The Thing Around Your Neck

by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In "Cell One," The unnamed mother of Nnamabia and the Cell One narrator, Mother is beautiful, light-skinned, and believes her son can do no wrong. When Nnamabia was a child, she either covered up or made excuses for his indiscretions. Even when Nnamabia is arrested for cult activity and it seems very likely that he is indeed involved, she maintains that he did nothing wrong. Mother consistently bribes policemen and simultaneously criticizes their corruption.

Mother Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Mother or refer to Mother. 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
).
Cell One Quotes

"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: Nnamabia, Cell One Narrator, Mother, Father
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Thing Around Your Neck LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Thing Around Your Neck PDF

Mother Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Mother or refer to Mother. 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
).
Cell One Quotes

"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: Nnamabia, Cell One Narrator, Mother, Father
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis: