Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 8, 2023 June 1, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Ifemelu moves into her own apartment. After a telemarketer compliments Ifemelu for sounding American, she resolves to drop her American accent. She wonders why she thinks sounding American is a triumph.
Ifemelu meets Blaine, a black American college professor, on the train to visit Aunty Uju. They flirt and exchange phone numbers. Ifemelu calls him when she gets off the train, but he never responds.
Aunty Uju complains about being black in a very white city. Her patients assume she isn’t a doctor, and one even asked to switch to another doctor. Bartholomew is never home. Aunty Uju won’t leave him because she wants another child. Dike has grown reserved. He tells Ifemelu that a camp counselor gave the other children sunscreen and said he didn’t need any. He tells Ifemelu he wants to be “regular.”
The chapter ends with a blog post Ifemelu later writes detailing the four tribalisms of America: class, ideology, region, and race. She explains that white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) are always on top of the racial hierarchy, and black people are always at the bottom. Everyone else’s position fluctuates.
Back in the salon, the braiders ask a South African customer why she has no accent. She explains she’s been in America for a long time. Aisha asks Ifemelu why she has an accent, but Ifemelu ignores her. She worries she’s made a mistake in going back to Nigeria.
A white woman named Kelsey arrives and asks if they can braid her hair. Kelsey makes assumptions about the shop owner’s gratitude for American opportunities and asks if women can vote in her country. Kelsey disparages Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart for not teaching her the reality of modern Africa, and instead praises a book called A Bend in the River for being an honest book about Africa. Ifemelu objects that A Bend in the River is more about longing for Europe than it is about Africa, which makes Kelsey uncomfortable. Kelsey is surprised to learn African braiding involves hair extensions.
Please wait while we process your payment