Throughout Adichie’s novel, Ifemelu is constantly moving. She goes from country to country and town to town, never staying too long or getting too comfortable in any one place. It seems as if she is constantly uprooting herself; as soon as she starts to form a routine, as soon as she starts to become accustomed to a way of life, she does something to disrupt the stability. Her world is anything but static. With each new place she visits, with each new relationship she forms, her community (the people who surround her and with whom she surrounds herself) changes. Not only do these varying communities affect Ifemelu, she also affects them. Her presence creates a new dynamic that can be received in different ways by different members of the community.
The first real community that Ifemelu is a part of is her friend group in Lagos. Her high school and college companions, including Obinze and Ginka, shape her experiences and influence the person she becomes. Likewise, Ifemelu has the same effect on her community. She is known for her strong will and sense of humor, and serves as an anchor for her group, holding firm in her beliefs and not giving in to social pressures. After leaving Nigeria and moving to the United States, Ifemelu finds herself in a drastically different community where she has a difficult time fitting in. She has a hard time relating to her college roommates and becomes increasingly isolated. Instead of the strong willed person she used to be, this community drains Ifemelu’s spirit and molds her into a despondent and insecure shell of herself. Her roommates do not respond well to her presence and express their obvious frustration toward her. Participating in this community changes Ifemelu, but also serves as a catalyst in adjusting to life in America.
Later on, after she begins working for Kimberly, Ifemelu meets Curt. She quickly becomes swept up in Curt’s charm and their relationship transports her into a world of luxury and privilege that she has never known before. This new world brings with it a new community of Curt’s wealthy, affluent friends and family. At first, Ifemelu feels uncomfortable, especially around Curt’s mother, who treats her with austere acknowledgement. However, she gradually adjusts to her new life with Curt and becomes more comfortable and more assured. This relationship and the community she is surrounded by allow her to experience a new part of American culture and form opinions about members of Curt’s class. But, after a while of living the same routine, Ifemelu cheats on her now “hot white ex” and thus moves on to another community: the blogosphere. This is perhaps one of the communities where Ifemelu has the biggest presence. She quickly makes a name for herself as her blog grows in popularity and becomes a popular blogging personality, speaking at events and conferences about race. This blog gives her an outlet for her observations and renews her sense of self. Members of the community (the readers of her blog and other bloggers) interact with her, responding to her opinions and fueling her desire to post.
All of these communities affect and are affected by Ifemelu. They allow her to experience America from different viewpoints, give her material for her blog, and constantly challenge her to reevaluate her identity. At the same time, her presence modifies the dynamics of the community in which she finds herself. This mutualistic relationship between Ifemelu and the communities she is a part of is a continuing pattern throughout the novel that highlights the discrepancies between different groups and different cultures.
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I think it is important that you mentioned her “first real community” being Lagos because, like you said, it was the community which shaped her being. Everything that she encounters later on in her life she relates back to her experiences in Lagos. She is constantly comparing America to Nigeria in her blog, and that original community forms the basis of her beliefs and why she even thinks race is a problem in America. I find it interesting that you mentioned how she constantly uproots herself because that was not a detail that I had really payed attention to before. Now that you said it though, I think that it really influenced the communities she was part of because her abrupt departure didn’t allow for smooth transitions.
I particularly agree with your statement that Ifemelu’s blog, in the beginning,
allows her to rediscover her lost sense of self. To me, this proves that while
the internet can be a detriment to individuality when used unwisely, it can
also help people discover themselves. Masking your internet presence and only
showing those around you what you want to show can be harmful to your sense of
self, but Ifemelu took advantage of the freedom of the internet to rediscover herself.
I like how you defined community in the beginning so the reader knew exactly what you were talking about. I also thought all of the specific examples you brought into your discussion of her communities added to what you had to say. I agree with your ideas that the different communities Ifemelu lived in helped her see different sides of American culture and gave her a lot of material for her blog. If her blog was the community where she had the ‘biggest presence’ why do you think she stopped writing it? Why did she feel the need to go back to Nigeria with all of the communities she had created in America? Is it simply her need to disrupt her routines (as you mentioned she does in the first paragraph) or is it something more? Why do you think she constantly uproots herself?