The Thing Around Your Neck

by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Ujunwa Character Analysis

In "Jumping Monkey Hill," Ujunwa is a Nigerian woman who attends the writers' conference at Jumping Monkey Hill. She is annoyed when Edward and Isabel make assumptions about her family or her beliefs, and deals with Isabel's assumptions in particular by agreeing with Isabel and then making the assumptions sound ridiculous. Though Edward's constant leering and inappropriate comments make her uncomfortable, Ujunwa struggles to say anything or call him out on his behavior. She writes an autobiographical story about working in a bank, and storms out of the workshop when Edward says that women in Nigeria don't experience sexism like the protagonist of her story does.

Ujunwa Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Ujunwa or refer to Ujunwa. 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
).
Jumping Monkey Hill Quotes

The next day at breakfast, Isabel used just such a tone when she sat next to Ujunwa and said that surely, with that exquisite bone structure, Ujunwa had to come from Nigerian royal stock. The first thing that came to Ujunwa's mind was to ask if Isabel ever needed royal blood to explain the good looks of her friends back in London.

Related Characters: Ujunwa, Isabel
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:

"Which Africa?"

Related Characters: Ujunwa (speaker), The Senegalese, The Ugandan, Edward
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ujunwa Quotes in The Thing Around Your Neck

The The Thing Around Your Neck quotes below are all either spoken by Ujunwa or refer to Ujunwa. 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
).
Jumping Monkey Hill Quotes

The next day at breakfast, Isabel used just such a tone when she sat next to Ujunwa and said that surely, with that exquisite bone structure, Ujunwa had to come from Nigerian royal stock. The first thing that came to Ujunwa's mind was to ask if Isabel ever needed royal blood to explain the good looks of her friends back in London.

Related Characters: Ujunwa, Isabel
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:

"Which Africa?"

Related Characters: Ujunwa (speaker), The Senegalese, The Ugandan, Edward
Page Number: 108
Explanation and Analysis: