Title: The Thing Around Your Neck
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Anchor Books
Genre: Fiction, Short Stories
Year of Publication: 2009
Date of Publication: June 16, 2009
Pages: 218
ISBN-10: 0307455912
ISBN-13: 978-0307455918
Summary of The Thing Around Your Neck
The Thing Around Your Neck is a book written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It contains 12 short stories about different characters. Each story centers on the lives of Nigerians. Some of the characters live in Nigeria while others have relocated abroad.
A lot of the stories focus on the personal lives of the characters, migration, and the clash between tradition and modernity.
Adichie brings to light some of the differences and relationships between men and women, parents and children, and some of the difficulties Nigerians face both in Africa and the United States.
Main Plot & Characters
Each story is about unique characters and situations. Some of my favorite stories from the book include:
- Cell One: This story is narrated by the sister of the main character in the story (Nnamabia). She tells the story of her brother’s arrest and the time he spent in a corrupt Nigerian prison. Her brother had a way of always finding himself in trouble but this particular time he spent in prison was the turning point in his life. The story is about corruption, privilege, and personal growth in a broken justice system.
- A Private Experience: A medical student and a poor Muslim woman find shelter together during a riot. These two woman end up confronting their differences and understanding their shared humanity.
- Imitation: A young mother in Philadelphia learns her husband has moved his mistress into their Lagos home. The way the narrative unfolds in this story is beautiful.
- The Thing Around Your Neck: A Nigerian girl moves to America, she narrates some of the challenges she experiences as an immigrant including unexpected loneliness. She also talks about some of the cultural differences and reexamine her desires.
- On Monday of Last Week: A Nigerian woman named Kamara moves to the U.S. to be with her husband. Although she has a Masters degree, while she is waiting for her green card application to be processed, she takes on the job of babysitting a boy named Josh. Josh parents are Tracy (a painter) and Neil (a lawyer). Tracy is African American while Neil is Jewish. Kamara continues to babysit Josh, but grows increasingly fascinated by Tracy, who stays hidden in her basement studio working on her paintings.
Writing Style
Adichie’s writing truly captures some of the struggles immigrants face especially in the early days of migration. She writes in a way that readers can quickly understand the dynamics of the Nigerian environment and how the characters attempt to assimilate with their new environments. Each story has you invested in the journey of the characters but even more importantly, each narrator in the book has a unique voice.
A lot of the stories in the book will leave you as a reader wanting more and hoping to see how the rest of the story unfolds.
Favorite Quotes
- “Last year, when he brought the Nok terra-cotta that sits on the table in the hallway, he told her the ancient Nok people had used the originals for ancestor worship, placing them in shrines, offering them food morsels. And the British had carted most of those away, telling the people (newly Christianized and stupidly blinded, Obiora said) that the sculptures were heathen.”—Nkem, from Imitation
- “Have you ever been an artist’s model.”—Tracy, from On Monday of Last Week
- “She could not complain about not having shoes when the person she was talking to had no legs.”—Kamara, from On Monday of Last Week, reflecting on her personal problems as compared to her friend Chinwe’s
Impact of The Thing Around Your Neck
This collection of stories sparks discussions on the immigrant experience. Because the stories are written in very short chapters, as a reader you can go through different impactful stories in little to no time.
