The Thing Around Your Neck

When characters within these stories attend higher education, it often shows something implicit about their family background. University and university education is symbolic of class and is used throughout the stories to denote the different ways that Nigerians experience privilege, both in Nigeria and abroad. In the US, university is either the reason for being there, as with Uzumaka in “The Shivering,” or something to be hidden, as with Kamara in “On Monday of Last Week”. Uzumaka’s work at Princeton is a sign of her status, working in tandem with her middle-class background to place her in the desirable category of immigrants that her ex-boyfriend so desired to be a part of. Conversely, Kamara is warned not to mention her master’s degree when interviewing for a position with an American family, as it doesn’t fit with the white American idea of a Nigerian immigrant.

Restriction of access to university is another tool of control because of the power it holds. Even when it is not being wielded maliciously, it is a marker of difference. For example, one of the signs of the class difference between the two women in “A Private Experience” is that Chika is attending university to become a doctor.