Gender, Identity, and Migration: A Study of Select Stories from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck

Abstract

Since time immemorial, literature around the world has been gender-biased and male-centric. Women and their works have been excluded from the mainstream society. Women have been neglected and subjugated in every field of work. Most of the literary works have discussed the view of women by either the opposite gender or by the society in general. But with the beginning of Feminism, things had started to change as women began voicing their stories as narratives through their writings. Therefore, the contemporary world has seen a large number of studies and literary works that showcase the status of women in different parts of the world. Works that concentrate on postcolonial women have become quite popular over the centuries. There has been a lot of interest in bringing light on the situation of the African women writers than what has been done in the past. Africa, being one of the most patriarchal societies had made their women submissive to male dominance for centuries. Adichie, who claimed herself as a feminist, firmly believes in the equality of the sexes, which is reflected in her writings. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a notable Nigerian women writer whose works have been critically acclaimed all over the world. Most of her works are focused on African women who struggle in the patriarchal world where all of them manage to overcome their weaknesses and thrive to success. The paper is set on the backdrop of this subject as Adichie presents the lives of African women as they grapple to survive wherever they go. The paper will explore the diverse issues and themes Adichie raises in the select stories from her short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck. The text is a collection of twelve short stories with settings in Nigeria and the U.S. The stories in the collection focus on a multitude of themes including race, gender, identity, alienation, migration, and many more. The paper will therefore analyse the stories in light of the female characters’ experiences in the stereotypical world where people of colored races fell into multiple hardships and misfortunes. The paper will further focus on the black women in both Nigeria and America, showing their difficulties while trying to survive in between two different cultures. Adichie also shows how these women empower themselves through various means and regain their lost identities in their journeys.