A Private Experience

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Woman’s Scarf

One of the first things that Chika notices when she encounters the woman is her scarf. To Chika’s eyes, the scarf has “the garish prettiness of cheap things” (44), so for her, it instantly telegraphs the woman’s social and financial status. The scarf also tells Chika that the is Muslim. For the woman, the scarf is a symbol of her faith, piety, and cultural identity; for Chika, it embodies the woman herself, reflecting her initial reductive attitude toward her. To her, the scarf symbolizes all of the ways she is superior to this woman, though her biases lessen over the course of the story.

The women’s growing trust is represented when the woman takes off the scarf and places it on the floor to pray. Chika turns her eyes away from this intimacy, though she envies the woman’s faith, and this moment permanently changes her attitude toward religion. Later, when her family prays in church, she has more compassion for their faith. Removing the headscarf becomes a sort of barrier-breaking, something that allows Chika to see past stereotypes and cultural biases and appreciate earnest faith.

The scarf’s symbolism as a cultural bridge deepens when the woman uses it to bind Chika’s leg wound. While Chika often looks down on the woman, she provides medical care and is concerned about protecting Chika. The woman has very little compared to Chika, but when Chika asks to keep the scarf at the end of the story, the woman lets her, illustrating her own compassion and the continued link between the two women despite their different backgrounds.

Chika’s Finger Rosary

A finger rosary is a ring with beads that Catholics use to count prayers. As such, it symbolizes the Catholic faith and the importance of memory in religious devotion. Chika wears her finger rosary because her mother insists on it, so the ring connects Chika to her mother and her faith. By contrast, Chika is not devout, and the rosary is an uncomfortable reminder of her uncertain spirituality, which mirrors her lack of certainty in other areas of her life. It is also a cultural marker for her, the same way the scarf is a cultural marker for the Hausa woman. While Chika draws conclusions about the woman based on the scarf, it’s possible the woman does the same based on Chika’s rosary.

The rosary doesn’t have the same utility as the woman’s scarf, but it symbolizes Chika’s growing tolerance and openness to religion. Once Nnedi goes missing and Chika witnesses the Hausa woman praying sincerely, her view of religion changes. She wishes she could believe in a deity, and she touches her rosary for reassurance. She recalls Nnedi’s outright rejection of religion and rosaries, which she calls “magical potions” (52). This memory of Nnedi’s statement is immediately followed by a flash forward of the family praying repeatedly for Nnedi’s return. Their prayers, offered “over and over” (53), become a metaphorical rosary, a symbol of their enduring fate against the odds.

The Burberry Bag

Chika loses her Burberry handbag in the riot, a gift that her mother bought in London. Burberry is a well-known British luxury brand, so it symbolizes Chika’s wealth and prestige, as well as her preoccupation with social status. The juxtaposition between a British luxury handbag and the poor environs makes the bag a symbol of British colonialism’s enduring impact on Nigeria, something that creates difference between upper and lower classes and represents Chika’s bias against poorer people. This colonial symbolism is deepened by Burberry’s history as a designer associated with explorers and the military as it manufactured outwear for expeditions and trench warfare.

A handbag usually contains necessities, and Chika losing her bag almost immediately symbolizes that she is now in liminal territory, standing alone on the threshold of a new way of seeing the world and her place in it. In contrast to the Hausa woman, Chika is ill-prepared for chaos and unsure of her actions. This parallels her luxury handbag, a beautiful item that is not particularly practical or suitable for this environment. Neither Chika’s wealth nor education save her during the riots—while she understands some of the political context, it’s the Hausa woman’s experience and humble possessions like her head scarf that help her survive.