Ifemelu’s chronic dissatisfaction

             A sense of dissatisfaction follows Ifemelu and the reader in Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Throughout the novel, the main character never seems to find happiness where she is, and chronically longs for different circumstances. For me, this sense of discontent is interesting when juxtaposed with the “American dream” that is promised to immigrants like Ifemelu. Growing up in Nigeria, Ifemelu heard stories about America from her friends who traveled. When faced with recurring strikes at her university, she thinks that attending university in the states will offer her a better education. However, she is quickly proven wrong. She has trouble with people’s expectations for her to assimilate to American culture and struggles to decide how to present herself (as is seen in scenes where she debates using her real accent or whether or not to wear her natural hair).

Her interactions with white people, primarily with the tennis coach, cause her to fall into a depressive spiral and lose contact with the one person who seemed to bring her true happiness, Obinze. None of these unfortunate events could have been foreseen, especially given the idealized version of America that is frequently marketed to immigrants. So, Ifemelu is followed by a sense of disappointment throughout the novel that comes from not only her own personal struggles but also from the illusion of the American dream slowly dissolving.

Ifemelu also grapples with the idea of being seen as Black, something she had not considered herself before coming to America. In Nigeria, she was part of the in-group, and was not seen as “other.” Unfortunately, upon coming to America, the circumstances changed. Ifemelu does not accept the concept that she is Black until Chapter 21, when she writes, “Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing … America doesn’t care.” This quote effectively sums up Ifemelu’s inner battle between the version of herself she left in Nigeria and the version of herself she created in America, finally merging the seams between the two.