In Chimimanda Adichie’s TED talk called “The Danger of the Single Story” she stresses the importance of viewing events from multiple perspectives to see the whole narrative rather than drawing conclusions from one perspective. I am interested in interviewing the American from 9 Parts of Desire because of the dualistic nature of her identity in comparison to others in the play and the unique perspective she presents. I have two questions I want to ask her.
“How does it feel not to be viewed as Iraqi although it is a large part of your identity?”
Within the text, the American constantly mentions the recognizable “American” traits that she possesses. When discussing how the war is just another source of entertainment in the U.S.A the American highlights her own atypical Iraqi characteristics; “I [the American] mean, I’m blond/I hear everything people say”(47). She observes that she is “blond” and does not look Iraqi; thus, she is never identified as Iraqi. Due to her anomalous qualities she can “hear everything people say”.
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She is atypical Iraqi. She also feels that her Iraqi descent is a substantial part of her identity. When she is talking about the difficulties of going on with her daily life while her family is in Iraq getting killed she says, “ I can’t walk/down/the street/I want New York to Stop./Why don’t we count the number of Iraqi dead?”(49) The American’s line breaks are choppy, as if it is hard for her to get through a sentence. She cannot physically walk down the street because of the crimes committed against her family in Iraq. She is angered that there is no recognition of the countless Iraqi lives lost in Iraq everyday. I would ask the American the question stated above because her conflicting identities do not give