Skip to main content

The Power Imbalance in Americanah


While reading Americanah, I have noticed several instances where there are power imbalances between men and women.  Something that jumped out to me was in chapter 6.  Aunty Uju has a very interesting relationship with the general.  It is obvious that is nothing like Ifemelu and Obinze’s relationship, where they obtain equal power from each other and they are no imbalances.  In any relationship, one person having more power than the other is problematic.  Aunty Uju depends on the general for almost everything, which reflects how she has no control in her life.  Uju could definitely attain a much younger, better partner, yet she stays with him on account of her power and money.  She does not even has any money of her own, which proves how little freedom she has in that relationship.  Ifemelu is in shock that Uju has nothing of her own, “you don’t have money?” (Adichie 92)   Aunty Uju has to physically ask the general for rent money because she does not have any.  He had arranged everything from her job, servants, her home, and clothes but does not want her to have anything for herself.  This traps her in a toxic relationship with someone who has much more control over things and shows that such is the reality in Nigeria with women.  The general not only steals what little power is rightfully hers but sets Uju up for ultimate failure and disaster.  She cannot see this imbalance however, because she is too blinded by her love for him.    

Comments

  1. Saumyaa SinhaJanuary 12, 2020 at 2:59 PM

    The power imbalance in relationship can be hard to see if you are with a problematic person, and I really like how you show how she could have someone else but the power is what is hurting her but keeping her in a way.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

He Peed On Me

“After you peed on me, I wanted to kill you” (Morrison 213).   At the end of chapter 9, Lena is talking to Milkman about how he has peed all over his family.   Now, Milkman is quite drunk, so he does not truly understand what Lena is getting at, but she tells him the story of when she took him to the woods, and he peed on her.   Lena explains to Milkman that he was born with all his needs catered at his every whim and that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.   Their entire life, their worlds revolved around Milkman’s.   Lena states that, “As surely as my name is Magdalene, you are the line I will step across” (Morrison 214).   She means that she is finally standing her ground and is physically and mentally exhausted of carrying this weight on her back.   For everything that his mother and sisters have done for him he has peed on them in return.   “When you slept, we were quiet; when you were hungry, we cooked…” (Morrison 215).   ...
4 comments
Read more

Polite Speech

We tend to say things we do not mean in order to make ourselves appear as a good person, like “let’s keep in touch” and “it’s nice to meet you.”   It is not always clear whether we are actually pleased to meet someone, or just do not want to come off as rude.   In the course of saying things we do not truly mean, the expressions that we use become meaningless.   As a society, we care too much about the way others perceive us.   We would rather say something such as “how are you” instead of being transparent.   We create this fake, forced, first impression because we are trying so hard to appear “perfect.”   We then continue being “polite” because we do not want to be labeled as a bad person.   However, we are labeled as a good person if we say, “sure, we can definitely meet up,” even though you most likely won’t.   I am not saying we should stop being polite because it is something we do everyday and it would be silly to stop doing it. ...
2 comments
Read more

Because Of Him

Everything we ever did was for him.   While we were robbed of our girlhoods, everything was gifted to him on a silver platter.   Our lives revolved around him, constantly.   When he was tired, we made his bed.   When he was hungry, we cooked for him.   When he was bored, we entertained him.   And what do we get in return for our constant beck and call? Nothing.   We get nothing.   She is the most educated out of all of us, but she cannot work because of him.   We make fake flowers for a living.   She obtained a job as a maid in order to escape from them.   She met a man and secretly held a relationship with him, but it was all destroyed because of him.   It was the only thing that allowed her to escape but men like him destroyed her freedom.   We kept it locked inside for too long, and now we revolt.   He barely remembered that day; the most important one.   The day I found the twig with the maple leaf...
Post a Comment
Read more