Upon receiving an email from Ifemelu, Obinze becomes distracted. Shaken, Obinze thinks about Ifemelu’s accusation, and finds truth in it. She has broken up with her boyfriend, Blaine, closed her popular blog about race, and uprooted her life because she feels weighed down. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. Obinze has admired Ifemelu from afar since transferring to their school, and they immediately hit it off. Ifemelu is accepted and then quickly approved for a student visa. Americanah is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning novel about a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States where she struggles with racism, relationships, and identity.The novel also follows her love story with Obinze. Obinze, "Americanah Summary". He asks Kosi for a divorce. Ifemelu, and Aunty Uju. His mother offers to bring him as a research assistant on a trip to London as a way to get him into Britain.

Continue your study of Americanah with these useful links. His American visa application was rejected because of anti-terror panic after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The novel also follows her love story with Obinze. Americanah Character Analysis. For the job interview, Ifemelu needs to have her hair relaxed so that it will look professional according to American standards. Meanwhile, Obinze lives as an illegal immigrant in London.

Americanah Search all of SparkNotes Search. Here's where you'll find analysis about the book as a whole. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Their attraction is still undeniable. Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

Romantic Love. Ifemelu and Obinze plan to one day reunite in America. Ifemelu is the novel’s main protagonist.

Americanah. Chapter 2. Visit BN.com to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our award-winning NOOK tablets and eReaders. Americanah study guide contains a biography of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. When she thinks of returning to Nigeria, she can’t help but think of Obinze, her first love, now a wealthy man in Lagos with a wife and daughter. magazine in a world of beauty magazines catering to white women, Wambui suggests Ifemelu start blogging. The story is told mainly through Ifemelu's thoughtful, critical narration and sometimes through posts from her blog “Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black,” but the narration switches to Obinze's point of view for portions of the story to describe the difficulties he faced as an illegal worker in London and his quick rise to wealth upon returning to Nigeria.

Obinze decides that he doesn’t want his daughter to grow up with her parents only playing the roles of happy husband and wife. When Ifemelu does not attend a protest Blaine organizes against the university’s racial profiling of a black staff member, they have a major fight and almost break up. The relaxer burns her scalp, and her friend Wambui encourages her to try wearing her hair natural. When Obinze asks her why she cut him off, Ifemelu tells him the story of the tennis coach, surprised at her own tears. Obinze is deported. Ifemelu cheats on Curt and ends their relationship. After one meeting, she never returns to the coach. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. Not affiliated with Harvard College. That night, he listens to the music he and Ifemelu used to listen to when they made love.

Although she explains that the university friend was not an ex-boyfriend, Curt acts possessive. The steady work offers her a chance to focus on her studies. Connection. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Obinze’s friend links him up with a fellow Nigerian, Vincent, who is willing to let him use his national insurance card in order to work if Obinze will give him a percentage of his income. Ifemelu rushes to be with him. Americanah Summary. Buy Study Guide. Though Obinze faces a tough decision due to having a wife and young daughter, in the end he chooses to pursue a relationship with Ifemelu no matter the cost. Nigerian-born, she travels to America for college, founds a well-respected blog on race relations, receives a prestigious fellowship at Princeton, and then returns to Nigeria to begin again.

Once she’s back in Nigeria, Ifemelu slowly finds her feet. After more dates, Ifemelu awkwardly rekindles their sexual relationship, although she does not want to be his mistress.

She applies to jobs using a family friend’s social security card to no avail. Make sure your voice is heard.

She and Obinze meet at a party where a friend attempts to set Obinze up with a girl named Ginika. Separation vs. The Question and Answer section for Americanah is a great Out of shame and self-loathing, she stops replying to Obinze’s messages and emails. Themes and Colors Key LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Americanah, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. However, Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy draws them back together and gives them a joint mission up until the election, and Ifemelu’s subsequent decision to leave. A short summary of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of Americanah. Prejudice in Americanah and The Scarlet Letter, Braiding the Strands of Culture: Interweaving Hair and Power in Adichie’s Americanah, Who (And Who Isn’t) Home in the African Diaspora, Americanah as a Sex-Positive Bildungsroman.

The novel flashes back to Ifemelu’s youth. Desperate, Obinze tries to find someone to arrange a green card marriage for him. At first, Ifemelu thinks her hair is ugly, but soon grows to love it. They date all throughout secondary school and through the start of university. Americanah is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning novel about a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States where she struggles with racism, relationships, and identity. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. In desperation, she agrees to work for a shady tennis coach as his “relaxation assistant,” which involves allowing him to touch her sexually. See a complete list of the characters in Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes.

They start dating, and when Ifemelu graduates, Curt helps her get a job that will sponsor her green card. He has stumbled into wealth after his cousin introduces him to a well-connected man. At a conference for minority bloggers, she runs into Blaine, a black American professor at Yale.