Comparing The Thing Around Your Neck And A Small Place

In the article ‘Black People in a White People’s Country’ by Gary Nash, he explains how slavery gave Africans a low role in America’s society, and how because slavery was allowed in the New World, they were “Socially and legally defined as less than people...”. It wasn’t just the fact that they were enslaved that made people treat them horribly, but also where they came from. In the eyes of a European, Africans were very different,

The autobiographical-novel maintains its poetic form through repetition, alliteration, and rhythm. As Kincaid writes, “…for no real sunset could look like that; no real seawater could strike that many shades of blue at once; no real sky could be that shade of blue…” This charm lulls and immobilizes the reader, such that Kincaid’s narration graduates from the victim of such transformative power to a practitioner in her own right. The mystical form powerfully mixes with historical content, opening up new possibilities for discussions that extend the political argument beyond the metaphysical. Indeed, the deceptive simplicity of diction and the finely controlled syntax examine Antigua’s clouded process of existence with incisive clarity. An emotionally truthful, intimate, and poignant piece, A Small Place demonstrates the author’s conflicting attitudes of love and disappointment towards her birthplace. As Covi praises, “Reading A Small Place is like looking at the sea: the message is carried by the tide, but it is impossible to say upon which particular

Kincaid describes the reactions of the native people as tourists walk by; being a native Antiguan herself, her description of their behaviour is probably accurate. The justification she provides for their behaviour is sound. Most areas like Antigua depend on the funds that tourism brings in. While whatever luxury can be provided is given to the tourists, it is the native people who see the daily trials and sufferings. Understandably, even though their income comes from the tourists they so despise, the native population is trapped in the never-ending cycle of poverty. Unable to escape their own situations, the natives find solace in mocking tourists for their cluelessness or awkwardness. Kincaid shows this most effectively when she says, “we Antiguans, for I am one, have a great sense of things, and the more meaningful the thing, the more meaningless we make it” (113). She immediately

Between America and other European nations, stereotypes and misrepresentations have ultimately plagued the continent of Africa. To every side there is often another story, yet unfortunately for the many countries of Africa, they are ultimately victimized and suffer through further oppression. According to Curtis Keim’s book Mistaking Africa, Keim suggests that Africa is essentially under the public microscope, it tends to be scrutinized, and compared to European nations and America. Keim elaborates on human natures need to group people, places, and things, which creates the theory of superiority or dominance over races, cultures, and even religions.

The collection of short stories ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie demonstrates that in Nigeria, men women, boys and girls are treated differently, and these relationship in which gender inequality exists leads to family conflict. And corruption exists in Nigeria and also the violence. These issues have lasting impacts on the characters.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie highlights the often challenging lives of Nigerian women living in Africa, but also abroad in the United States. It is however, not the difficulties which Adichie is ultimately focusing on, but the courage and intelligence of women who are able to make ‘small victories’, overcoming various attempts of cultural oppression.

It’s hard to imagine someone’s personal experience without actually being the one enduring it; however, Jamaica Kincaid’s use of language contests other wise.Through intense imagery and emotional response, Jamaica Kincaid utilizes rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos, which successfully convinces her audience by creating a conversation between herself and the reader. Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is an expression of her inner feelings on the transformation her hometown, Antigua, and the everlasting postcolonial impact that occurs. Kincaid reacts to the feelings she had as a young girl and compares that mindset to the opinions she holds today as an adult. Kincaid’s piece evaluates the foreignness, race, and power that consumes Antigua. While she descriptively explains the circumstances she faced in Antigua, Kincaid incorporates historical background which provides logical support to her purpose. Notably, the author’s first hand experiences gives her credibility, ethos, and allows the audience to clearly understand the context from her perspective. Not only does Kincaid effectively describe her experiences, but she also makes her audience feel as though they are looking through her eyes. Her purpose demonstrates the difficulty and impossibility of returning to origin after crucial influences. A Small Place proves that the effects of racism and racial inequality are long term and culture cannot simply return exactly how it once was in that specific culture,

Africans have, since the early settlement of America, has had a great influence in the nation’s growth. These contributions to the United States from enslaved Africans have been greatly portrayed in American culture. Varying from cuisine, to song and dance are not only portrayed today but it has a deep-rooted impact throughout the United States. During the middle passage, enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their everyday lives, their families and their homes and forced to adapt to a new lifestyle they knew nothing of. However, upon arrival into the New World, due to their prior knowledge and wisdom from back home, they were able to quickly adapt and custom themselves to this new lifestyle in order to survive with the hope of potentially one day returning back to Africa. Unfortunately, African contributions to the culture of the United States has received little to no recognition and it has been taken credit for by Europeans and Whites since the early establishment of the United States.

“‘Why do you say Africa instead of just saying the country you mean?’…‘You don’t know America. You say Senegal and American people, they say, Where is that...’” (Adichie 15).

Unlike many African Americans who attend church on Sundays, I attend Jummah on Friday’s and attend Eid festivities with Guineans around New York City, as well as carry myself the way Guinean females are raised: with a certain degree of modesty and reservation. In addition, due to my Guinean background, West-African name, and clear, modulated English, I am also an outsider to my neighbors in Brownsville currently, and was teased as a child. My drive and motivation to achieve the American Dream, especially for the sake of parents, in Brownsville, an inner-city African American, is seen as an affront to their perceptions of blackness. Many of my neighbors have confessed that they believe that “I am too good” or “act white.” However, despite this, when I am faced with racism or acts of white supremacy, I feel emboldened to act, where I do not call upon my Guinean identity. In those moments, I especially identify with the African- American identity. I feel a dire responsibility to assist African-American in my community, more so than I feel a responsibility to help my family members in Guinea. In all, when asked about my identity, I respond with, “My parents are from Guinea, but I was born in America.” I am comfortable, and again, proud to identify as a Guinean-American, despite the challenges with identifying as either. This conflict is drawn upon, once again, in Georges Woke Up Laughing where Schiller and Fouron

Many believe immigration had not changed the United States values and beliefs; however, the scope of change has been felt from politics to entertainment. Each period of the Africa-Americans experience has proved to shape the United States of America; from the beginning of

Stereotypes have existed as long as history can tell us from Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness telling of savages to racism to gender roles in society. Artists like Komi and Okey challenge these notions of why they exist and how to move past them. Komi brought up the notion of a disconnect between where he belongs in society as in Canada he obtains a label of African Nigerian whereas in Nigeria he is looked as Canadian. He is both Canadian and Nigerian in nationality and in spirit but society does not agree. He can only be one but not the other. This plays part in Binyavanga Wainaina’s article on

On October,19,2017 I watched a Ted Talk Called “ Dangers of a single story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She spoke about her life in Nigeria before she studied abroad in The United States of America and the dangers of knowing 1 side of the story this is also known as ‘Bias’. After watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Ted talk, I believe not everyone in Africa lives in poverty, stereotypes in Children 's books cause unrealistic ideas of reality and the media fabricates news to generate views and labels specific groups of people.

Yet an explicit affirmation of this hatred is not necessary; the reader is quick to appreciate the irony and utter absurdity of her situation and that of Antigua. Kincaid makes us want to condemn the imperialistic attitudes which fostered this indoctrination of English values and also the supposition that this culture was somehow inherently superior to any other. By putting her readers in her own position, and by appealing to their sense of the absurd, Kincaid is very effectively able to elicit sympathy.

In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid explicitly describes the effects and consequences that imperialism had on Antigua, while implicitly condemning imperialism for the effects and consequences indigenous people endured through allegory. Examining the results of imperialism in a cultural aspect provides a deeper connection for the audience to fathom the struggle people of Antigua experienced. Kincaid illustrates herself as the main protagonist who directly speaks to the audience as if they are the ignorant tourist. Through the utilization of the second person perspective, she immerses the reader emotionally, which through the experience proves to be more captivating.