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Makyla Grant

Leah Jones

ENGL 112-03

07 Oct. 2019

“ My Mother The Crazy African”

In the story “My Mother The Crazy African,” the main character Ralindu battles with her

family, mainly being her mother and with herself over accepting her Nigerian heritage while

living in America. There is a constant idea or feeling of not wanting to be different or being seen

as different by the people around her. It is shown many times throughout the story. One time

would be Ralindu not wanting to speak or show understanding of her native tongue of Igbo.

Another example would be not wanting to see herself as Nigerian and only as America,

especially when Ralindu is around other people. A final example would be the constant strife and

disagreement between Ralindu and her mother over the proper way to be a Nigerian living in

America. These examples promotes the theme of Ralindu battling the feeling of being different

versus accepting oneself.

One way that Ralindu shows a battle of being different versus accepting herself is in the

story Ralindu does not want to show off her Nigerian heritage is that she does not want to

acknowledge the fact that she is from Nigeria. She doesn’t want to speak Igbo, nor does she want

to be seen as if she understands the language. There were multiple times in the story where she

was spoken to in Igbo, such as when Matt comes over to Ralindu’s house to work on a paper.

Ralindu’s mother speaks to her in Igbo and Ralindu says “She(Ralindu’s mother) asked if we

were almost done in Igbo before I say yes, I paused for a long moment so Matt won’t think I
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understand Igbo so easily.” Ralindu even says that she responds to her father speaking to her in

Igbo with English. Ralindu sometimes tries to do so with her mother, hence the pause when her

mother spoke to her in Igbo in front of Matt. Ralindu also doesn’t like her accent she says, ​“I

hate having an accent. I hate it when people ask me to repeat things sometimes and I can hear

them laughing inside because I am not American.”(Adichie) This shows how uncomfortable she

is when it comes to her native language which comes through when she is speaking English.

When she was asked before where she was from Ralindu would say Philadelphia. Chika

Ralindu’s mother would say, “Say Nigeria”(Adichie). That was one of the first moments in the

story that also showed the disagreement between Ralindu and her mother. Another way it is

shown that Ralindu prefers only to see herself as American is the way she acts around other

people. She tries to do things the American way. One thing would be a lax of formalities

between adults and those that are seen as kids. In the story, she goes to a family school cook-out

and talks to one of her friends’ mom and which she tells her to call her by her first name. When

she asked her mother if her friend could do the same thing, her mother got highly upset because

it is seen as disrespectful.

Ralindu’s internal and external battle of accepting herself causes the constant rejection of

her Nigerian heritage, and has caused constant strife and disagreement between herself and her

mother Chika. Ralindu does not like the fact that her mother holds on to Nigeria, whether it be

the way she speaks, the food she cooks, or the way she dresses. In the story, the class has a

family cook-out Ralindu’s mother chooses to wear something a little traditional versus

something practical. In of Cookies and French Fries: The Migrant’s Burden: Bearing the “Thing”

around your neck, writer Uwakweh also talks about how “the struggle of a mother tied to her
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homeland versus a father and daughter who don’t forget but pushes away their native cultural

identity for one that is socially acceptable in a foreign land” compares to Adiche’s other stories

such as “Purple Hibiscus”(2003) and “Imitation.

In all, the theme presents itself as a Ralindu not being able to be comfortable as a

Nigerian living in America. Ralindu does not want to feel or be seen as different. Due to this, she

does everything that she can to be seen as American outside the home and inside. That causes a

strained relationship with her mother because unlike Ralindu, who wants to be American, her

mother is a Nigerian living in America.

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Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. "My Mother, the Crazy African." ​One World : A Global
Anthology of Short Stories.​ New Internationalist, 2009, pp. 53-60. ProQuest Ebook
Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/albemarle-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3382521.

Uwakweh, Pauline Ada. "Negotiating Marriage and Motherhood: A Critical Perspective on the
Immigration Narratives of Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Adichie."​ Contemporary
Literary Criticism,​ edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 364, Gale, 2014. ​Literature
Resource Center​,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1100118239/LitRC?u=nclive&sid=LitRC&xid=1834982
1. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019. Originally published in Engaging the Diaspora, edited by
Pauline Ada Uwakweh, et al., Lexington, 2014, pp. 15-37.