Thoughts on The American Embassy by Abigail Booher

Adichie approaches the effects of war through very different perspectives which causes her readings to be so thought-provoking. In “The American Embassy”, Adichie examines the idea of leaving one’s country during a time of war. Towards the end of the short story, the narrator states, “That, she realized, was the new life she wanted” (p. 141). This part of the story addresses the character’s thoughts of what she wanted to do instead of immigrate to America. The author notes, “She wanted to go back to their ancestral hometown and make ixora flowers […] she wanted to pluck and suck at them while squatting in the dirt […] she wanted to arrange the sucked flowers side by side, like Ugonna had done with his LEGO blocks” (p. 141). The story mentions at the beginning that only a few days before, the character would never have dreamed that she would be trying to leave her country because of the war. Her husband was gone, her son was dead, and there seemed to be nothing left for her in Nigeria. And yet, she could only think of her son. Earlier, the passage notes that she “had failed him” when he was killed (p. 134). She has the chance to live a new life and start over. Instead, she “turned slowly and headed for the exit” (p. 141). This part in the story causes every reader to cringe or cry out in frustration. Why? The narrator explains how long she had waited in line to be accepted into the embassy just for an interview, and then she leaves. Why would she waste the one opportunity she had for a chance of a better life? This is the unique form of writing that Adichie explores. While most stories revolve around characters who try to escape, who try to have a new life, reality is not always like that. In real life, there are characters who prefer to stay, who have no reason to begin a new life when they are still too attached to the old. Regardless of the danger it might cost her, the woman really doesn’t have anything to lose except for her own life (but she feels already dead from the loss of her son). Instead of searching for something new, the character in the book chooses to keep with what is old. If her heart was with her son, there is nothing in the new world that can make her happy. She will stay in her country, go back to her ancestors’ homeland, and arrange the flowers like her son would have in remembrance of him. Some characters can move on, but others must stay behind and accept their fate. This short story provides an example of the effects of war that many would not think about unless they had read it.