For me, an interesting facet of Americanah has been the relationship between Nigeria, the U.S., and Britain in relation to our main characters, Ifemelu and Obinze. The protagonists grow up with similar means in a somewhat similar area of Nigeria. Though Obinze and Ifemelu are separated by class, their social upbringings are relatively the same. At the beginning of the novel, Ifemelu doesn't seem to be terribly interested in the United States. She enjoys American literature and some American media, but for the most part, she looks at America with an almost vague curiosity. Obinze, on the other hand, exudes American yearning from the moment the reader first encounters him. His character is almost developed on the idea of one day leaving Nigeria and becoming successful in the U.S. It is through his unfaltering optimism and his absolute encouragement of American life that Ifemelu truly begins to contemplate the possibility of living in the U.S. This dream she hopes to share with Obinze. However, Obinze is denied access to the United States and instead attempts to become a British citizen. The attitude shown towards Nigeria during Ifemelu and Obinze's childhood shows a clear disdain and flippancy. According to the novel and our main characters, honest success cannot be achieved in Nigeria. The idea of going abroad seems to be an inevitable, distinct choice for our protagonists, though their lives abroad end up being much different than they could have ever imagined. Both struggle to find meaningful work, and identity weighs them down. Obinze represents the perspective of an illegal immigrant. His identity is clouded and unknown to everyone he meets. His anxiety to become a legal citizen hangs over his head throughout his entire stay in the U.K. Obinze uses another's identity to gain work and organizes a sham marriage for a green card. His desperation to advance makes his deportation all the more heartbreaking. Though Obinze goes on to find great success in Nigeria, he does so with an adapted idea of what it means to live the "American Dream" (he lives in the U.K. but it's a similar idea and I don't know what phrase to use explicitly for the U.K. instead, so we're just going to go with it). Ifemelu on the other hand gives us the perspective of a legal immigrant, trying to find her identity, culturally speaking. Ifemelu, for the first time, struggles with the concept of race. The experiences she has while in America inform her opinion that she doesn't quite fit in anywhere. She is too African for America and gradually becomes too American for Africa. This identity struggle is a consistent narrative within the novel. Despite her eventual success in the United States, Ifemelu moves back to Nigeria; a choice questioned by many. This mirrors the ideology at the beginning of the novel that condemned Nigeria as a place that was only meant to be left. Obinze finds financial stability, a price he pays with his honesty but is, nevertheless, a success. Ifemelu ultimately concludes that her identity can flourish in Nigeria and makes the bold decision to try to recreate her American success there. The attitudes of Nigerian contempt and U.S./U.K. praise almost reverse roles as the story goes on. Whether this was intentional or not, Adichie does a spectacular job of portraying the real human experience in the life of immigrants. Her work moves the reader and challenges their preconceived ideas. Suffice to say, I am greatly enjoying the novel this far.