Did you know that the lead male character in Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast is named Adam? Most people don’t because he is known solely by his appearance as “The Beast”. Ifemelu is “The Beast”. But hasn’t everyone been “The Beast” at one point or another?
Ifemelu feels as though she is surrounded by people that are not like her. She moved to America, but she does not feel like an American. In her first chapter, Adiche details the inconvenience Ifemelu encountered by having to go to a different town to do something as simple as get her hair braided. No one else has to do this. All of the people around her are not like her, and what’s worse, is that they are all like each other. Or are they?
Ifelelu writes a blog she calls, Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by an Non-American Black. She began this blog talking about the lifestyle of an outsider in America, but the message she communicates goes well beyond her situation.
The titles mentioned in the first chapter include:
- “Not All Dreadlocked White American Guys Are Down”
- “Badly-Dressed White Middle Managers from Ohio Are Not Always What You Think”
- “A Peculiar Case of a Non-American Black, or How the Pressures of Immigrant Life Can Make You Act Crazy”
In all of the anecdotes Ifemelu tells, there is a common theme: she seeks to look beyond the surface of the people she meets, and really understand where they come from, just as she hopes others will do for her. As someone who had been on the other side of these assumptions for so long, she realizes that there isn’t one mold that everyone fits into, both from her personal experiences and from the people that she meets. Without saying it, Ifemelu asserts that, as part of civicness, it is every person’s responsibility to learn about a person, in a deeper way than what color skin they have, what they wear, or where they are from.
Ifemelu reflects on a situation she encountered: “The rude stranger in the supermarket — who knew what problems he was wrestling with, haggard and thin-lipped as he was — had intended to offend her but had instead prodded her awake” (pg. 8). Even while being offended, Ifemelu still manages to acknowledge the fact that she knows nothing about this man. Because she took the time to consider other factors, she was able to take a mean-spirited comment, and gain something from it.
As an “outsider” herself, Ifemelu knows very well that there is far more to her, and every person she meets, than is depicted by her appearance. It is our civic responsibility to look deeper.
I enjoyed the idea you had to connect everyone to Ifemelu by introducing the “beast” we all encounter at some point in our lives. I think we all should value the ability to become better and see the good in everyone no matter how they appear at first. Great connection using “Beauty and the Beast.”