Americanah

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Chapters 54-55Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 54 Summary

Obinze goes to Abuja alone. He wonders what Ifemelu would make of the “soulless” (560) city, and second guesses his decision to rescind his invitation. He conducts a business negotiation with Edusco, a self-made man who wants to buy land from Obinze. They barter for a while, but Obinze is distracted by the cowardice he has shown towards Ifemelu and agrees to Edusco’s price. He thinks of Ifemelu, of her clothing, her thoughts on cross-cultural relationships, and her desire to raise a polite, Nigerian child. As he boards his flight to Lagos, Kosi calls, reminding him that they are taking Nigel out for his birthday. He decides that he should never have married Kosi—“she was a literate person who did not read, she was content rather than curious about the world” (566).

At dinner with Nigel and his wife, Obinze muses on how thoroughly his Cockney coworker has adapted to Nigeria. Obinze tries to explain to Nigel that his new design for kitchens will never work in Nigeria, as Nigerian cooking does not lend itself to an open kitchen floor plan. He grows irritable, but claims he is simply coming down with malaria. That night, Kosi tries to have sex with him, wanting to give him a son, but he cannot perform. The next morning, he confesses his affair with Ifemelu to Kosi, but she stops him, not wanting to hear it. She is unconcerned and unsurprised by his affair, but refuses to hear talk of a divorce. “‘It’s not about another woman’” (572), she says. “‘It’s about keeping this family together’” (572). Obinze leaves, wracked with guilt and indecision.

That night, he attends a party with Kosi and their daughter. Obinze is miserable, thinking that “They would all die after trudging through their lives in which they were neither happy nor unhappy” (574). He debates internally whether his daughter would, as Kosi said, be ruined by a divorce. A friend of Obinze’s approaches him, wondering if he is all right. Obinze reveals his dilemma, expressing his desire to divorce Kosi and begin a life with Ifemelu. His friend does not think this is the right course of action. Divorce is acceptable because of a wife’s adultery or a man’s domestic violence. “‘You can keep seeing [Ifemelu], but no need for this kind of white-person behavior…We don’t behave like that, please’” (582).

Chapter 55 Summary

Ifemelu watches a male peacock dance outside her house and wonders what Obinze would think of it. “Memories of him so easily invaded her mind” (583). She grieves the loss of their relationship, but tries to stay busy with her blog. She writes a post about watching government officials destroy the shacks of street hawkers, and is sure that Obinze wrote one of the positive comments.

She calls Blaine and then Curt, wanting closure from them both. Blaine is cool, but Curt is upbeat, even vaguely suggesting he visit her in Lagos. Ifemelu goes on a date with a Nigerian man from the Nigerpolitan and sleeps with him, but then lies on the bed wishing “she could feel what she wanted to feel” (587).

Seven months after she last saw Obinze, he appears at her door. He carries a long sheet of paper, something he has written to explain his thoughts over the last months. He announces that he has left Kosi, but is determined to help raise his daughter. “‘Ifem, I’m chasing you’” (588), he says. “‘I’m going to chase you until you give this a chance’” (588). Ifemelu invites Obinze inside.

Chapter 54-55 Analysis

Obinze comes to an important realization within the last two chapters of Americanah: he is a coward. Ifemelu first throws this word at him when he rescinds her invitation to Abuja, and Obinze takes the word to heart. “She had called him a coward, and there was indeed a cowardliness in his fear of disorder” (562). Unlike Ifemelu, who will quit a job, call a coworker out, or refuse to make a flower garland for a corrupt man, Obinze avoids making waves and putting himself at risk. He is a careful, cautious man who weighs his options and frequently takes the path of least resistance. His marriage to Kosi is a perfect example of this. She pressures him into marriage, and though “He recognized and disliked her manipulation” (566) he marries her. “They were living together anyway” (566).

His affair with Ifemelu throws Kosi into sharp contrast with his first love. Where Kosi is accommodating, promising she will give him a son, Ifemelu is demanding and independent. He realizes that Kosi “did not know him at all” (365). Whereas Kosi touches him “with complaisance” (569) during sex, as though it is only her duty, Ifemelu refuses to let him climax until she herself is close. He sees that he never should have married Kosi, and attempts to broach the issue of divorce. Kosi stops him, having already guessed at his infidelity. However, she does not ask him to stop seeing Ifemelu; for Kosi, the important thing is keeping the family together. At a party that night, Obinze unburdens his dilemma to a male friend, Okwudiba. Okwudiba also counsels him against divorce, the only acceptable reasons being a wife’s infidelity or domestic violence. Obinze can keep seeing Ifemelu, by all means, but to leave a dutiful wife for a mistress is considered “‘white people behavior’” (582).

Both Obinze and Ifemelu have spent formative years in “white” cultures, surrounded by different cultural norms than those they grew up with. Kosi represents traditional Nigeria, with her focus on family, her quiet acceptance of Obinze’s affairs, and her concern with her duties as a wife. Ifemelu, a woman who has spent thirteen years discovering race, culture, and identity in America, represents a melding of Africa and the West, a woman who wants to raise a “conservative, polite child” (564) but who will not marry a man for his money or status, nor bend to local traditions without a thought. Obinze has acted in a cowardly manner and to stay with Kosi would be another act of cowardice. He would let a prevailing culture decide his life choices. Ultimately, he chooses to be brave. He chooses Ifemelu and a life on his own terms.