One Story Is Not All The Story

The topic of immigration reform has proven to be a heated debate among the two parties in Congress and in the minds of our nation. The question remains, what do we do with the approximate eleven million undocumented immigrants who reside in the U.S? The nation stands divided on this very controversial issue. Both protestors and supporters of illegal immigration are holding steadfast to their beliefs when it comes to the treatment of these human beings. A recent display of the disagreement between people on this issue occurred on July 1, 2014. 140 Central American women and children were caught illegally crossing the border in Texas. The decision was made to take the detainees to Murrieta, California, to process them there. The buses that were transporting the 140 detainees were met by an angered crowd of protestors carrying signs that read: “Return to sender,” “Send them back with birth control,” and “Go home!!”

Adichie shares her experience of the single story at the TED Global Conference of July 2009. She said that her American roommate at her university was surprised to learn that she spoke English and that she listened to non-tribal music, and that she knew how to use a stove. Adichie falls victim to the single story her roommate had of her (African). However, she admits that she too bought into the single story in her case, a single story about Mexicans. After traveling to Guadalajara, Mexico, she was surprised to see Mexican people working, smoking, laughing, and overall happy. She stated that the media coverage portrayed “Mexicans as fleecing the healthcare system, sneaking across the border, and being arrested at the border” (YouTube.com). She asserts that if you “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that’s what they become” (YouTube.com). It is the single story that we read about and hear about in the media, that renders only that story of that place or of those people. At the conclusion of her speech, she says, “the consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar” (YouTube.com).

Adichie sets out to enlist and educate her readers on the global plight of the immigrant, through her story “Checking Out,” which tells the story of an immigrant bound to the U.S. Much as with the 140 Central American detainees, we all have a story, a reason, and a purpose to do what we do. It is important to mention that for the most part, the media reports stories about people and places, often in a negative light. The seed is then planted in the minds of their viewers. Ultimately the seed transforms into just one story—completely leaving out the entire story. It is probably easier to group people in an array of categories in order to justify our opinions on certain issues. But this does not negate the fact that grouping people (i.e. undocumented immigrants) in just one category, robs the individual of his/her story. “Checking Out” falls victim to the single story, a phrase coined by Adichie, because it takes a complex experience of immigrant life and reduces it to a stereotype.

Obinze, the main character of the story, narrates his complex experience of immigrant life that is characteristic of a present day undocumented immigrant. Obinze travels to England for the sole purpose of ending up in the U.S.A. He’s an educated man who comes from a family that are comfortably middle class but not wealthy but society attaches the single story to him of what Africans are like. Then there is the other side of the spectrum; Obinze’s national identity is overshadowed by stereotypes and the fact that he is no longer standing on the soil of his own country. Obinze dreams of going to America to study—“he saw himself walking the streets of Harlem, discussing the merits of Mark Twain with his American friends, gazing at Mt. Rushmore” (Adichie 68). Interestingly Obinze also holds to a single story of America. This passage depicts his impression of what America and Americans are like—intellects that enjoy American literature just as much he does and people that appreciate the wonders of our country. After several failed attempts in applying for a visa to go to the U.S., his mother manages to obtain a visa for him bound to London. Obinze’s story begins in England, and he is faced with overcoming many obstacles in order to reach America.

From the first paragraph of the story, the narrator depicts the frustration and yearning that Obinze feels as he observes the people that are passing him by in the park:

They walked so quickly, as if they had an important destination, a purpose to their lives.

His eyes would follow them, with a last longing, and he would think. You can work, you

are legal, you are visible, and you don’t even know how fortunate you are. (Adichie 67)

The text points out the isolation Obinze feels as an undocumented immigrant of the U.K. He feels invisible due to the absence of his true identity. As Michael Meyer writes, “even if we have never left our home state or country, we have all moved back and forth across such defining lines as we negotiate the margins and edges of our personal identities within the particular worlds we inhabit” (between 1038 and 1039). The world is constantly changing and we find ourselves having to change with it. This can be in either in the roles we occupy at work, with our friends, or with our families. This transition is something we are all too familiar with. In Obinze’s case, the change or transition is something he is probably already used to but is further augmented by the fact that he is in an entirely different country.

Once in England, Obinze obtains his first job of cleaning toilets, and here is where he meets a Ghanaian woman who also works as a janitor. “He sensed, in the way she spoke and carried herself, that she came from a background similar to his, a childhood cushioned by family, regular meals, and dreams in which there were no conception of cleaning toilets in London” (Adichie 69). This text dispels the stereotype of the janitorial staff member as lowly, impoverished, and uneducated. Both Obinze and the Ghanaian woman are educated and come from comfortable homes, but the stereotype of a janitor is something completely different. They both work cleaning toilets because their legal status in England forces them to. As Adichie writes on the issue of stereotypes, “the problem with stereotypes, however, particularly in literature, is that one story can become the only story: stereotypes straitjacket our ability to think in complex ways” (“African Authenticity” 43). In other words, once people categorize people within the constructs of a stereotype, they remove the opportunity of seeing those people for what they are (i.e. beings with multiple and complex stories)--a being with a story far removed from any stereotypes.

The character of Roy Snell portrays the effects of the notion of the single story. Though Roy seems to care about Obinze, he doesn’t step away from his ill-conceived notions as to what Africans are like. Apparently he thinks that Obinze is a player. A man with many women on his Roy refers to women as “birds” and he often brings women up in his conversations with Obinze. Insomuch that he says, “I think I’ll take a holiday and go to Nigeria when you’re back there for a visit” (Adichie 71). Roy plans to go to Nigeria for the purpose of meeting women. It is his impression that Africans are all party, sex, and fun. Many of Roy’s comments are offensive as also reflected by the following, “with another jab at Obinze’s belly” this description comes after every ignorant comment Roy makes. Another example is when he says, “you look like you know what to do with the birds” (Adichie 71). Roy ultimately robs Obinze of his story by only seeing him through a stereotypical lens.

The narrator concludes the story of “Checking Out” with these poignant words about the way Obinze sees himself, “A thing to be removed. A thing without breath and mind. A thing.” (Adichie 73). The narrator here is referring to Obinze as no longer being a human being but rather a thing. The same can be said of the many undocumented immigrants throughout the world who are not seen for who they are, but more so for what they are. They are society’s burden and unlawful “things” that flee to other countries just to rob those countries of something. In the case of Obinze, his desire to come to America was not one of robbing anybody of anything but to come to study and be an integral part of American society. In a society that is very much anti-immigrant (ironical considering that the U.S. was founded by immigrants), the immigrant is made to endure many obstacles, abuses, and animosity. Moreover, immigrants are made to bear the brunt of the consequences of a single story that has been narrated about them.

Adichie succeeds in communicating a complex experience of immigrant life and reducing it to a stereotype. Obinze is portrayed as somebody who engages in illegal behavior in order to attain what he wants. In reality, all Obinze wants is to come to America. The true story lies in his dreams that narrate to him a story of happiness of being in America to study, and be able to discuss American authors with Americans. The sad reality is that there is a growing animosity towards undocumented immigrants that doesn’t seem to fade. Adichie strikes a chord when she writes:

I believe that it is important that we recognize the equal humanity of the people with whom we inhabit this earth. There is no doubt that we are all equally human, but the course of history has made it possible for some people to question the humanity of others, which has grave consequences for all of us. And so, we need to combat and challenge and complicate stereotypes. We need to conceive of a world in which the idea of difference is just that: difference, rather than something necessarily better or worse. (“African Authenticity” 46)

We are all human beings, undocumented or not, and we have the right to pursue our happiness, our peace, and that of our families.

Works Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “African Authenticity and the BiafranExperience.” Indiana University Press (2008). JSTOR. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.

Meyer, Michael. “A Thematic Case Study: Border Crossings.” 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2009. 1038-1039. Print.

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “The Danger Of ASingle Story.” Online Video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 7 Oct. 2009. Web. 16 Oct. 2015.