#260 The Headstrong Historian- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Sadly, this is the last of Adichie’s amazing The Thing
Around Your Neck. I enjoyed this collection immensely.
In Onicha, Nigeria tribal life is hard. After Nwambgas
husband dies (possibly killed by jealous cousins) she has little protection
from those that would take what is hers. She sees salvation in the power of the
white missionaries and sends her only son with them to learn English and the
Western cultures so he wouldn’t have to suffer as she has.
She gets her wish. Her son is well on his way from rising
above tribal life, but that causes different concerns for Nwamgba.
“Her pride turned into vague worry when she noticed that the
curiosity in his eyes had diminished. There was a new ponderousness in him, as
if he had suddenly found himself bearing the weight of a too heavy world.”
The more he learns about the world, the less he is attached
to his heritage: “Nwamgba knew that her son now inhabited a mental space that
was foreign to her.”
As generations grow, their culture becomes more hidden in
more practical things like school, clothing, commerce. And yet, even those the
farthest removed from the old world, reach out the hardest for even a handful
of that richness.
Notable Passage: “People ruled over others, not because they
were better people, but because they had better guns.”
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