It is impossible to not be instantly drawn into Adichie’s words when she begins to weave a story before an audience. The way she looks out from the sides of her eyes, slowly eases into the details, and uses the perfect amount of emphasis and volume are all signs of an expert raconteur. Beyond the techniques of her physical delivery, though, Adichie’s message weighs on the minds of all listeners. As she speaks about the concept of ‘single-story’ judgements, and the paradigm shift she experienced in Mexico, the audience finds ways in which they too have formed surface judgements. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, but we are all still very much disunited in many aspects of our lives. Without shaming us, Adichie reflects on this and allows us to ponder the consequences of being so rash in our opinions. She does this by giving us examples from her past in which a ‘single-story’ has defined either her opinions or others’ opinions of her. The examples of Adichie thinking that her houseboy was only poor, Mexicans as being wholly desperate to be in the United States, and her roommate believing that all of Africa was in constant turmoil are some to mention. The stories, infused with interesting details of her life and flecks of clever comedy, give substance to the message she is trying to send: everything on earth has more than a single story that makes up who they are. After all, this idea is nothing new to most of us. How many times throughout our lives have we heard the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Adichie puts this in her own terms, though. Overall, I hope that Adichie continues to bring important issues, such as this “anchor and adjust” way of thinking, in her creative, humorous, and easy to follow method.
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