The Thing Around Your Neck

by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In "A Private Experience," Chika is a young Igbo Christian medical student. She and her sister, Nnedi, end up in the middle of a violent riot between Hausa Muslims and Igbo Christians while visiting their aunt in Kano. Chika feels as though riots aren't supposed to affect Nnedi and herself, given their high socioeconomic status. As she waits with a Hausa Muslim woman for the danger to pass, Chika feels guilty for thinking that the woman is less intelligent. Chika later realizes that the portrait the media paints of the Hausa Muslims is exaggerated to make them seem exceptionally violent, as the woman is very kind to Chika.

Chika Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Chika or refer to Chika. 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
).
A Private Experience Quotes

"We have only spent a week here with our aunty, we have never even been to Kano before," Chika says, and she realizes that what she feels is this: she and her sister should not be affected by the riot. Riots like this were what she read about in newspapers. Riots like this were what happened to other people.

Related Characters: Chika (speaker), The Woman, Nnedi
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
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Chika Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Chika or refer to Chika. 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
).
A Private Experience Quotes

"We have only spent a week here with our aunty, we have never even been to Kano before," Chika says, and she realizes that what she feels is this: she and her sister should not be affected by the riot. Riots like this were what she read about in newspapers. Riots like this were what happened to other people.

Related Characters: Chika (speaker), The Woman, Nnedi
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis: