Misconceptions In Kelsey's Things Fall Apart

Americanah, staged more or less in the present, displays this in a much more relatable sense, with Ifemelu constantly fighting against misrepresentations and annihilations of her people. In the hair salon, for instance, Ifemelu meets a white woman named Kelsey who is reading books about Africa to prepare for a trip she is soon to take. Ironically, Kelsey had read Things Fall Apart and found it “quaint… like it didn’t help [her] understand modern Africa” while she commends A Bend in the River for making her “truly understand how modern Africa works” and being “the most honest book [she’d] read about Africa”—even though Ifemelu, someone actually from Africa, “did not think the novel was about Africa at all” (233). She gives Kelsey a “mini-lecture”
Laura has many misconceptions about Nigeria, but one stand-out is when she tells Ifemelu “Nigerians are the most educated immigrant group in [the US],” and that when she had met her doctor, it had reminded her of Ifemelu and “other privileged Africans who are here in this country”
Though it is not necessarily the same magnitude as literally being omitted from history like Okonkwo, this is still annihilation; instead of her story being recognized as equally valid, and remembered by everyone, it is as if her troubles never existed, making the educated and privileged Nigerian immigrant real and immigrants like Ifemelu and Obinze non-existent. Observing this, it is fortunate that Ifemelu fights against misconceptions that arise. In addition to in person, though, Ifemelu also adds her details to the collective story in a race blog she writes called Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black. This blog, like Hally, challenges what Ifemelu sees as harmful perspectives in mainstream culture, like that of the “oppression olympics” (253), or how a black woman’s natural hair is “not professional, sophisticated… just not damn normal” (367). Ifemelu serves as an example that even in modern times, we can and should fight against the power and danger of storytelling, by challenging destructive norms, especially from a position of