An Exodus to Personal Identity: Exploring America's Subjugated Identity in “Americanah” How do we define our own identity? In the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie, Adichie writes the story of Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who moves to America in search of a better future than her life in Nsukka. In this realistic portrait of Nigerian immigrant Ifemelu, Adichie uses Ifemelu's trajectory throughout the novel to critique the way American society subjugates an individual's identity by defining personal identity through the perceptions of people other than herself. With this review, Adichie first explores the significant struggles within Nigerian identity through Ifemelu's early childhood and adolescent life, then explores the critical early years of Ifemelu finding himself in America, then constructed Ifemelu's unique and strong African-American identity by becoming a blogger, and Last concludes her post by taking Ifemelu back to her roots in Nigeria where she finally finds peace in her own identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Building an identity conflict from Ifemelu's early age in Nigeria, Adichie creates Ifemelu's mother an independent personality then dismantles it to the point of religious subjugation. Growing up "in the shadow of his mother's hair," Ifemelu identified his mother by her unique African braided hair that "spouted free and full, flowing like a party" (49). Describing the freedom in her mother's hair, Adichie constructs physical characteristics representative of a unique independent personality as a "crown of glory" (49). Despite building a strong character, her mother's braided hair changes one day when her mother comes home and "cuts off all her hair, [leaving] it on the ground like dead grass" (50). In a shocking moment for Ifemelu, Adichie portrays this scene to compare “cutting” her mother’s hair to murdering her own identity. Her mother melodramatically explains the reasoning behind her impetuous actions: “I am saved. Mrs. Ojo served me this afternoon during the children's recess and I received Christ. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. Praise God,” followed by the narrator stating, “his mother’s words were not his own, [pronouncing them] too rigidly, with an attitude that belonged to someone else” (50). Describing the sudden change in religion, Adichie criticizes the fraudulent tone of the mother's words to demonstrate that the influence of a higher authority caused her mother's “essence to take flight” (50). Following this transformation fueled by Nigeria's religious influence, Adichie begins to depict a conflict of identity in Ifemelu's narrative that will gradually develop throughout the course of her novel. Despite her mother's identity conflict, Adichie depicts independence within Ifemelu's personal identity in Nigeria by describing Ifemelu's relationship with Obinze. When they first met in their youth, Obinze describes Ifemelu “as the kind of person who will do something because she wants to, not because everyone else is doing it” (73). Creating this bonding relationship between Obinze and Ifemelu at the beginning of the novel, Adichie begins to implant Ifemelu's authentic identity by portraying her as a person who acts willingly rather than manipulated by another person or ideology; therefore, her authenticity grows in her relationship with Obinze, making her “like herself” and feeling “at ease” (73). OfAdditionally, Adichie continues to construct Ifemelu's independent identity, describing her relationship with Obinze "that seems natural" where she could feel comfortable "[talking] to him about strange things" (73). Building confidence in her relationship with Obinze, Adichie compares Ifemelu's identity conflict involving her mother to her experience with Obinze to demonstrate how Ifemelu begins to develop a strong identity early in her life in Nigeria. However, once in America, Ifemelu begins to experience a different perception of the identity struggle when she recognizes that current American society pretends people and culture are different from her expectations. During Ifemelu's first day in America, the narrator describes Ifemelu featuring "dull" buildings, cars, and signs, which revealed a "shiny shine" covering the "mundane things in America" ​​(127). Adichie's description of "brilliant brilliance" depicts the narrator's perspective in describing the physical aspects of America as a figurative misrepresentation of its society that hid its flaws in its so-called culture. Similarly, Adichie reveals America's false identity when Aunt Uju answers a phone call by mispronouncing her Igbo last name with an American accent. After the phone call, Ifemelu challenges Uju's mispronunciation: “Is that how you pronounce your name now? in which Uju responds by accusing the Americans: “That’s what they call me now” (128). With Uju's accent "emerged a new character, apologetic and humiliating," the narrator described signifying Adichie's goal by demonstrating how Uju lost her own identity when "America had overpowered her" (135 ). As a result, Ifemelu discovers the confusing identity subjugation that would soon enslave her identity while living in America. After discovering Aunt Uju's subtle change in identity, a white American woman, Cristina Tomas, begins to subjugate Ifemelu's Nigerian identity. While enrolling at Trenton University, Cristina Thomas unintentionally demeans Ifemelu by speaking to him in an exaggerated, slow manner: “Yes. NOW. Are. You. One. International. Student?" (163). Creating a pause between each word, Adichie forces Tomas to exaggerate his slow tone to demonstrate how American society's categorization makes immigrants like Ifemelu feel inadequate as a "little kid, lazy and drooling » (163) Thus, with Tomas's categorization of immigrants, Adichie demonstrates how Ifemelu "shrinks like a dried leaf" knowing that she has spoken English all her life and is considered an inconsistent individual in American society (164). ) As quick and simple as Tomas's categorization, Ifemelu also begins practicing an American accent to avoid future encounters with other white Americans who might diminish his personality as a result, in this process of transforming his Nigerian accent into an accent; American, Ifemelu begins to subject his personal identity to the influence of white American culture (164) Once Ifemelu masters his American accent, Ifemelu realizes the pretentious value of his false American identity. After living in America for a year, Ifemelu had perfected his American accent "by watching his friends and the news anchors, the blur of the t, the creamy roll of the r, the sentences starting with 'so' and the slippery response of 'oh Really'. …” (213). Creating an aura of American characteristics that helped Ifemelu achieve his perfect American accent, Adichie makes mastering the American accent an ultimate skill for hard work. After having a conversation with a man from a foreign call center, the caller..