An Exodus to Self-Identity: Exploring the Submission of American Identity in AmericanahHow do you define your identity? In Chimamanda Adichie's novel Americanah, Adichie writes the story of Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman, who moves to America in search of a better future than her life in Nsukka. In this realistic portrait of Nigerian immigrant Ifemelu, Adichie uses Ifemelu's trajectory throughout the novel to critique how American society subjugates an individual's identity by defining personal identity through the perceptions of others different from her . With this critique, Adichie first explores the significant struggles within the Nigerian identity through Ifemelu's early childhood and adolescent life, then moves on to explore Ifemelu's critical early years finding herself in America, then constructs the African American identity unique and strong about Ifemelu when she becomes a blogger, and finally last concludes her message by taking Ifemelu back to her roots in Nigeria, where she finally finds peace in her own identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Constructing an identity conflict during Ifemelu's early life in Nigeria, Adichie creates an independent personality for Ifemelu's mother, then dismantles her under religious subjugation. Growing up “in the shadow of her mother's hair,” Ifemelu identified her mother by her unique braided African hair that “rose free and full, flowing like a celebration” (49). Describing the freedom in her mother's hair, Adichie constructs physical characteristics representative of a unique independent personality as a “crown of glory” (49). Despite having built a strong character, her mother's braided hair changes one day when her mother comes home and “cuts off all her hair, [leaving it] on the floor like dead grass” (50). A shocking moment for Ifemelu, Adichie portrays this scene to compare the "cutting" of her mother's hair to the murder of her own identity. Her mother melodramatically explains the reasons for her impetuous action: “I am saved. Mrs. Ojo attended me this afternoon during the children's break and I received Christ. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. Praise God,” followed by the narrator's statement, “her mother's words were not hers, [speaking] to her too stiffly, with a demeanor that belonged to someone else” (50). Describing the sudden change in religion, Adichie criticizes the fraudulent tone in her mother's words to demonstrate that the influence of a higher authority caused “the mother's essence to take flight” (50). As a result of this transformation fueled by Nigeria's religious influence, Adichie begins to portray identity conflict within Ifemelu's narrative that will progressively develop over the course of her novel. Despite her mother's identity conflict, Adichie describes independence within Ifemelu's personal identity in Nigeria when she describes Ifemelu's relationship with Obinze. When they first meet as young men, Obinze describes Ifemelu "as the kind of person who will do something because [she] wants it, and not because everyone else is doing it" (73). By creating this bonding relationship between Obinze and Ifemelu at the beginning of the novel, Adichie begins to plant Ifemelu's authentic identity by describing her as a person who acts voluntarily rather than manipulated by another person or ideology; therefore, her authenticity grows in her relationship with Obinze making her “like herself” and making her feel “at ease” (73). Also, Adichiecontinues to construct Ifemelu's independent identity by describing her relationship with Obinze as "seeming natural" in which she could feel comfortable "[talking] to him about strange things" (73). Building trust in her relationship with Obinze, Adichie compares Ifemelu's identity conflict involving her mother with her experience with Obinze to demonstrate how Ifemelu begins to develop a strong identity early in her life in Nigeria. However, once in America, Ifemelu begins to experience a different perception of the struggle for identity when she recognizes that American society presents people and cultures different from her expectations. During Ifemelu's first day in America, the narrator describes Ifemelu starring in “dull” buildings, cars, and signs, which revealed a “bright sheen” that covered the “mundane things in America” (127). Adichie's description of the "shine" describes the narrator's point of view in portraying the physical aspects of America as a phony figurative representation of its society that hid its flaws in its pretended culture. Similarly, Adichie reveals America's fake identity when Aunt Uju answers a phone call by mispronouncing her Igbo surname in an American accent. After the phone call, Ifemelu challenges Uju's mispronunciation: "Is this how you pronounce your name now?" in which Uju responds by blaming the Americans: “That's what they call me now” (128). With Uju's accent “a new personality emerged, apologetic and humiliating,” the narrator described indicating Adichie's purpose in demonstrating how Uju lost her identity when “America had subjugated her” (135). As a result, Ifemelu discovers the shocking subjugation of identity that would soon enslave her identity while living in America. After discovering Aunt Uju's subtle change in identity, a white American, Cristina Tomas, begins to subdue Ifemelu's Nigerian identity. Enrolling in college in Trenton, Cristina Thomas unintentionally belittles Ifemelu by speaking exaggeratedly slowly: “Yes. Now. I am. You. A. International. Student?" (163). By creating a pause between each word, Adichie makes Tomas exaggerate his slow tone to demonstrate how American society's categorization makes immigrants like Ifemelu feel as inadequate as "a small, lazy, drooling child" ( 163). Therefore, with Tomas's categorization of immigrants, Adichie demonstrates how Ifemelu “shrinks like a dry leaf” knowing that she has spoken English all her life to be considered an inconsistent individual for American society (164). As quick and simple as Tomas's categorization, Ifemelu also begins practicing an American accent to avoid future encounters with other white Americans who might detract from her personality; therefore, in this process of transforming her Nigerian accent into an American accent, Ifemelu begins to subjugate his personal identity under the influence of white American culture. (164) Once Ifemelu masters his American accent, Ifemelu realizes the pretentious value of his false American identity. After living a year in America, Ifemelu had perfected her American accent "from watching friends and journalists, the blurring of the t, the creamy roll of the r, the sentences starting with 'so' and the smooth response of 'oh really ' …” (213). By creating an aura of American characteristics that helped Ifemelu achieve her perfect American accent, Adichie makes mastering the American accent a laborious and definitive skill foreign call center, the caller complimented Ifemelu on her perfect American accent: “You sound American,” but Ifemelu was puzzled about the.