Himanshu Kunwar
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story, The Arrangers of Marriage, explores the lives and experiences of two Nigerian immigrants in America: Chinaza and Dave. Chinaza has recently had an arranged marriage to Dave, a first-generation immigrant Doctor completing his residency in America, through her uncle and aunt. Chinaza’s vision of America and married life are quickly shattered and replaced with disappointment as Dave is very controlling of Chinaza and forces his internalized racism, obsession with fitting into American culture, and misogynistic views onto her. Dave’s views also serve to expose the values of the society under which they were formed and nurtured. Through Dave’s mistreatment of Chinaza, the reader is given a glimpse into the lives of women and the expectations put on them by both their partners and family. Adichie explores Chinaza’s intersectional identity as an immigrant, woman, and racial minority and the impact it has on her life and experience through Dave’s incessant pursuit to reduce and control each of these aspects.
Dave is assimilating into American culture, which he believes begins with replacing his name and speaking only English. Dave expects the same from Chinaza and explains to her she has to “use her English name” as well (Adichie 172). To justify these changes, Dave states, “If you want to get anywhere you have to be as mainstream as possible. If not, you will be left by the roadside” (Adichie 172). To blend into his new environment, he is also obsessed with speaking only English. He is ashamed and embarrassed to speak Igbo or be associated with anyone else that does and hopes to influence his wife, Chinaza, to abandon the language. He repeatedly states that she has to “Speak English” because “ There are people behind [her]” (Adichie 177). In the process of integrating himself into American society, Dave has begun to use internalized racism as a means to cope with the foreign nature of his Nigerian roots and coerces Chinaza to do so as well.
Adichie explores the search for identity through both an immigrant experience and through a black American woman’s perspective and in doing so reasserts the importance of identity and heritage. Chinaza, although influenced by Dave to practice American customs, never wants to let go of her Nigerian heritage. When meeting Nia, a black American woman, Chinaza, although accustomed to using English because of Dave, accidentally tells Nia her Nigerian name. After stating that Chinaza’s real name is “really pretty,” Nia admits that she has “a Swahili name” which she changed “when [she] was eighteen” after spending “three years in Tanzania.” Nia, a black American, lost her identity of heritage and origin through the impact of slavery, and returned to Africa and adopted an African name to replace what many black Americans consider to be their ‘slave name’. Upon hearing and interpreting this, Chinaza reflects on why “a black American, had chosen an African name, while [her] husband made [her] change [hers] to an English one” (Adichie 180). This pursuit of identity further pushes the importance of preserving culture and heritage even when acclimating to a new society.
The traditional role Chinaza is obligated to take on as a woman explores the expectations and burdens put on her solely because of her gender identity. Nia defies the gender roles given to her, thus leading Dave to warn Chinaza that Nia “can be a bad influence” (Adichie 181). Nia is a black woman who is not dependent on a man and is self-sufficient. When Nia first meets Chinaza, she is able to understand Chinaza’s desire to be a self-sufficient woman and influences Chinaza to become more open to the idea of pursuing this independence. Dave, although extremely sexist and racist, acknowledges that women, especially in cultures like that of Nigeria, have limited choice in who they marry though he seems to have little remorse for this. When reflecting on their marriage, Dave tells Chinaza “it wouldn’t have made a difference. Your uncle and aunt had decided” (Adichie 183). In addition to being subservient, there is a large amount of strain put on women like Chinaza to make the marriage successful. Dave states that his mother had “said [she was] a good girl, quiet. She said you might even be a virgin…I probably should tell her how wrong she was” (Adichie 184). Through his judgmental tone towards Chinaza’s implied loss of virginity, Dave reiterates the expectations of purity that are placed on women, which is revealed to be a double standard when Nia admits that Dave had sex with her before he married Chinaza.
Dave continues to expand on the expectations he had of Chinaza when she questions why Dave wanted to marry her. Dave tells Chinaza that he “had to think about his children’s looks” because “Light-skinned blacks fare better in America” (Adichie 184). Dave’s notion that those who are lighter do better in society highlights the prominence of colorism in America and cultures around the world. These expectations serve to show that Dave’s value in Chinaza is conditional on her being light-skin. Through this and his implication that Chinaza’s value as a woman decreased because of her loss of virginity, Dave ultimately devalues Chinaza as a person and reduces her to closer to a product. Dave’s treatment and view of Chinaza ultimately drive Chinaza away from him. Feeling displaced at home, Chinaza reveals to Nia that “There’s nobody to talk to at home” by which she means she can no longer draw support from Dave nor her relatives back in Nigeria (Adichie 184) because of the unreasonable expectations they all have of her. Chinaza’s relationship with Nia depicts the importance for immigrants and especially immigrant women to have a support system. Although Dave emphasized that Nia would be a bad influence on Chinaza, her advice allows Chinaza to be able to gain enough courage to leave Dave and pursue her own independence.
Adichie’s short story explores the intersectional experiences of Chinaza through the use of Dave’s incessant desire to suppress and control each of these aspects: being an immigrant, a woman, and a racial minority. In order to remove Chinaza’s immigrant and Nigerian identity, he pressures her to change her name, speak English over Igbo, and to stop cooking Nigerian food. Dave attempts to limit Chinaza’s freedom and independence as a woman by imposing his expectations of loyalty and purity and imposes on both Chinaza’s racial identity and worth as a woman and person when he implies that her value comes from her skin tone. Despite his disagreeable methods, Dave’s turn to internalized racism goes to show how America, despite its touted diversity and acceptance, ultimately rewards those that reject their original cultures and identity in favor of a more ‘mainstream’ American one. Chinaza ultimately decides to leave Dave and his suppressive ideals in favor of independence and the freedom to reconcile her intersectional identity with American culture as she sees fit.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. The Thing Around Your Neck. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.