Summary
"A Private Experience"
Chika, a young Christian woman, is caught in the middle of a riot. The riot centers around a religious conflict between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria. The protagonist seeks refuge in an abandoned shop, where she encounters an older Muslim woman. Chika has lost her sister during the chaos. The other woman has also lost her oldest daughter when the riots erupted. During their afternoon in the store, Chika considers the differences between herself and the older woman. She eventually leaves the store in order to search for Nnedi.
Outside, Chika encounters the bodies of two individuals that have recently been burned. When she sees the bodies, Chika realizes that she is unable to decipher the religious identities of the victims. Chika understands the destructiveness of religious conflict. She discovers that everyone shares a common humanity, despite religious differences. Chika feels sickened by what she has encountered, and she returns to the store where she is temporarily nursed by the older woman. She sleeps at the store before heading back to her aunt’s house, and she realizes that she will most likely never find her sister again.
"Ghosts"
James Nwoye is a math professor on the Nsukka campus. One day, he is surprised to see Ikenna Okoro, whom he had believed to have died many years prior. James asks Ikenna if he is really alive. He recounts the last time he saw Ikenna in 1967. Ikenna was on his way to the university campus, while everyone else evacuated due to violence. When the press later published that two professors had been killed during the attacks, James assumed that Ikenna had been one of the victims. In fact, Ikenna had fled to Switzerland after his entire family was killed.
James makes private judgments about Ikenna’s move to Switzerland. As a fellow professor and political activist, James expected for Ikenna to stay at home and fight during the civil war. Ikenna asks about James’s wife, Ebere. Although she died three years ago, James claims that Ebere still comes to visit him from time to time. Ikenna is shocked by James’s admission of his superstition. Despite Ikenna’s doubt, James defends his beliefs.
James explains that he cannot tell his daughter about his belief in ghosts, as she would make him move with her to Connecticut. James expresses his concern that his grandson does not speak Igbo. James also thinks about what would have happened if his allegiance had won the civil war. James wonders why he never heard more about Ikenna’s death or his survival. He finally confesses that he still feels the effects of the civil war, but thinks that no one else truly does.
"On Monday of Last Week"
Kamara, a young Nigerian woman who has recently moved to Philadelphia, takes up a nannying job for a wealthy family. She watches Josh, a biracial child, every day after school. Kamara is hired by Neil, Josh’s father. Neil, who is Jewish, tells Kamara that his wife, Tracy, is working on an important commissioned art project in the basement and cannot be disturbed. Neal is highly anxious, and he consistently bothers Kamara with new instructions for how to best care for Josh.
One day, Tracy emerges from the basement. She compliments Kamara’s teeth, and asks if she would be open to nude-modeling for one of her pieces. Kamara becomes obsessed with Tracy, and she begins fantasizing about having a relationship with her. This desire prompts Kamara to tell the reader about her immigration story and the dissatisfaction surrounding her marriage to Tobechi. Although Kamara never acts on her attraction to Tracy, Tracy’s presence prompts Kamara to evaluate her life choices and recognize her buried feelings of self-loathing.
Analysis
“A Private Experience” addresses the importance of perspective. When Chika is welcomed into the Muslim woman’s store for safekeeping, she sees her own privilege from a different point of view. Although Chika has enjoyed the comforts of her lifestyle, she realizes that statewide violence renders everyone vulnerable. During her time in the store, Chika learns to practice compassion. Although the violence centers around religious conflict, Chika’s experience allows her to see that she has much more in common with the Muslim woman than she would have ever thought.
The importance of perspective is also extended to the story’s narrative style. The story is told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator. Through this narrative choice, the reader is able to grasp the interior dialogues of both Chika and the Hausa woman. This equalizes the two characters. Instead of seeing the two women on opposing sides of a pertinent political conflict, the reader understands that tragedy can unite unlikely characters.
In “Ghosts,” the reader sees how scholarship conflicts with superstition. James, an elderly professor, has long abandoned his traditional Nigerian practices in order to rise in the Western-style academic world. However, as he ages, James inadvertently returns to his folkloric ideals. When James realizes that he is attached to his belief in ghosts, he experiences an internal conflict. Ultimately, he is too embarrassed to share his beliefs with his friends and family. This causes James to feel isolated and misunderstood by those closest to him.
The themes of misunderstanding and isolation are further explored in “On Monday of Last Week.” After moving to the United States, Kamara feels isolated from her Nigerian roots. During her job search, she realizes that she is grossly misunderstood by her potential employers. These feelings of isolation and misunderstanding negatively affect Kamara’s relationship with her husband. Moreover, her self-esteem dwindles.
Kamara’s acute attraction to Tracy is directly tied to her general unhappiness. Because Kamara is dissatisfied with her marriage, she seeks romantic attention from someone other than her husband. As Kamara spends more time with the family, it is clear that her job becomes increasingly important to rebuilding the protagonist’s sense of self-worth. Because Tracy is busy working, Josh begins to view Kamara as a mother figure. Similarly, Kamara relies on both Josh and Tracy to feel purposeful and desired. In this way, Kamara feels trapped by her professional circumstances.
