The Arrangers Of Marriage Analysis

This essay will be comparing how the theme of belonging is explored in The Thing Around Your Neck and The Arrangers of Marriage through Adichie's use of language and symbols.

In both texts, language is used to convey the lack of belonging that the protagonists face in America. In The Arrangers of Marriage, Adichie utilises dialogue to depict the shame that Chika’s husband feels towards his Nigerian background and how this results in Chika’s lack of cultural belonging in America. Throughout the story, language creates a growing tension between the protagonist and her husband. This tension reaches its peak when Chika speaks Igbo in public and her husband commands her to “‘speak English”’ as there “‘are people behind’” them. Surrounded by American-speaking …show more content…
In context to The Thing Around Your Neck, Adichie uses food as a symbol of Akunna’s journey through the unfamiliarity and lack of belonging that she faces as an immigrant. The first time a food item is mentioned in the text is when Akunna eats “garri” and speaks “Igbo” with her uncle's family. This subsequently leads to Akunna feeling “at home” in the presence of such elements. Akunna is at the peak of her happiness in America as she is eating the food that reminds her of Nigeria. Similarly, in The Arranger of Marriage, Chika finds solace when she is met with food that reminds her of home. During her first experience in an American supermarket, Chika finds a packet of “Burton's Rich Tea” biscuits that were found “in every store in Lagos”. Chika admits that she does “not want to eat” the biscuits, but rather she wants a “familiar” item within her shopping cart. Adichie conveys how the biscuits' familiarity provides Chika with a sense of comfort during her presence in an unfamiliar location. However, this familiarity is interrupted when the duality of food’s symbolism portrays the lack of belonging that both protagonists experience. In The Thing Around Your Neck, this is conveyed when Akunna’s American boyfriend “[throws] up” the “garri and onugbu” that she prepares for him. Thus depicting how Akunna’s cultural background is ultimately rejected even …show more content…
Both texts depict romantic relationships which enable the protagonists towards understanding their place in America. In The Thing Around Your Neck, Adichie aligns Akunna’s sense of belonging in American society with the relationship Akunna has with her American boyfriend. When conversing with a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, Akunna’s boyfriend is asked whether he has a “girlfriend in Shanghai”. Akunna’s boyfriend responds by smiling and saying “nothing”. Additionally, Akunna and her boyfriend “[make] love” after they argue about cultural differences. Adichie uses sex as a symbol of the resignation Akunna feels towards their cultural differences. Akunna’s choice to “not fight” the feelings of otherness she experiences represents the surrender she feels towards the general alienation she experiences. Not only does Akunna lack a sense of belonging within her relationship, this aligns with her lack of place within American society. Eventually, this results in her alienation from both American and Nigerian culture which is represented when she receives a “fortune cookie” with “two strips of” blank “paper”. In the Arrangers of Marriage, Chika’s relationship with her husband represents the assimilation that he forces upon her. Likewise to The Thing Around Your Neck, sex is used as a symbol for this. The first time they have sex, Chika describes that she felt