Tiffany Gutierrez
“The Danger oof a Single Story” is a TedTalk given by writer/novelist Chimamanda Adichie. Chimamanda explains in her speech how easy it is to believe certain stereotypes regarding people, places, and things. As a woman in Nigeria there was a lack of books she could relate too at her disposal. Due to this she developed the habit of believing books needed to be about foreigners. In her TedTalk Chimamanda explains how she grew out of believing these single stories, and how this drastically changed the way she views the world as a whole. Chimamanda was born and raised in Nigeria, her parents worked school jobs. So, she grew up in a home where help was provided. She started writing and developing her own books, and stories at 7 years old. In these stories her characters consisted of Pale complexion and light-colored eyes, something she didn’t identify with. After finding writers Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye Chimamanda was able to grow out of believing books should be and only revolve around foreigners.
Chimamanda had a single story regarding her neighbor Fide. The only thing she knew about Fide and his family was that they were very poor. She felt astonished at the fact that anyone in Fide’s family could create something as beautiful as Fide’s brother did. Fide’s single story in Chimamanda’s eyes was his poverty. Chimamanda’s roommate in college before even meeting, Chimamanda expressed pity. Because to her Africans had nothing, they were, poor, starving, had no resources. So, she was shocked to learn that English is a main language in Africa. Chimamanda’s roommates’ single story was catastrophe, because the media only showed the negative parts of Africa and their people. It is clear that main point of Chimamanda’s speech is to bring awareness into believing into a single story. (stereotypes)
Single stories are basically fed to us by media, what we read, what we see, and hear.
I do agree with Adichie’s main argument about ditching the single stories and opening our eyes to ‘paradise’ because our whole lives are built up by just that stereotypes. Every day we meet someone we think they something, and they turn out to be something else. I can relate to Chimamanda speech because, I to have experienced being profiled by people. People often believe that I am white because of my pale complexion, in my Spanish class often times classmates didn’t think I spoke or understood Spanish.
The relevance of the danger of a single story in our day and age is that now we have resources at our disposal. We can tell a lie from the truth, and vice versa. We can grow out of believing stereotypes. I think Professor Barnes assigned this reading to bring awareness, to the fact that sometimes what we think is true is far from it. And, how we need to grow out of believing in one thing just because someone else does, and that it’s okay to want to be, think, and experience different.
