The Villain in Sophie's World

        The Villain in the novel Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder is the father of Hilde who is the author of a book about philosophy. Hilde is the girl who is reading the book about Sophie in her world. Sophie's world is really just the made up story from Hilde’s fathers mind. In the story, Sophie and her teacher Alberto realize they do not exist and are only part of Hilde’s fathers imagination. In the story, Hilde’s father controls everything about Sophie and Alberto. He makes a sea monster swim around them and he makes them see fairy tale characters appear in their town. Sophie and Alberto suspect that he is controlling them somehow and vow to escape his authority. Sophie and Alberto create an image of Hilde’s father for the reader as an evil dictator who controls them as puppets and finds ways to be in every part of their lives.

        Reality is a hard concept in this book because it keeps changing. First, the reader is made to think that Sophie is living in present day Norway in reality in the same sense that the reader is living in reality. After Hilde is introduced as the new subject of the story, the reader realizes that Hilde is living in reality and Sophie is living in a book. When we think that Sophie is reality, the major is seen as evil but, when we see that Hilde is actually the real one, we see the major in a much different light. In Hilde’s reality, her father is just creatively teaching her something new for her birthday. Reality in this book is purposely made confusing to make people think philosophically. The author could have meant for the reader to see Hilde reading the story of Sophie and think of Hilde:Sophie :: Reader:Hilde. This reinforces a major topic of philosophy discussed in the beginning of the book - that philosophers know nothing and that reality may not really be what we think reality is.

The Ending of Sophie's World

        The novel Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, begins as a plausible story. By the ending, fantasy and the supernatural have made appearances. Throughout the novel, the history of philosophy is explained in a way that is easy to understand. There are little chapters on different philosophers from antiquity to post-modern philosophy. The story of the main character and her philosophy teacher is weaved in with these little “biographies” of the philosophers. The ending to this book was not predictable in the beginning because there was not really a plot. As the story progressed and began to be supernatural, the ending was very predictable. The story ends as Sophie, the main character, and her philosophy teacher Alberto, realize they do not really exist but are merely part of a book that someone else wrote. About halfway through the book, Hilde’s   (the girl who is reading the book about Sophie and Alberto written by her father)  story is told. It becomes a story within a story within a story. The purpose of the book being written was for Hilde’s father to teach her about philosophy and inspire her as a birthday gift.

        The ending is hard to understand because it requires philosophical thought and forces the reader to think in the way that the philosophers of the book had done. In this way, the ending is clever because it requires the reader to use the open minded thinking that they have read about. The philosophy teacher in the story tells Sophie that, as a philosopher, one must never jump to conclusions and most importantly never say never. This never say never mindset is necessary for the reader because the ending is so implausible in comparison with what society knows to be true about life. The philosophy teacher also tells Sophie that philosophers must accept that they know nothing or they will never learn anything. This mindset also applies to the ending because nothing that Sophie knew was real because she really did not exist. When she accepted that nothing she knew was real, she was able to realize what was really happening. 

        The story does what is sets out to do which is provoke philosophical thought in people. With its throughly implausible ending, the story leaves the reader confused and unsatisfied but, according to the book, that is what pondering philosophy should do to people.

Conflict in "The Thing Around Your Neck"

          The book The Thing Around Your Neck takes place during a time of political strife in Nigeria. The dictatorship of General Abacha leaves citizens oppressed, powerless and without voice. The conflict between the government and citizens is evidenced by the brutality in some of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s stories. In Cell One, Nnamabia, the brother of the narrator goes to jail for being involved in a rebellious cult. Nnamabia is disturbed when an old man is brought to jail in place of his son who the authorities cannot find. The treatment of the innocent old man is harsh and resembles the harsh treatment of the citizens by the dictator. 

         In The American Embassy, a woman tries to escape the country after her son is killed because the authorities cannot find her husband. The husband was a journalist who spoke out against the government’s corruption. The dictator and the rest of the authorities try to stomp out anyone who is publicly opposed to the regime. The woman’s young son was killed and she is feeling grief and loss because of his death. She applies for an asylum visa to America but at the embassy she decides to leave during the interview. She feels oppressed by the grief and she is unable to move on. The government has chained her and she is unable to live her life. 

         In A Private Experience, the main character becomes separated from her sister during a political rebellion and hides in a store with a woman who is ethnically and religiously different from herself. The rebellion is very dangerous and chaotic as everyone tries to run and hide. The main character loses her sister and realizes she will probably never see her again. She hides with a woman who is from a very different group of people who are at odds with the main character’s group. The Hausa Muslims and the Igbo Christians are fighting each other but these women are able to become friends while hiding from the deadly rally outside. In this story, the author is showing that conflict does not always have to define people and they can be strong enough to overcome it. The main character and the Muslim woman are able to create a connection and step above the conflict of their ethnic groups and the government. 

Point of View in "The Thing Around Your Neck"

        In, The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, two stories are told from the second person point of view. This point of view is very rarely used in literature and makes these stories stand out. First, the second person point of view allows the reader to be closer to the story. In the short story,The Thing Around Your Neck, Akunna deals with immigrating to America, living at her abusive uncle’s house, and striking out on her own. The “you” perspective allows the  reader to empathize more with the characters because the story becomes more real. The sorrows and triumphs of the character are shared by the reader because of the second person point of view. In the story Tomorrow is Too Far, the main character remembers her brother Nonso’s death which she caused. The jealousy of the narrator towards her brother Nonso is experienced by the reader. It is her jealousy and her impulse that compelled her to scare Nonso and cause his death. The reader shares in the narrator’s guilt and sorrow towards the end when she weeps beneath the avocado tree.

  Another thing that the second person perspective does is creates a sense of distance for the character. Instead of using “I” and owning the story, the narrator uses “you” and distances herself from the events. In, The Thing Around Your Neck, Akunna is ashamed of her past and struggles with the pressure of her family back in Nigeria. She had a much different idea of what life would be like in America and now she is disappointed with what has happened to her. In Tomorrow is Too Far, the narrator, eighteen years after she killed her brother, is ashamed of what she has done and this guilt makes her push the reality of the story away. 

Nigerian and American culture contrasted in "The Thing Around Your Neck"

        In the short story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian culture is contrasted with American culture. The author, an American who grew up in a Nigerian University, has experienced the differences between Nigerian and American culture firsthand. 

  In the short story Imitation, the main character, Nkem, and her maid Amaechi try to retain their Nigerian traditions while assimilating into American culture. They discuss the best American brands, Uncle Ben’s or basmati, for their jollof rice. Nkem sees a difference between American children and Nigerian children. She comments on how American children won’t eat something if it is slightly spoiled but back in Nigeria, children will eat any food they find. She also notices how “American children talk to elders as if they were their equals” (34). In the story, On Monday of Last Week, Kamara, who is Nigerian, takes care of an American boy. Kamara does not understand the father’s obsessive worry for his son and his son’s health. When the father, Neil, talks about the mother, Tracy, Kamara does not understand why she stays in the basement. She wonders “if there was something distinctly American she was supposed to understand from what he had said” (78). In The Arrangers of Marriage, a woman comes to America for the first time to meet her new husband, a doctor in America. First, she is disappointed with the house, it is a small apartment with barely any furniture. She is also saddened when her new husband gives up his Nigerian name and calls himself Dave and makes her do the same and call herself Agatha. Her husband also stops her from cooking Nigerian foods because he does not want to be known as the people whose apartment smells of foreign food. 

  These stories all talk about Nigerians trying to keep their cultural traditions while learning about American culture. The author is commenting on how important culture is for people. Cultural traditions bring people together and assimilation into a new culture is hard. The author is talking about how culture is special and Nigerian culture, while it is distinctly different from American, is special in its own ways for its people.