The Thing Around Your Neck Essay Questions

In The Thing Around Your Neck, Adichie navigates the relationship that non-Westerners have with Western culture. How are the complexities of this experience documented throughout the collection?

Adichie explores how Western culture is oppressive and inaccessible for those living in non-Western societies. In "On Monday of Last Week," Kamara is forced to defend her legitimacy to her American employers. Neil, Josh's father, finds it hard to believe that Kamara has received a secondary degree from university. He fails to recognize the hardships and complexities of the immigrant experience, instead subjugating her to racist stereotypes and judgments. For the characters that do acclimate to Western society, Adichie argues that they often turn their backs on traditional Nigerian customs and practices in an effort to assimilate. This experience is documented in both "Ghosts" and "The Headstrong Historian."

Adichie utilizes a second-person point of view in a number of her stories. What is the effect of this narration style?

In both "The Thing Around Your Neck," and "Tomorrow is Too Far," Adichie employs a second-person point of view, where the reader ("you") is addressed as if they themselves were the protagonist of the story. This invites readers to identify with the characters as they undergo alienating and difficult experiences. In "The Thing Around Your Neck," we see the events that happen to Akunna, and instead of being told how she reacts to them, we are invited to feel them as if they happen to us. This perspective paradoxically gives a close experience of feeling distanced. A similar technique is employed with the protagonist from "Tomorrow is Too Far." The narrator's emotions are communicated from an external perspective, thus leading the reader to understand how the character is emotionally disjointed.

What is the effect of having war and political conflict pushed to the background in The Thing Around Your Neck?

In a number of the stories, characters deal with violent conflict as a backdrop to their lives. In "A Private Experience," Chika’s interaction with a strange woman is prefaced by a violent attack in the market. In "The American Embassy," the protagonist navigates the bureaucracy of leaving Nigeria after the death of her son. In both of these stories, violence is discussed only minimally, while the characters go about the normal events of their everyday lives. This reveals how mundane violence becomes when it is commonplace, because rather than be shocked by it or allow it to consume their lives, characters are forced to go about their daily activities in order to survive.

What role does storytelling play throughout the collection?

Many of the stories draw from Adichie's own experience as an immigrant writer. Writing is used by the characters as a tool for self-expression and storytelling. In "Jumping Monkey Hill," the characters find power in writing about their daily lives. They are contributing to a narrative that has long been ignored, and they aim to write their experience into existence. A similar philosophy appears in the concluding story in the collection. In "The Headstrong Historian," Grace decides to become a scholar and author in order to educate others about pre-colonial Nigerian society. In this way, Grace uses writing to become closer to her own identity and to express how colonialism attempted to erase the stories of so many.

How are class divisions depicted in The Thing Around Your Neck?

In "A Private Experience," Chika is used to the comforts of her privileged lifestyle. When her safety is threatened, she befriends an older, Muslim woman. From their first moments together, Chika notices the differences between herself and the woman. From the language she uses to the clues she gives about her daily life, Chika realizes that she has never met a person like this before. Chika wonders if the woman even knows what "university" is, thus further acknowledging their different lifestyles.

In "The Shivering," Ukumaka demonstrates her wealth in subtle ways. When she speaks of Udenna, her ex-boyfriend, it is clear that both of them are of a high social class. Ukumaka is blind to her privilege until she meets Chinedu, who is clearly from a different class background. When Ukumaka describes how she and Udenna used to shop at the organic grocery store, Chinedu scoffs and explains that the prices at the organic store are ridiculous. Another time, Ukumaka flippantly asks Chinedu about the last time he visited Nigeria. When Ukumaka realizes that Chinedu can't afford to buy a plane ticket back, she understands how she has taken her financial security for granted.