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Irony
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
Americanah is a story of immigrants and expatriates, and it wields these double perspectives to create much of its lighthearted, wry mood. Ifemelu’s decision to leave Nigeria for the U.S. makes her an outsider to both America and, eventually, Nigeria. Her unformed, unrooted identity gives the novel space to satirize.
Americanah renders the American experience with the bemused, quasi-comic observations of an outsider. From Ifemelu’s first bite of “McDonald’s hamburgers with the brief tart crunch of pickles” to the racist backlash from her blog’s audience, the novel guides the reader through the country’s many absurdities and cruelties. Accordingly, it exposes America’s uncomfortable realities with sharp insight. Moments as mundane as shopping trips or job interviews initiate Ifemelu into a culture in which afros get frowned upon, slenderness fetishized, and blunt racial truths brushed away.
The sense of half-amused irony applies equally to Nigeria. Ifemelu’s return to her home country reacquaints her to a sharply unequal society of nouveau riches and corrupt officials. She feels as out-of-place among the tacky new-built mansions, flashy upper class, and western-worshipping mass culture as she is in the grandeur of Manhattan’s streets. Money launderers perform piety and gold-diggers flirt with powerful men. Americanah’s holds both countries at arm’s length, revealing all their hypocrisies and contradictions in a way that feels new.
Despite its sly, detached powers of observation, the novel shares more poignant moments as well. Americanah strikes at aching desire as it puts words to Ifemelu’s love for Obinze, for instance. The two lovers stumble into each other at the bank under an “inertia of stillness” and “caving of the blue sky.” Ifemelu feels a heartache that weights like a “boulder in her chest” and settles into an “ancient silence” when Obinze takes her hand. In brief exchanges like these, the novel showcases a startling, emotional beauty.
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