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.