At the beginning of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the symbol of hair was introduced in the setting of a hair salon in Trenton. In fact, most of the setting was the hair salon as it played a flashback role. Naturally in a salon setting, hair would be a reoccurring symbol but Chimamanda manages to use hair as a representation of multiple things. One of the first things hair represents in Americanah was identity. Hair represents Ifemelu’s identity and her struggles with identity. When she moved to America she was told by her Aunty Uju that she had to lose her braids. “I have to take my braids out for my interviews and relax my hair. Kemi told me that I shouldn’t wear braids to the interview. If you have braids, they will think you are unprofessional.” (Adiche146) Having her hair braided represented Ifemelu’s confidence as a smart black American and it represented her identity as a Nigerian. Changing her hair meant changing her independence and reduced her confidence. Changing her hair to make her look more professional meant that she was conforming to American standards rather than staying true to her own. Changing her chair and getting rid of the braids reminded her of when her mother came home and abruptly cut off some of her own braids. Her mother did it for the sake of religion and Ifemelu interpreted the act as her mother also giving up her own independence. But also for Ifemelu, changing her hair highlighted the racism associated with American ideas of beauty. A black women was expected to straighten her hair to look professional and this also represented changing ones identity.

In the book Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is based on a highly educated African American women named Ifemelu and her the struggle of being pinned under specific labels (especially labels about race). Although she is also in journey for love with Obinze. Her story is generally told through the element of fiction: Point of view, usually in third person (narrator). The book starts with third person to allow the setting to be set up for the reader to understand and get some background on the main character. For example, “The rude stranger in the supermarket-who knew what problems he was wrestling with, haggard and thin-lipped as he was- had intended to offend her but had instead prodded her awake”( Adichie,8). In this quote we see from her point of view how a label such as ‘fat’ has made her react a specific way. At first, she took it negatively by ‘noticing’ the tightness in her clothes. Although she also saw that she was not happy in her life and wanted desired a change. The ‘third-person’ point of view continues, but this time to allow insight on flashbacks/ thoughts. This allows for the reader to properly follow the zig-zag motions of the story line. Furthermore, when it states “Throughout the years of childhood, Ifemelu would often look in the mirror and pull at her own coils, will it to become like her mother’s, but it remained bristly and grew reluctantly”( Adichie, 49). This quote is a flashback to when the main character had a mother so beautiful and that everyone admired. She challenged her own ideas of beauty and her hair as an African girl. In conclusion, point of view allowed for the readers to see more than just one person’s perspective and specifically allowed for them to see the change or lack of change in the reaction to labels.

In the book Americanah by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie, the narrator introduces us to a young intelligent Nigerian Igbo women who travels to America so she can further in on her education. However, despite her success on writing blogs about race, she is unhappy and wants to move back to her motherland, Nigeria. Being that this book is written as a 3^rd person narration, readers are able to get a sense of the way each character in differentiates themselves and how their characteristics contributes to the outcome of Ifemelu’s life. So in other words, readers can sum up the story by using the narrators point of view, being that this is an omniscient work of writing. The narrator is able to give us an insight of the mindset of each character. For an example, the main character Ifemelu sends Obinze an e-mail (her childhood love) notifying him that she will soon be returning to Nigeria. Knowing that he is now a married man with children, she calls him “Ceiling”. Ceiling is a nickname she had called Obinze when they were young and in love. In the book it states, “She began to call what they did together ceiling, their warm entanglements on his bed when his mother was out, wearing only underwear, touching and kissing and sucking, hips moving in simulation. I’m longing for ceiling, she once wrote on the back of his geography notebook, and for a long time afterwards he could not look at that notebook without a gathering frisson, a sense of secret excitement.” (pdf 20) This evidences that Ifemelu is still in love with Obinze. Her calling him ceiling was an obvious flirtatious behavior. However, the narrator also lets the readers know that Obinze is not over her as well… In the book it states, “He wrote and rewrote the e-mail, not mentioning his wife or using the first person plural, trying for a balance between earnest and funny. He did not want to alienate her. He wanted to make sure she would reply this time. He clicked Send and then minutes later checked to see if she had replied.” (pdf. 30) Now why should a married man with kids want to keep in touch with his former lover? Is this the starting point of an affair? Will Obinze leave his wife for Ifemelu? As of now questions remain unanswered and soon Ifemelu will come to realization that Obinze still loves her, causing a great amount of distress. This conflict can ruin his social life, ruin his children’s life and also ruin the life of his wife. Most importantly, Ifemelu would be hated from her society when everyone finds out she was his mistress.

As readers we are well aware of the other characters as well. Like Ifemelu’s mother for an example, she’s very religious because she varies from church to church, and doesn’t give up and does crazy things like going bald so she can be welcomed. Another example is Ifemelu’s father, who very much loves his wife, and as readers we know that because he is now embarrassed that he should have just called his boss “mommy” to keep his job. He suffers from depression and doesn’t even talk anymore. Another example is Obinze’s wife, who greats Obinze’s peers with much respect, and goes to things like “how to keep your husband” church. This gives readers an insight that she very much loves him and does not want to lose him as a husband. And lastly, I could say Ifemelu’s aunt who was also a mistress. The narrator allows readers to know that Ifemelu’s aunt had shared similar experience and most likely Ifemelu will reach out to her with what she needs to do.

The novel Americanah by Chimanda Ngozi Adiche is written in third person limited omniscient and simultaneously being subjective and objective. It is subjective when the main characters are mentioned but generally objective in the assessment of the other characters unless seen through the eyes of Ifemelu or Obinze. At no point do we see a sentence start with I unless it relates to what a character is saying. We are privy to the full spectrum of Ifemelu’s and Obinze thoughts and emotions. It is through these two main characters that we see the world they live in and are introduced to the other supporting characters. The thoughts of the other characters are filtered through the thoughts of either Obinze or Ifemelu.
Because we are experiencing the story through these characters and at that point the author is omniscient we are more connected to these characters. We are not just more connected but all of their assertions are assumed true and as we are viewing the world as they are, we are empathetic to whatever situations they experience.
Having two main characters that share similar scenes together gives an effect of validating and bringing three dimensionality and verification of the objectiveness of the author. With each of the main characters not contradicting each other’s account of events, it gives events legitimacy. Knowing we can trust both characters and the author’s views roots the novel as an accurate account of events and aligns your judgments with the point of view of the author.
Having this point of view affects all of the characters in the novel resulting in only Obinze and Ifemelu being effectively round and dynamic. The other characters are relegated to being mainly flat and being less dynamic if dynamic at all. We see “Aunty Uju” and “Dike” change somewhat and they could even be considered as round but those are the exception.

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah one of the symbols shown throughout the novel is the symbolism of hair. Most of the novel takes places in a hair salon where Ifemelu is getting her hair braided. The majority of women who usually go and get their hair braided at a hair salon, or more specifically an African hair salon are black women. Living in Princeton, New Jersey where its mostly white dominated it was hard to find a place where you can go and get your hair braided the right way. As quoted in the novel “It was unreasonable to expect a braiding salon in Princeton the few black locals she seen were so light-skinned she could not imagine them wearing braids”(Adichie 8 pdf). I would imagine only black women wore braids around that time and even now today mostly black women wear braids although some white women have now become found of hair braiding. For most of the women especially Ifemelu in Americanah hair represented an identity between being Nigerian and a black American.

Coming to America was a big change for women like Ifemelu and Aunty Uju it wasn’t the same as living in Nigeria where you could get away with whatever hairstyle you wanted. Being in Nigeria Ifemelu would always braid her hair but when she came to America she had to learn to wear her own hair out but not natural and poofy hair, it had to be relaxed or straightened. If hair wasn’t straightened people would see it as unprofessional, so living in America meant that she had to wear her hair the way white women wore their hair. As quoted in the novel Aunty Uju “I have to take my braids out for my interviews and relax my hair. Kemi told me that I shouldn’t wear braids to the interview,” (Adichie 90 pdf) it was seen as unprofessional to have your hair in braids. The pressure for black women like Ifemelu and Aunty Uju to straighten their hair, making it resemble a white womens hair is a sign or symbol of racism in the American culture.

Americanah is third person’s point of view because Ngozi Adichie uses the third form (he, she) while describing all the characters. The story is told by the narrator. Americanah is about a black woman Ifemelu who moves from Nigeria to the United States and she is trying to understand the new culture. She has a hard time to find a place to get her hair braided because the area she lives in (Princeton) is a white neighborhood and there aren’t salons for hair braiding. As the story goes on the narrator describes the people Ifemelu comes across, “The man standing closest to her was eating an ice cream cone; she had always found it a little irresponsible, the eating of ice cream cones by grown-up American men, especially the eating of ice cream cones by grown-up American men in public.” (Ngozi Adichie 4) Ifemelu and the man standing next to her are both described in he and she, which proves that the book is written in third-person narration.

It is objective because the narrator can’t get into any of the characters minds, she only describes what is going on around the surroundings of the characters. When Ifemelu finally reaches to the salon, the ladies working there are speaking in English and French. “Trois! Cinq! Non, non, cinq!” (Ngozi Adichie 13) The narrator doesn’t say the meaning of the numbers and also who is on the other side of the phone. Which shows she has no access to the character Mariama was talking to. Which proves the point of point of view being objective. Ifemelu is going back to her country and she decides to close the blog she writes. “She would sit in cafes, or airports or train stations, watching strangers, watching strangers, imagining their lives, and wondering which of them were likely to have read her blog. Now her ex-blog.” (5) This also shows that the narrator is telling the story and not Ifemelu herself.

Much of Americanah takes place as Ifemelu sits in a salon getting her hair braided, so one can understand from the beginning that hair will play a big role in this book.  Ifemelu lives in Princeton, New Jersey, she must travel to Trenton to have her hair braided. Hair is a symbol of identity for Ifemelu. It begins with her mother’s hair when she is a child. Her mother cuts off her long, beautiful hair that was often referred to as her “crowning glory” once she found Christ (Adichie ,50). A Christian knows what it means when you found Christ; it means you are a new person, a new beginning. For Ifemelu, her hair represents her struggle for confidence and an identity as both a Nigerian immigrant and a black American. In Nigeria, Ifemelu always braided her hair, but when she comes to America she learns that she is supposed to straighten her hair with chemicals or else people will think she is unprofessional. Aunty Uju told Ifemelu that: “I have to take my braids out for my interviews and relax my hair. Kemi told me that I shouldn’t wear braids to the interview. If you have braids, they will think you are unprofessional (Adichie ,146).” As a result of the cultural pressure, black women like Ifemelu feel they have to straighten, dye, or somehow make their hair look more like a white woman’s hair becomes a symbol of the racism inherent in American culture. Racism is not just explicitly racist acts, but also social hierarchies like the fact that most popular women’s magazines offer no hair-styling tips for black women. Hair, particularly Ifemelu’s hair, is used in the novel to comment on her defiance of American cultural norms. Ifemelu’s hair, whether braided, relaxed, or natural, represents her attempts to pushback against that norm.

In the book we are currently reading called “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie we see that hair is a symbol in the novel. It shows an abstract meaning to us the reader. At first I did not see the big picture until we later discussed it class. I can see much clearly now due to fact that so far most of what we read has taken place in a salon as Ifemelu is getting her hair braided. On page 34 in my version of the book it stated that when Ifemelu was ten, her mother came home looking a bit different and cuts off all of her hair. She then asks for a bag and puts all the Catholic objects in their home in it and then burns it. She comes back inside and tells Ifemelu on page 35 “I am saved,” and they will start going to a new church the following Sunday. By doing this her mother is feeling reborn in a sense with that of a new religion. With her aunt Uju she had to have her hair a certain way to get a job.

However for Ifemelu her hair represents her not only as a Nigerian immigrant but now also also as a black American. Back in Nigeria she always braided her hair, but not that she has come to America she learns that she is supposed to straighten her hair or else people will look at her funny. When she does this it feels that she is losing a part of herself that makes her stand out against the rest.

In the book Americanah by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie, tells a story about a journey of a black women in America. The book is written in a third person point of view meaning that as readers we get to see the story from a narratives point of view. The narrator is both reliable and omniscient meaning the narrator has complete and unlimited knowledge on all of the characters and things involved in this story. This point of view doesn’t change even when the story changes perspectives within characters and when it changes in time within the present to the past. For example, when Obinze gets an email from Ifemelu saying that she is moving back to Nigeria and the narrator describes in detail his thoughts on the email. Adichie not only gets into a female view in the story but also gets into the male’s views as shown in this narration:

When Obinze first saw her e-mail, he was sitting in the back of his Range Rover in still Lagos traffic, his jacket slung over the front seat…… First, he skimmed the e-mail, instinctively wishing it were loner…… He read it again slowly and felt the urge to smooth something, his trousers, his shaved-bald head. She had called him Ceiling. In the last e-mail from her, sent just before he got married, she had called him Obinze, apologized for her silence over the years, wished him happiness in sunny sentences, and mentioned the black American she was living with. A gracious e-mail. He had hated it.  (Adichie, 23)

This narrative shows the thought process of a second character which reveals to the readers his personal emotions to the main character which is Ifemelu. This point of view gets the reader to get to know the characters involved and develop an interest in what happens to them.