A Private Experience

“A Private Experience” begins in medias res—in the middle of the action. This means that the story does not begin at the inciting incident when the riot begins. Instead, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie thrusts the reader immediately into Chika’s panicked escape: “Chika climbs in through the store window first and then holds the shutter as the woman climbs in after her” (44). This cultivates a sense of chaos from the first sentence, mimicking the situation that Chika is in as well as her confused mindset—she does not know why the riot started, she only knows that she needs to escape the violence. By beginning the story this way, Adichie sets the tension and stakes high, even when information is relatively limited. She reveals exposition through flashbacks and flash-forwards, almost as asides in comparison to the fraught present tense of the story’s main action.

“A Private Experience” uses a third-person limited point of view, with the story unfolding from Chika’s perspective. The reader has access only to Chika’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, and this creates familiarity with her character while emphasizing her alienation from her surroundings and the Hausa woman.