In the current novel that we are reading called “Americanah” the main character is called  Ifemelu. Her first time happens with her ex named Obinze who she has know for most of her life. While in the novel “The Bell Jar” the main character is named Esther and she decides to have sex for the first time with this math professor named Irwin who she knew for less than a week. With the character of Esther her love life is tragic the man she thought was inexperienced was just playing a character and the man that was her date was trying to pull a “Trump” on her. The person she finally decides to have sex with is experience and during the sex in the novel it writes “I lay, rapt and naked, on Irwin’s rough blanket, waiting for the miraculous change to make itself felt. But all I felt was a sharp, startlingly bad pain.” After this she wonder if she is no longer a virgin and notice that she is bleeding which must confirm it.

When Ifemelu does it with Obinze they don’t use a condom due to Obinze stated they will marry so it does not matter. What should of been a magically moment turn into a dissapointment. After they had sex it states in the novel “ She and Obinze should have planned it better; that way, she would know how to tell his mother. The unplannedness of it all had left her a little shaken, and also a little disappointed. It seemed somehow as though it had not been worth it after all.” What this means is that it was a let down and unpleasant. It was suppose to be this amazing planned experience that she would discuss later with Obinze mom. Later she started to feel pain and believe that she was now pregnant which it turns out not to be true.

Both of these ladies had this idea in their heads that the first time would be magically and they both ended disappointingly. They don’t want to discuss it with anyone after it’s done or are in any rush to go for round two. Esther gets something that will make sure that she wouldn’t get pregnant while with Ifemelu her partner used the oldest trick in the book that it does not matter when they have sex because they are going to get married anyway. Their first time they expected to feel transformed instead they have a moment of crisis in which they thought of what is about to happen next instead of living in the moment. They thought something was wrong with them afterward and the thought of being pregnant after having sex once if a lot of pressure to put on someone.

Sex for women can be seen differently based on how they were raised to see it, how society saw it, and women were treated at the time. For example in the books Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Each of the main characters were women who saw sex differently. In The Bell Jar, the main character is named Esther and she saw sex as a right of passage, a way to her self freedom. Esther meets a man named Irwin who is a married professor and she chooses to give him her virginity. Her virginity was a major definition to who she didn’t want to be anymore. She states “It occurred to me that blood was my answer. I couldn’t possibly be a virgin anymore. I smiled into the dark. I felt part of a great tradition”(Plath, 219).Esther feels a satisfaction of freedom and how she was now able to be and choose how she wanted her life to play out. Although on the other hand in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, sex wasn’t freedom but a way men asserted control of women. The main character is named Celie, she struggles through life being treated as an object. Celie was to be controlled by her stepfather, then married off to a husband who as abusive and unloving as her father figure. In the beginning of the book it starts with Celie being raped by her step-father and being told to stay quiet or pain will be inflected to those she loved. She states “Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. First he put his thing against my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then grab a hold of my titties. Then push his thing inside my pussy. When that hurt , I cry. He start to choke me, say You better shut up and git use to it.”(Walker,1). This allows to see how men saw her as object and she allowed herself to be used as so due to her lack of knowledge that there was another way. Furthermore, sex was also scary but a way of showing your devotion and love to one another. In Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the main character is named Ifemelu and she is in love with Obinze. Both are well educated Africans that attend college and spend all of their free time together. They both understand the outcomes of sex and the need to use protection, being told and shown from parents and family. Ifemelu’s first sexual experience is with Obinze, they do not use protection but use other methods that aren’t always guaranteed. And Ifemelu fears she maybe pregnant due to her showing signs such as vomiting. Eventually she takes a test and sees she is not pregnant but has an inflamed organ that requires surgery. The book states “It felt to Ifemelu like a weak copy, a floundering imitation of what she imagined it would be…She had been tense through it all, unable to relax. She had imagined his mother watching them ;”(Adichie,114). Ifemelu feels the guilt that she promised Obinze’s mother when they would start any sexual relation, and so she can’t fully give herself to Obinze. Sex is different to everyone due to many factors such as time period, how they are raised, education, and society. All of this shapes an individual’s outlook on sex and what is the meaning behind it. In conclusion, for women it’s not all this general thought but can mean Freedom or Demise or Nothing.

Chapter 7 in Americanah is important to the plot of the book because it highlights Ifemelu and Obinze’s relationship. It is the first time Ifemelu and Obinze have sex. Ifemelu starts giving Obinze a massage and then they having sex. But Obinze tells her that he is certain that they will get married so they decide not to use a condom. The moment was so spontaneous that Ifelmelu wished it was a more carefully planned. Afterwards, she feels a bit of discomfort and a bit disappointed because it was unplanned. She kept imagining how she would tell Obinze’s mother and how they should have planned it better. ” But now she could not see how. What would she say? What words would she use? Would Obinze’s mother expect details? She and Obinze should have planned it better; that way, she would know how to tell his mother. The unplannedness of it all had left her a little shaken, and also a little disappointed. It seemed somehow as though it had not been worth it after all” (Adiche115). It seems as though the sex is something that isn’t done freely but rather its done with caution. Sex is something she must be cautious about because the potential of marriage can arise from it. This is shown when she experienced the pregnancy scare. The vision of Obinze’s desire to marry and have children with Ifemelu seem realistic. For Esther in The Bell Jar, sex was different. She has adapted a lose and free attitude which is different from Ifemelu. She wants to have sex more than Ifemelu does and for her sex is something that she must do any at cost to achieve some sort of relief. The relief comes from escaping traditional chaste women. The main difference between the two character is that for Esther, sex can happen under any circumstances. For Ifemelu, sex has to planned out in order to make it more comfortable.

In Americanah the main character Ifemelu thinks that she is pregnant after having sex with her boyfriend Obinze and starts to be angry towards him. Ifemelu is encouraged to have sex with Obinze because he tells her “But, Ifem, we’re going to get married anyway” while encouraging her to have sex with no protection (Adiche, 114). When Ifemelu tells Obinze that she thinks that she is pregnant he states that is too soon to know and he seems to be confused (Adiche, 115). While getting the results at the doctors she seems to be upset at everyone, having this kind of worry seemed to stress her out and take out her frustration on everyone including the lab girl. Even with the results coming out negative, Ifemelu does seem to be relieved that she isn’t pregnant but has the courage to tell Obinze’s mother that they had sex.

In The Color Purple, the main character Celie experiences sex differently. In the beginning of the story we find out that Celie’s stepfather rapes her (Walker, 1). Celie thinks that she isn’t a good girl anymore due to the tragic things that she goes through with this man (Walker, 1). She asks god to show her a sign of what is happening to her to prove whether she deserves this or not (Walker, 1). Celie doesn’t really show whether she’s stood up for herself or not but it’s obvious that she just takes the pain. This sexual experience differs from Americanah because sex isn’t a choice for Celie, she doesn’t experience having the decision on when to have sex and with whom. This experience has an effect on Celie and makes it clear that she is afraid of men. When she gets beaten because she was accused of winking at a boy in church and states that she don’t even look at men but look at women since she isn’t afraid of them (Walker, 5). Celie is traumatized has she experiences pain physically and mentally.