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Americanah
Week 6 Assignment
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Great book choice. I'm on page 82 already!
This book is beat of my own heart. I absolutely love it. I haven't read I book that I identified with like this in a really long time if ever. I love that it's based in Philadelphia and Nigeria. My eyes have been opened from my own misconceptions and beliefs I've had about African immigrants. I truly feel like this book has expanded my way of thinking abd also validated a lot of my own views. There are parts of the book that stood out to me....
When Ifemelu's father loses his job because he would not call his boss Mummy I just felt demoralized for him. It must be disheartening to work hard for a company and still be fired because of the power trip of a boss.
Another thing that really stood out to me was when Obineze's mother had an open and candid discussion about sex and the consequences that come from it. She handled the raging teenage hormones talk pretty well. I think more parents should have more talks like that with there children. There seems to be a trend of complete silence when it comes to educating the youth, particularly black youth, about sex.
I also found it interesting how Ifemelu, like most foreigners, goes through the constant struggle of staying true to her African identity vs assimilated to make her life easier in America. The thing that really broke my heart was when she went over to that sleazy his place and have him a hand job. I cringed the entire time reading about it. I felt her shame. I felt most upset when she chose to ignore Obineze because she didn't want to face telling him what had happened. I wanted to scream "Nooooooo Ifemelu, just tell him." I felt so sad that she had become so desperate that she had to compromise her morals to survive. I know many of us has had experience with that one way or another.
sorry for all the typos.
For the week of November 9-15, we will be reading "Americanah" chapters 1-15 (or pages 1-195).
If you haven't ordered your copy ($10 paperback), please do.
-Melanin D