#35 Imitation- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Benim Mask: Ceremonial head mask made during the 16th
century around the time of Queen Idia in what is now Nigeria. All known remaining masks were stolen by the
British during the 18th century and put in western museums. In their original capacity they were used
during bloody sacrificial ceremonies while burying Benim Kings.
Nkem is a young wife of a wealthy Nigerian. She lives in an all white Philidelphia suburb
with her two children, while her husband lives primarily in Lagos. The story
begins with the imitation Benim masks she has hanging on her walls, masks that
inspire her American neighbors to purchase similar fake artifacts. No-one seems
to take into consideration the violence that those mask represent, Nkem only
slightly aware at first. Everyone in this story is wearing some sort of mask.
As her new life takes shape, “America has grown on her,
snaked its roots under her skin.” Once a proud wife of what she calls the Rich Nigerian Men
Who Sent Their Wives To America club, she begins to see things in pairs, what
was is real and what is imitation, imitation yams, imitation house, imitation
mistress, imitation houseboy, imitation friends. She is torn between two lives and two
cultures. All this is going through her mind as she battles with your
run of mill long distance marriage issues.
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