaine that ultimately fails. This blog post opened up my eyes to seeing Adichie is trying to get across a complex point about differences in countries. Not only can the color of skin play a role in relationships, but as can differing ideologies and politics between people based on their backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI think that through the combination of both race and ideology, Adichie makes a case for loving, successful relationship to be based on comfort. Ifemelu tries to be comfortable with Curt, but American society would remind her every time she went out with him that they were a different color. She tries to be comfortable with Blaine, but every time she begins to talk about politics or is around Blaine’s friends, she is reminded that he is an academic with a very different background. These situations continue to make Ifemelu uncomfortable. However, every time Obinze is mentioned or Ifemelu thinks of him, she feels instant comfort. This is displayed at the end of the novel when they reconnect. Ifemelu pours out what had happened in America and the novel says, “she was inside the silence and she was safe.” This is how she feels with Obinze because of their history. And the culture and social interactions in Nigeria do not make her feel uncomfortable with him as the waiter at a restaurant treats her like his wife and even when things get messy between them and Kosi, she still comes back to him because he is comfortable.
So, I like the comments you make about what Adichie is trying to show and it really opened my eyes to the political and societal effects that can influence relationships. I agree that love is blind, but I would extend this to say that society is not blind, and ultimately we all go to what makes us feel comfortable and safe, just as Ifemelu does.
This post gave a very convincing and well worded explanation of Adiche's commentary on interracial relationships. I especially liked your point that love should not be political. This could be a point Adiche is attempting to make when Ifemelu says in her blog post that "real deep romantic love, the kind that twists you and wrings you our and makes you breathe through the nostrils of your beloved." True kind of love transends any political bias, which could lead to, according to Ifemelu's beliefs, the end of racial ignorance in America.
ReplyDeleteI also think you make an interesting point about inter-cultural relationships. Ifemelu seems unsatisfied with her American partners, and in many ways there is a lack of understanding between the two. Perhaps this is why Ifemelu places such a strong distinction between American blacks and non-American blacks. When Adiche describes Ifemelu's various relationships, she seems to describe many scenes in which there is a fundamental difference in thought processes. Between Ifemelu and Curt, there is an ignorance of general issues of race in America, even as simple as lack of media attention. Ifemelu and Blaine do not agree on race issues either, and have cultural differences in aspects as small as their food preferences. Adiche uses these examples show the difficulty of interracial and intercultural relationships, but also to represent how Ifemelu is able to educate the men about her own experiences and cultures; this could, understandably, increase awareness and potentially even decrease the problem of race in America.