Around the middle of Adichie’s short story “The Shivering,”
the reader gains some insight into the complexity of Chinedu and Ukamaka’s
friendship. Chinedu explains that he knew he would have to make friends in
their apartment building because he would need a method of transportation, and
Ukamaka is comforted by this:
“She liked that he had said ‘Thank
God you have a car,’ because it was a statement about friendship, about doing
things together in the long term, about having somebody who would listen to her
talk about Udenna. On Sundays, she drove Chinedu to his Pentecostal church in
Lawrenceville before going to the Catholic church in Nassau Street, and when
she picked him up after service, they went grocery shopping at McCaffrey’s”
(155).
Since Chinedu admits that the reason he made friends was to
have a way to get where he needed, it seems as though Ukamaka could feel
suspicious towards him and their friendship. But instead of thinking that he might
just be using her and her car, she views this dependency as something positive.
She likes the idea of having Chinedu around. Her next thought, though, shows
that her reasons for wanting to do things with Chinedu “in the long term” are
not selfless either; she wants somebody to “listen to her talk about Udenna.” Both
of them have something they want, but they both seem generally willing to give
and take.
This passage exposes another layer of their friendship by
showing that they each let the other person be themselves. They go to separate
churches and then to the same grocery store, appearing perfectly comfortable
with differing in their beliefs and then coming back together. This is an
especially important component of their friendship considering each of their ex-significant
others were controlling and manipulative. This is a complex friendship; neither Chinedu and
Ukamaka are approaching the relationship selflessly, but both seem willing to
give and take and encourage the other be who they really are.
Victoria Carson
No comments:
Post a Comment