Short Story Review: Birdsong
By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born September 15, 1977 in Nigeria. She has had a celebrated career as a writer, winning numerous literary awards. Adichie got a degree in Communications and Political Science from Eastern University in 2001. After attending John Hopkins University, she graduated with a master’s in Creative Writing in 2003. And, in 2008, Adichie received a Master of Arts in African Studies from Yale University. Shortly after this, she received a MacArthur Fellowship award.
B) I felt Adichie’s article was a particularly strong piece of writing. I could feel the narrator changing within the story, starting as a young, naïve woman who was infatuated with a married man. In the beginning, she mocks her co-workers who are determined to marry. As her affair deepens and the two move in together (for 13 months), the narrator grows out of her young, lovesick stage and realizes how oppressive her relationship is.
In the beginning, her lover claims to be a better man than others and would allow her to move on whenever she wanted. But, instead, he moves her in and they spend most days together where he expects her to act in a certain manner. She is expected to retrieve meat pies when he wants them, cry when he is angry with her, and not be greeted by name. At the end of the affair, the narrator is more self-confident and has a more feminist approach to relationships. This is apparent through her heated exchanges with her boss regarding Christianity and why it was the female’s job to cut the birthday cake every time (traditional roles). She seems more confident and cynical towards the male gender. Examples of this were when she confronted men at work and wanted to slap the young boy who wanted to clean her car’s windshield. Lastly, she exerted confidence when rolling down her window to yell at the mysterious staring woman.
One thing that I didn’t follow within the piece was the identity of the woman in the car next to her. The story consists of the narrator, who is only once referred to as “Auntie” but is otherwise nameless. The narrator constantly switches between flashbacks and the present as she sits in traffic beside a woman who resembles her ex-lover’s wife. The woman is not confirmed as the wife, however, the story ends with her smiling and heading towards the bridge. I sense that the bridge is a hint as to the identity of the woman, yet I cannot find a prior reference to the bridge.
In the beginning, her lover claims to be a better man than others and would allow her to move on whenever she wanted. But, instead, he moves her in and they spend most days together where he expects her to act in a certain manner. She is expected to retrieve meat pies when he wants them, cry when he is angry with her, and not be greeted by name. At the end of the affair, the narrator is more self-confident and has a more feminist approach to relationships. This is apparent through her heated exchanges with her boss regarding Christianity and why it was the female’s job to cut the birthday cake every time (traditional roles). She seems more confident and cynical towards the male gender. Examples of this were when she confronted men at work and wanted to slap the young boy who wanted to clean her car’s windshield. Lastly, she exerted confidence when rolling down her window to yell at the mysterious staring woman.
One thing that I didn’t follow within the piece was the identity of the woman in the car next to her. The story consists of the narrator, who is only once referred to as “Auntie” but is otherwise nameless. The narrator constantly switches between flashbacks and the present as she sits in traffic beside a woman who resembles her ex-lover’s wife. The woman is not confirmed as the wife, however, the story ends with her smiling and heading towards the bridge. I sense that the bridge is a hint as to the identity of the woman, yet I cannot find a prior reference to the bridge.
C) This article appeared in the September 20, 2010 issue of The New Yorker.
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