Previous
Mood
Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 36
Explanation and Analysis—Barack Obama:
Americanah turns former U.S. President Barack Obama into both allusion and motif as it chronicles the protagonist’s experience of America. The novel critiques, applauds, and even quotes him—in Chapter 36, a TV broadcast even captures his announcement of his candidacy:
Benny turned on the TV and they watched Barack Obama, a thin man in a black coat that looked a size too big, his demeanor slightly uncertain. As he spoke, puffs of cloudy steam left his mouth, like smoke, in the cold air. “And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.”
As America’s first Black president, Obama becomes a rightful throughline for the work and a fitting theme across Ifemelu’s blogs. Perhaps more than any other figure, he embodies the particular challenge of representing a historically marginalized people. He is a reminder of the difficulty of appealing to the American mainstream and achieving more radical change. Obama becomes the archetypal subject of Ifemelu’s “Magic Negro” theory, in which she criticizes how Blacks must bend to White expectations of propriety. Placed under Ifemelu’s critical eye, his half-White ancestry, wife’s hairstyle, popularity, and campaign promises all get scrutinized.
And yet for all the novel’s half-joking skepticism, Obama kindles a rare sense of promise. The idea of him restores Ifemelu’s love affair with Blaine, fills her with hope, and lingers over her life like “an unspoken prayer, a third emotional presence.” On the night he gets elected, Ifemelu and her friends break out into delirious happiness—the living room becomes “an altar of disbelieving joy.” Obama gives shape to the hope America might take a step away of its centuries of racism and out toward something more beautiful.
Related Themes:
