The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Practically all narratives in the collection of literary works called “The Thing Around Your Neck” are dedicated to the generation of the citizens of Nigeria, whose lives were shattered by constant warfare, hostilities and colonial legacy. Nearly all characters so vividly depicted by Chimamanda Adichie to a certain extent have to deal with the
consequences of the civil war that is known throughout the world as Biafran War, as well as with authoritarian rules of various dictators, who usurped the power within the country and imposed a great amount of suffering upon local people. The indigenous African population goes through different stages of losing its national self-consciousness, ancient traditions and deep-rooted values while being thoughtlessly exposed to the Western
influence by the ruling class that main objective is to enrich itself. Adichie also raises such sophisticated issues as the threat of globalization to the African states with developing economic models and poor social infrastructures. Her vision of the problem is allegorically incorporated into the title of her anthology that implies anxieties of often uneducated people whose perception of the predicaments they are forced to face being described as a “thing around their necks”.
Adichie presents the reader with cruel and fraudulent political system that is led by Nigerian general Abacha. Abacha’s government was notoriously known for bloody suppression of the opposition. It was executing human
rights activists without giving them a chance for a proper due process and managed to steal from the state budget over five billion dollars. Subsequently, Abacha was recognized as one of the most corrupt leaders in
the world. Under his rule Nigeria was literally deprived of any chance for democratic changes or at least for a steady economic stagnation. The entire country plunged into the abyss of lawlessness and civil uprising. The
system left no choice to its citizens, but to fight for physical survival. Adichie in her story Cell One gives a reader a vibrant portrayal of how one person can stand up for his dignity …
