Download our SSCE Study Guide Bundle
Chapter 11 Summary of Americanah
Chapter 11 of Americanah introduces Bartholomew, an accountant whom Aunty Uju is dating and hoping to marry. Ifemelu instantly dislikes him. Bartholomew wears his trousers pulled too high on his belly, speaks with a mangled, fake American accent full of “gonnas and wannas,” and shows no interest in Dike.
During a meal, Bartholomew behaves grandiosely, expecting Aunty Uju to humour him and serve him. When they watch a Nigerian drama on television, Bartholomew loudly criticises a girl in a short dress, claiming Nigeria has lost its moral compass. Unable to stay silent, Ifemelu argues back, sparking a simmering mutual dislike between them.
Ifemelu later discovers that Bartholomew spends his time fervently posting sour, argumentative comments on Nigerian Village under the moniker “Igbo Massachusetts Accountant,” using the internet to mask his feelings of insignificance in America. Ifemelu also bluntly points out to Uju that Bartholomew uses cheap skin-bleaching creams, but Uju defends him, stating that he has a good job and she wants a sibling for Dike.
Meanwhile, Ifemelu is intimidated by Manhattan but dreams of exploring it with Obinze. The two write to each other constantly, anchoring Ifemelu during her summer of waiting.
Aunty Uju’s tense waiting finally ends when she receives a thin envelope from the United States Medical Licensing Examination: she has passed her tests and can practice as a family physician. Immediately, Uju announces she must take out her braids and relax her hair for her upcoming interviews because her friend warned her that corporate America considers braids “unprofessional”. Ifemelu is disturbed by Uju’s reasoning—that as a foreigner, she must do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it means changing her natural appearance.
As the summer draws to a close, Ifemelu treats Dike to a joyous day at Coney Island before she moves away. She shares a tearful goodbye with her cousin and aunt, boards a bus to Philadelphia, and stares at the Social Security card and driver’s license she has obtained. To work and survive in America, she must now adopt the identity of a woman named Ngozi Okonkwo.
Analysis of Chapter 11
Aunty Uju’s relationship with Bartholomew mirrors her past relationship with The General; once again, she is willing to perform the role of a submissive, grateful woman in exchange for stability and security. Bartholomew is arrogant, hypocritical, and dismissive of her son, yet Uju wilfully ignores his flaws because she feels her biological clock ticking and wants to anchor her life in America. Through Uju, Adichie highlights how the economic and social precarity of the immigrant experience often forces women to compromise their independence and settle for unsuitable partners.
Bartholomew represents a specific subset of immigrants who are physically present in America but psychologically stuck in a mythologised version of their homeland. His strident, aggressive posts on the Nigerian Village website provide him with a false sense of authority and relevance that his bleak, overworked American life denies him. He clings to a rigid, overheated morality regarding Nigerian culture as a defence mechanism against his own displacement.
Again, the politics of Black hair are brought to the forefront when Uju passes her medical exams and immediately prepares to chemically relax her hair. Her friend’s warning that natural braids are viewed as “unprofessional” exposes the implicit racial biases of the American corporate world. Uju’s pragmatic acceptance of this—stating, “You are in a country that is not your own. You do what you have to do if you want to succeed”—underscores the heavy pressures placed on Black women to erase their natural features and conform to Eurocentric standards to gain upward mobility.
Chapter 11 of Americanah closes on a poignant note regarding identity and survival. The end of the summer marks the end of Ifemelu’s safe “limbo” with her family. As she sits on the bus to Philadelphia, staring at the identification cards of “Ngozi Okonkwo,” she is forced to literally shed her own name and take on a fraudulent identity. This indicates the invisible, legally precarious, and desperate lengths to which international students and immigrants must go simply to afford rent and tuition in the “real America”.
Related:
- Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Receive Literary Updates through our Social Media Channels:
- WhatsApp: Literature PADI or Literature-in-English with LP
- Telegram: Literature PADI
- YouTube: @literaturepadi
- Facebook: Literature PADI
