THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Jumping Monkey Hill”
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
“The Shivering”
Presentation by Caitlin Friess and Rebecca Levinger
Historical Context
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A former U.K. colony, Nigeria gained independence in 1914.
 It is a constitutional republic (an indirect democracy)
Thomas Sankara (1949-1987) He was the president of Burkina Faso from
1983-1987.
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He was a Marxist revolutionary and a pan-African theorist.
He is commonly referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”
He was a Women’s Rights Activist.
He was murdered by a former colleague.
The plane crash from “The Shivering” is based on an actual crash. In
October 2005, a passenger plane crashed killing 117 people. The first lady
of Nigeria was having surgery in a hospital in Spain at the same time.
She died in surgery, leading people to mistakenly believe she had died on
the plane crash.
Themes
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Leaving
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Being Female
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At the conclusion of each story, the protagonist walks away from
someone or something.
Many of the protagonist are oppressed or objectified because of
the gender.
Cultural Identity
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protagonists struggle to reconcile traditional and
western values
“Jumping Monkey Hill”
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In this story, most of the characters are
identified by citizenship rather than name. What
does this explicit use of culture as an identifier
say about interpersonal and/or intercultural
relations?
Is Ujunwa hypocritical for claiming that she
does not believe in writing as therapy, then
revealing her story is true? Is her story therapy?
Why does Ujunwa continually lie to Isabel?
What does it say about her as a character and
how is the reader supposed to feel about it? Are
we supposed to see Isabel as foolish?
“Jumping Monkey Hill”
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“Ujunwa bought a necklace and put it on
and liked the look of the white, toothshaped pendant against her throat. That
evening, Isabel smiled when she saw it. “I
wish people would see how faux-ivory looks
real and leave the animals alone,” she said.
Ujunwa beamed and said that it was in face
real ivory and wondered whether to add
that she had killed the elephant herself
during a royal hunt. Isabel looked startled,
then pained.” (113)
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How does this interaction make us feel about
Ujunwa? About Isabel? Does it make a larger
point about interracial or intercultural
relations?
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
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Why does Adichie choose to write this story in the second person?
How is the reader meant to react to this? Is the reader supposed to
see “become” Akunna?
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What is “the thing around your neck”- what does it signify to the
protagonist and why is it the title?
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Why is this particular story the title story of the anthology?
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Does the reader’s sympathies lie with the protagonist or the love interest (or
both or neither)? Have either of them actually wronged the other, or are
they simply having a miscommunication because of cultural differences?
Would it ever be possible for them to overcome these cultural differences?
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
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“You thought everybody in America had a car and a gun; your
uncles and aunts and cousins thought so, too. Right after you won
the American visa lottery, they told you: In a month, you will have
a big car. Soon, a big house. But don’t buy a gun like those
Americans.” (115)
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Why does Adichie start the story with the protagonist’s misconceptions about
America?
“The thing that wrapped itself around your neck, that nearly choked you
before you fell asleep, started to loosen, to go.” (125)
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Why does “the thing” loosen?
“The Shivering”
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What is the symbolism of Ukamaka’s religious crisis and what does
it say about her current identity crisis?
Ukamaka spends much of the story defining herself by her exboyfriend. Can she overcome this? Chinedu defines her as a
Nigerian- is this a better way for her to define herself?
What is the significance of Ukamaka and Chinedu comparing their
ex-boyfriends to Thomas Sankara?
“The Shivering”
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“The choir had begun to sing. It was one of those Sundays
when the preist blessed the congregation with Holy Water
at the beginning of mass, and father Patrick was walking
up and down, flicking water on the people with something
that looked like a big salt shaker. Ukamaka watched him
and though how much more subdued Catholic masses
were in America; how in Nigeria it would have been a
vibrant green branch from a mango tree that the preist
would dip in a bucket of holy water held by a hurrying,
sweating mass server; how he would have striden up and
down, splashing and swirling, holy water raining down;
how the people would have been drenched; and how,
smiling and making the sign of the cross, they would have
felt blessed.” (166)
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What is the implication of this? Do the people at the
American mass not feel blessed?