Checking Out

“They walked so quickly, as if they had an important destination, a purpose to their lives. His eyes would follow them, with a lost longing, and he would think, You can work, you are legal, you are visible, and you don’t even know how fortunate you are.”

This quote highlights the theme of immigration and power by expressing Obinze’s envy toward citizens with legal status who can work and move freely. It reveals the stark contrast between their privileged position and Obinze’s marginalized existence as an undocumented person.

“‘I’ve never been to Africa. I’d love to go.’ She said ‘Africa’ wistfully, like an admiring foreigner, loading the word with exotic excitement. Her black Angolan father had left her white Portuguese mother when she was three, she told him, and she had not seen him since, nor had she ever been to Angola. She said this with a shrug and a cynical raise of her eyebrows, as though it had never bothered her, an effort so out of character, so jarring, that it showed him just how deeply it did bother her.”

The use of simile and descriptive language creates a vivid portrayal of Cleotilde’s attitude toward Africa. Obinze notices that she discusses Africa wistfully, “like an admiring foreigner,” emphasizing her detachment from her African heritage and the romanticized perception she holds. Additionally, the description of Cleotilde’s cynical shrug and the raising of her eyebrows reveals the underlying emotional turmoil and the discrepancy between her outward nonchalance and her true feelings of longing and hurt.

“He wanted to kiss her, her upper lip pinker and shinier with lip gloss than the lower, to hold her, to tell her how deeply, irrepressibly grateful he was. She would never flaunt her power over him.”

By describing Cleotilde’s lips with contrasting colors and textures, Adichie uses visual imagery to symbolize the power dynamics within their relationship. Cleotilde can both relate to Obinze’s status as an outsider because of her African heritage and hold power over him since she is not an immigrant.