Conversation 2

Summary

Lucian Benjamin

Ewa Barnes

Summary: The speech begins with Adichie referring to her upbringing from when she was 2 years old, she grew up on a university campus in Eastern Nigeria. She has a humble upbringing and she was upper middle class. She began reading at a young age and the idea that only white characters existed in literature. This was enforced by her saying “All my characters were white and blue-eyed”. Her brain was constantly being influenced by stories around her even to the point she would have a desperate desire to taste ginger beer. She eventually read books by Nigerian authors and that shifted her perspective and allowed her to realize that black people can exist in literature too. Adichie references a maid and her family who came once a week to help her family and the only thing she knew about them was that they were poor, and her mother would say think about the starving children like the maid’s family. This is a commentary on the danger of a single story. She then moved to university in the U.S where she met her new roommate who was writing and had a completely incorrect perception of her because of the single story. She assumed she came from a poor neighborhood where they did not know how to use stoves, and she had no clue of what was happening outside of her “tribe”. She explains how it makes sense that she had that perception of Nigeria because of what is shown to the world outside of the country. She visited Mexico at one point where she omits that she was influenced by a single story in the same sense, at the time she visited there were talks of immigration occurring and it forced on a preconceived impression of Mexico. She then speaks about Nkali which translates to “to be greater than another”. She then says “ Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person. It speaks about starting the story secondly and not including the causation of a story like the Native Americans. She comments about how America’s had so much influence globally that it has allowed for them to escape the single story narrative. She then speaks about how she herself did not have a rough upbringing but her surrounding environment was not the best in reference to the oppressive government, hostile refugee camps, ETC. These stories that people tell of Nigeria and Africa aren't necessarily untrue but it does not paint the whole picture. She then goes into a long list of fellow Nigerians who have become very successful despite the odds and have been pushing boundaries for years, such as her friend Fumi Onda who is a journalist showing harsh realities of Nigeria in the news. She then speaks of a non-profit she is starting in Nigeria in an attempt to build libraries and refurbish old ones. This is a commentary on the resilience of the Nigerian people and despite the odds they are still inspiring and pushing for change.

Part 2. I completely agree with Adichie’s main point, which is the Danger of a single story. She doesn't pretend there are no problems with places but to place a singular narrative and make it defining of a country is very disingenuous. I personally cannot say I relate to her point as being a hetero-sexual white male but I cant completely agree with it, I am a part of the oppressors and the people who are enforcing these narratives among people. The relevance of the single story is incredibly prominent in our day and age because of all the political turmoil going on globally, for example Israel-Palestine, Russia-Ukraine. A lot of these current events are having a single story placed upon them. I think what I was just speaking about is the exact reason Professor Barnes assigned the readings, It is clear there are many narratives being placed on many different people around the world and this is connected to that.