Quote Analysis 2 - A Room with a View

 "You are nearer his age, and if you let yourself go I am sure you are sensible... Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them. By understanding George you may learn to understand yourself. It will be good for both of you"p29

After Lucy asked the question that expressed her curiosities as what to do with the troubled boy George, Mr. Emerson responds with this speech. Mr. Emerson is very blunt with his words and does not worry about possibly offending someone. Lucy was at first surprised by the tone of his response, so much so that she was unable to formulate words to continue the conversation. Forester says she "found no answer"(29). Mr. Emerson caused Lucy to look inward. He thinks of Lucy as a closed minded woman and describes the new thoughts that she may discover through getting to know George as sunlight. In this quote, he is trying to say that judging one person will do know good if proper time is not allotted to get to know someone. He is trying to convince Lucy to simply give George a chance. This later becomes significant, as this conversation helps Lucy realize her close-mindedness which will later motivate her to grow closer to George and eventually develop a love for him because she chose to "pull out from the depths of those thoughts" that she cannot understand.

Why I stopped reading - Sophie's World

When I first started this book, I was excited to include some philosophy in my life while still getting my summer assignments done, but that excitement was slowly interrupted as I continued reading. The pages started to read like a textbook, a long, in depth, history lesson. Of course, there were characters included in the novel, but each of them seemed like flat, 2-dimensional characters. For example, Sophie is a young girl and she is overwhelmed by the questions that her philosophy teacher has asked her to ponder. Many times, the author would merely state "Sophie cried." Whenever I would read "Sophie cried" it would feel out of place. When did this happen? When did she get so upset? What is she thinking? It seemed like the characters in the novel were all flat. The mother, for example, was a parental figure and a voice of reason in Sophie's life. Basically, she worried about her daughter and that was pretty much the extent of her role in the novel (at least thus far). Sophie too is a flat character. She feels exhausted by the tasks given to her by the philosopher, but believes and reflects his ideas back onto her mother. Sophie interacts with only a few characters regularly, her mom, her friend at school, and her teachers. Each character served a purpose and nothing more. I wish that the book included more insight as to how each of the characters felt so that I could have grown more attached to them and finished the novel happily. 

Misunderstanding - TTAYN

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie attempts to restore the image of Africans in western media by stringing together stories that will hopefully give readers a reality check about their lives. Throughout the novel, there seems to be a common theme of misunderstanding. Whether it is the police that misunderstands Nnambia's intentions and mistreats him in jail or the American embassy worker who cannot sympathize with the mother of late Ugonna, there is a disconnect. Perhaps the motive of money forces the misunderstanding between the police officers and their own people and the cultural difference between the American and the foreigner forced her not to complete immigration. Throughout the novel, Adichie portrays the Americans as ignorant and confident people and plenty of times, they are shown accidentally offending the Nigerians. Although the Americans may look ignorant for not understanding the Nigerians,  the Nigerians do not understand the Americans either. It seems as if they come from different worlds because their problems are so different. The American "sated belly" forces them to worry about things that have not yet happened, which is an odd idea for some of the Nigerian characters in the book. It seems that misunderstanding between characters in this book is unavoidable, as it can be found in each chapter.

Quote Analysis 1 - TTAYN

"The next day, he took you to dinner at Chang's and your fortune cookie had two slips of paper. Both of them were blank."p121


This quote is taken from the chapter, "The Thing Around Your Neck" which is a chapter that stands out in the book due to the fact that it shares the title of the novel and also is one of the only chapters that is set entirely in second person. In this quote, Akunna was reaching the end her date with a man whom she had recently met and was not yet comfortable with. The blank strip of paper that she pulls from her fortune cookie tells Akunna that she literally has no future. The fortune cookie highlights the fact that Akunna has very few meaningful relationships in her life. She no longer writes to her family in Nigeria or anyone else for that matter, so her relationships back at home are deteriorating. Her new life in America seems bleak as well since she does not have any real friends. The only person who was willing to help her was her uncle who offered her the house. However, he turned out to be abusive towards Akunna. The significance of Akunna's fortune cookie containing two fortunes is that one of them represents her future in America while the other represents her life back in Nigeria. This symbol helps show that Akunn's feelings of hopelessness. She is lost and alone with an unhappy future ahead of her.

The Scarf - TTAYN

As I begin to read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, I have noticed a highlight on the cultural differences between characters. In the chapter titled, “A Private Experience” Chika finds herself in close quarters with a “northerner” with a “strong Hausa accent” (44). Although the accent helps clue Chika into the woman’s identity, the scarf that she is wearing becomes an interesting symbol. The scarf represents the barrier between the two women. For example, their difference in religious beliefs and the language and accent obstacle are very apparent to both women. Later in the chapter, when the woman removes her scarf, the barrier of Chika's individual beliefs fades away. As soon as the scarf comes off, Chika’s mind is opened and she observes another culture practicing religion much more passionately then Chika probably ever had. As Chika witnesses the woman's spiritual experience, Adiche writes, “[Chika] wishes that she could leave the store. Or that she, too, could pray, could believe in a god, see an omniscient presence in the stale air of the store” (52). Although the physical closeness of the two women primarily sets the stage for Chika’s observation of the woman’s intimate praying experience, the scarf marked her identity and caused Chika to feel some distance between herself and the other woman.