Cell One Narrator Character Analysis in The Thing Around Your Neck

This unnamed female narrator of the story "Cell One" is the younger sister of Nnamabia. She watches Nnamabia get away with all manner of minor crimes and doesn't trust that he's not a cult member. Nnamabia's habit of dramatizing his stories annoys her, as does Mother's habit of babying him. She's proud when Nnamabia doesn't dramatize the retelling of his final day in jail.

Cell One Narrator Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Cell One Narrator or refer to Cell One Narrator. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Women, Marriage, and Gender Roles Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Anchor Books edition of The Thing Around Your Neck published in 2009.

They may have once been benign fraternities, but they had evolved and were now called "cults"; eighteen-year-olds who had mastered the swagger of American rap videos were undergoing secret and strange initiations that sometimes left one or two of them dead on Odim Hill.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 7

Explanation and Analysis:

"You cannot raise your children well, all of you people who feel important because you work in the university. When your children misbehave, you think they should not be punished. You are lucky, madam, very lucky that they released him."

Related Characters: , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 19

Explanation and Analysis:

Cell One Narrator Character Timeline in The Thing Around Your Neck

The timeline below shows where the character Cell One Narrator appears in The Thing Around Your Neck. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The unnamed Cell One narrator says that a neighbor robbed her family home the first time; the second time, it... (full context)

The Cell One narrator tells the reader that the mess in the house seemed staged—the windows had obviously been... (full context)

...when Nnamabia said that he hadn't gotten a good price for the jewelry, making the Cell One narrator angry. Father asked Nnamabia to write a report about what he'd done, since Nnamabia was... (full context)

The Cell One narrator explains that the jewelry was the only thing of value in her family's home, and... (full context)

The Cell One narrator says that Nnamabia is beautiful with light skin. People in the market would call out... (full context)

The Cell One narrator says that three years later, it was the "season of cults" on the Nsukka campus.... (full context)

...officer tells them that Nnamabia and the other cult boys have been taken to Enugu. The Cell One narrator says that Enugu is the state capital, and the police at the prison there can... (full context)

The Cell One narrator describes the Enugu police station. Mother bribes the officers with food and money, and they... (full context)

...is shaken again when he watches two policemen carry a corpse out of Cell One. The Cell One narrator explains that even Nnamabia's cell chief seems afraid of Cell One. Nnamabia has nightmares about... (full context)

The Cell One narrator describes the tiny bugs that bite the inmates. She says that Nnamabia's face is covered... (full context)

For Nnamabia's first week in prison, Mother, Father, and the Cell One narrator visit daily in Father's Volvo. The narrator notices that her parents begin to behave differently—they... (full context)

The Cell One narrator , Mother, and Father visit the next day. Nnamabia looks sober and explains that an... (full context)

...Nnamabia cries as he tells about the indignities the guards put the old man through. The Cell One narrator feels sad for her brother. (full context)

...the superintendent issues a release order for Nnamabia. The next day, Mother, Father, and the Cell One narrator leave for Enugu. Mother is especially jumpy. When they arrive at the prison, the narrator... (full context)

The Cell One narrator sits in the backseat of the car with the policeman. When they arrive at the... (full context)

When Mother, Father, the Cell One narrator , and Nnamabia arrive home, Nnamabia explains what happened. He says the guards had tried... (full context)