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Chinedu
In "The Shivering," Udenna was Ukamaka's boyfriend. He broke up with her in an ice cream shop by insisting their relationship was "staid." He was exacting and controlling; Ukamaka talks about how he constantly attacked her dreams and desires as boring or not smart enough. Udenna treated others the same way and snubs those people he feels are unworthy of his friendship.
Udenna Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck
The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Udenna or refer to Udenna. 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:
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The Shivering
Quotes
Staid, and yet she had been arranging her life around his for three years... Staid, and yet she cooked her stews with hot peppers now, the way he liked.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Udenna Character Timeline in The Thing Around Your Neck
The timeline below shows where the character Udenna appears in The Thing Around Your Neck. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Shivering
...family for information about a plane that crashed in Nigeria. She fears that her ex-boyfriend, Udenna, was on the plane. Ukamaka looks out the peephole and opens the door to a...
(full context)
...before when she was a teenager and saying her Hail Marys. She'd only ever told Udenna about it, and he said she'd created the experience herself.
(full context)
Chinedu asks Ukamaka if she knew anyone on the flight. She says that her ex-boyfriend Udenna may have been on it. Chinedu says that God is faithful. The phone rings. Ukamaka...
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...Father Patrick had said the same thing, when she met him in the hours after Udenna broke up with her. Udenna broke up with her in an ice cream shop. He...
(full context)
...the "bush" way he eats rice with a spoon. Chinedu asks about a picture of Udenna and Ukamaka. Ukamaka lies and says she's been meaning to take the photo down. Chinedu...
(full context)
Chinedu says he saw Ukamaka and Udenna in the parking lot one day and knew they were Nigerian. Hearing this makes Ukamaka...
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...Chinedu deems it a crisis of faith and asks for more rice. Ukamaka explains that Udenna never told her he loved her because he thought it was a cliché, and he...
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...doesn't understand why Ukamaka would pay more for organic vegetables. Ukamaka laughs and says that Udenna cared; she doesn't really care about it. She offers to buy them lunch, but Chinedu...
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Ukamaka chatters about visiting home last Christmas and how her uncle teased Udenna about when he was going to propose. She asks Chinedu what he's going to do...
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Ukamaka is even more annoyed. She wants Udenna to call, since she still has his photograph up in her room. Back at Ukamaka's...
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...love Chinedu but only expect Chinedu to do things that Abidemi wanted. She says that Udenna was the same way, and Chinedu angrily says that not everything is about Udenna. Chinedu...
(full context)
