Depression in the Face of Racism: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s Short Story “The Thing Around Your Neck

Citation: EA Gamini Fonseka, "Depression in the Face of Racism: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s Short Story “The Thing Around Your Neck", Universal Library of Arts and Humanities, Volume 01, Issue 01.

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The short story “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie encapsulates the escapade of a migrant American Visa Lottery winner from Nigeria. A poor Nigerian, her image of America used to be influenced by some socio-cultural stereotypes promoted by Hollywood and various types of political and commercial media institutions. Soon, she finds no truth in what she used to believe about America as an economic heaven. She learns about America’s immoral give-and-take policy from her surrogate uncle who makes sexual advances towards her. She finds higher education extremely expensive and engages in the rat race to support herself as a waitress at a restaurant, a part-time student, and a breadwinner for her family in Nigeria. Constantly subjected to acute depression and loneliness, she feels stifled and suffocated in bed every night. Thanks to her white American lover, she recovers from it. Yet, so sensitive in mind, her body reacts to even the slightest emotional disappointment by getting frozen and irresponsive. Often, her dark complexion proves highly detrimental to her happiness as a black American. Although she is accepted by her lover’s parents, in her daily life, she experiences insults from both blacks and whites she meets in the streets. Such realities appear dark and negative and repulse her faith in the so-called sophistication of the American people. However, by the time she decides to visit Nigeria to commiserate with her mother bereaved by her father’s demise, her white American lover proves to be an inseparable tour de force.

Keywords: American Visa Lottery, Migration, Afro-Americans, Depression, Exploitation, Nigerians, Racism, Black-and-White Cohabitation, Catharsis, Discrimination

https://doi.org/10.70315/uloap.ulahu.2024.0101001