Summary
"Jumping Monkey Hill"
This story centers around Ujunwa, a young and promising Nigerian writer. She is selected to represent her country at a literary retreat called the Africa Writers Workshop in Cape Town. Writers from different African countries (Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa) are chosen to participate in the workshop. They are under the guidance and supervision of British writer Edward Campbell. During the retreat, each participant writes and edits a short story under the supervision of Dr. Campbell. In the story, the other writers are not referred to by their proper names. Instead, they are labeled by their country of origin.
During mealtimes, the writers communally recognize Edward’s problematic behavior. He seems to reward the writers whose stories depict a very curated, specific African perspective that is most marketable to a Western audience. In addition, he generalizes the African experience, refusing to acknowledge the unique traditions and customs that distinguish the different cultures of each country. Ujunwa grows increasingly aggravated by Edward’s comments. As the writers begin workshopping their stories, Edward criticizes those that are based on daily life and instead promotes narratives that propagate violence and suffering.
At one workshopping section, Edward tells the Senagalese writer that her autobiographical story about lesbianism is “anti-African.” The Senegalese woman then tells the other writers that Edward has made an inappropriate sexual comment towards her. Angry, Ujunwa asks her cohort why they continually fail to call out Edward’s racist and sexist behavior. When Ujunwa workshops her story later that evening, Edward criticizes her writing for being unrealistic. Ujunwa laughs at Edward’s comments, admitting to him that her writing is autobiographical. This is significant, as Ujunwa had previously said that her story was not actually based on her experience with her father.
Akunna has won the visa lottery, allowing her to leave Nigeria and relocate to the United States. Before her departure, Akunna’s family mentions some materialistic items that for them define the “American Dream.” Akunna moves into her uncle’s house in rural Maine. Upon her arrival, Akunna’s uncle tells her that the American experience is “give and take.” Later, Akunna enrolls in community college.
At school, Akunna’s female classmates berate her with their racially insensitive comments. Back at home one evening, Akunna is sexually assaulted by her uncle. Horrified by this incident, she moves out, taking a Greyhound bus to a small Connecticut town. Unable to afford school, Akunna takes it upon herself to study at a local library. She begins to work at a local restaurant in order to support herself.
Akunna thinks about her family’s preconceptions about America and how they differ from her reality. Too ashamed to tell her family about her misfortune, Akunna cuts off all contact with them. Instead, she sends them money monthly in order to compensate for her emotional absence. Alone at night, Akunna continuously feels the sensation that she is suffocating from a “thing around her neck.” These feelings begin to change when she meets a male customer at her restaurant.
Although Akunna is hesitant to let this man into her life, she clearly sees that he has a different understanding of her cultural background than other people in the town. She agrees to go on a date with him at a local Chinese restaurant. While there, her fortune cookie reads blank. Akunna is overwhelmed by the differences between her and the boy. She realizes that his knowledge of other non-Western cultures is ultimately grounded in his privileged, American imperialist values. Akunna finally receives word from her family that her father passed away five months ago. She buys a ticket to Nigeria and says goodbye to the boy, unsure of whether she will ever return.
Analysis
Although the conference at Jumping Monkey Hill initially appears to be an opportunity for budding African writers to nourish their talent, Dr. Campbell has a different agenda. Dr. Campbell, an English scholar, is solely interested in promoting his own highly skewed understanding of African narrative. The writers that attend Dr. Campbell’s retreat are from diverse communities across the continent. Although each writer aims to depict the rituals and customs that comprise their respective daily lives, they are met with backlash and threats. Dr. Campbell’s behavior demonstrates the lingering effects of colonialism on African society. Instead of respecting the autonomy and complexities of African countries, Dr. Campbell aims to depict an Africa where barbarism and violence persist.
The name “Jumping Monkey Hill” itself is significant and worth analyzing. The story takes its name from the location of the writing retreat. The name represents the exoticization of Africa by the West. Europeans who colonized Africa in the late 19th century classified and categorized Africans with racially-charged language. This language often used animalistic imagery to describe a “barbaric” African population. Jumping Monkey Hill reflects this history and its enduring impact in post-colonial African society.
As the writers spend time at the retreat, they find that its name is misleading. There are no monkeys at Jumping Monkey Hill, and the resort serves inauthentic food. This contributes to the story’s theme of deceit. Just as Dr. Campbell aims to portray an inaccurate representation of African life, Jumping Monkey Hill aims to portray Africa as a “safari” for its Western visitors. Jumping Monkey Hill gives tourists a narrow perspective of a diverse continent, and the writing workshop demonstrates the difficulties that Africans encounter while assimilating into Western society.
The issue of assimilation reappears in the collection’s titular short story. Prior to Akunna’s arrival in the United States, her family offers opinions and predictions about what they think will be her prosperous and easy life in America. They have been sold on the notion of the American dream, and Akunna grows excited for her new adventure. However, when she arrives in America, things are quite different. Her struggles indicate that the American dream is not what it seems. As a black immigrant in the United States, Akunna does not have access to many of the opportunities that were promised to her.
Akunna’s budding relationship further highlights the issues surrounding her identity in America. Instead of finding comfort in her relationship, she is aggravated by her partner. She witnesses white privilege first-hand, and she grows resentful of others for how they mistreat her. When Akunna receives the blank fortune cookie at the Chinese restaurant, she realizes that she must take action in order to change the course of her life. She leaves to go back to her family in Nigeria, and it is suggested that Akunna will likely not return to her disappointing American life.
