As discussed in class, one unique aspect of Americanah is the blog posts. The blog posts are a way for Adichie to explicitly talk about topics of race that are apparent and might be missed in the reading of the story. Because Americanah is a story about love, the ignorant reader could unconsciously (or consciously) overlook the aspects of race that permeate interactions between characters. While there are many interactions, from Laura asking if Ifemelu “‘can drive legally in [the US]’” (Adichie 202), to Curt calling a magazine skewed because “‘only black women [are] featured’” (364), racism is prevalent but may not be as obvious as a group of white students throwing bananas at black students. Therefore, the ignorant reader could conveniently overlook or not pay due attention to these interactions and what Adichie is saying about race. And I believe this is where the blog posts come in. They reinforce ideas developed throughout the book. On page 341, we see Emenike speak “in a tone cleansed of anger” which is directly discussed in a blog post where Ifemelu states “Black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” (275). The blog post reinforced and directly discussed why Emenike was acting the way he was to please the white people he was with. But I believe the blog posts go beyond reinforcing discussions of race within the story. The blog posts are a way for Ifemelu, and arguably Adichie herself, to speak directly at the reader, to go into first person from a story written in the third person. This play on point of view is essential for Ifemelu’s character development, culminating in the idea that “the way of life [in Nigeria] is just that assorted” (520). We experience Nigeria through Ifemelu, both before and after going to America, but to hear her perception of her home country, to hear her own words, is very powerful. And the power of the blog posts are in my opinion just as powerful as the story itself. They discuss many aspects of race, privilege, racism, and bias in ways that no other book could. It is described from a seemingly outsider’s perspective, someone who came into America with no preconceived notions and no idea what she was getting herself into. That outsider perspective makes the blog posts more real, more true, more eye-opening, bringing forward the issues of race prevalent in America’s society.
I believe that the blog posts help the reader understand that racism is an underlying issue in the novel. One of the overall themes of this story is trying to find an identity. Throughout Ifemelu and Obinze’s life, they struggle with trying to find what is best for them. While Ifemelu is in America, she experiences racism for the first time. In one of Ifemelu’s blogs, it mentions, “So what if you weren’t black in your country? You’re in America now.” (Adichie, 2013, p.273). Racism hardly ever occured while Ifemelu was in Nigeria, but as soon as she arrived in America, that is all anybody would talk about. During Ifemelu’s time in America, Obinze struggled to find his identity as well. Every time Obinze would bring his documents to get a visa, he was denied. This was most likely due to his race. His mother told him, “I know that your mind is no longer here,” and she sent him to London to try and figure his life out. (Adichie, 2013, p.290). Obinze ended up getting deported back to Nigeria, and he had to make a living there. Both Ifemelu and Obinze dealt with a lot of hardships that they had to overcome. I agree with you that Ifemelu’s blog posts help the reader understand that the novel is about race, since that was the reason as to why it was so difficult for Ifemelu and Obinze to succeed.
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