The Danger of a Single Story

In a TED talk given by Chimamanda Adichie in 2014, she speaks of personal experiences that influence her main argument in praise of varied and expansive stories. Adichie begins by reflecting on her childhood of early literacy, reading only British books written about white children. Though the books expanded her imagination, she did not see a life she knew in the stories she read. Only when she read works by African authors did she feel seen and understood in her experience as a middle class Nigerian. Her mother repeatedly told her a single story of a family in poverty, and Adichie was shocked to find out their lives were not so limited as she heard. This helped her empathize when her US roommate was ignorant of the modern ways Chimamanda grew up. Adichie notes that visiting Mexico was a culture shock for her, realizing she had been so bombarded by US media coverage she failed to see the full humanity in the country. This leads her to speak about stereotypes and their incomplete nature. Toward the end of her speech, Adichie says the phrase “What if?” six times. The question “What if we told and shared more complete and diverse stories?” leads to the main point of her thesis.

Single stories have blurred perceptions and manipulated masses into believing false narratives. A single story keeps people apart and limits the experience of the wholeness of a person. In “The Danger of a Single Story”, Adichie exposes the prohibitive and binary nature of stories we tell and hear. People, especially children, are vulnerable to words, and we must expose ourselves and others to the vastness of the world we live in in order to grow as a society. I identify with Chimamanda Adichie’s argument as I too have been exposed to restrictive single stories about lives other than my own. Growing up as a white female on the east coast of the United States, I see many stories in the media where my experience is represented. It has become a mission of mine to expand my mind and perception of other cultures and dive deep into reality in a way that I could not by simply consuming information that is thrown at me. A single story is dangerous because it spreads misinformation, sending a ripple effect and game of telephone that distorts perceptions. This benefits people in power by keeping us in the dark about what is really going on in our world, and keeps us apart from one another. Though there are billions of stories in this world, one thing we all have in common is our fundamental humanity. To tell single stories is to rip that commonality away and ensure separateness. To tell diverse and honest stories is to highlight the beautiful imperfections we experience every day.