Human and Environment Influence in Cell One

I personally thought this was the best short story out of all of them. They all offered interesting themes and developed characters however, this story stuck out to me. From its family ties to the individualism of the brother, it was very striking through its plot. In addition, there are several different emotions and this leads to how each character wants to act in a certain situation.

Nnanambia is initially impacted by the older people at his school who steal. He then goes to to steal his mother's jewelry.  The parents often feel worried for their son, but they also give him the benefit of the doubt when he steals things. The father thinks they should've punished him from the beginning but they don't really do anything to him. Throughout the story, the sister is for the most part close to her brother.  However, things take a turn when he is thrown in jail a few years later with some other guys. This is when the family begins to worry for their son and wish they would've acted earlier.

They not only fear their son not getting better by stopping his stealing habits, but they also fear his life in jail.  The people are treated horribly in there and some people can be transferred to Cell One which is nothing but danger.  The family visits him just about everyday.

The part of this story that was really interesting was Nnanambia's reaction to the innocent old man in jail. This old man was tortured for something his son did but his son is nowhere to be found, so they throw him in jail. Nnanambia is devastated by what he has to witness happen to the old man.  It's surprising to me how he doesn't feel guilt when he steals or commits crime but he is really hurt by the man getting abused.

The environment of school changed him to act like a thief and the human influences from the old man caused him to feel bad.  This paradox is very symbolic to the story as a whole.  The family is the same way. They go from feeling very close to their son to almost as if they don't know him anymore. Lastly, the end scene is very striking. The son gets out of Cell One and is speechless. The sister and her parents are always prepared for Nnanambia to make an excuse or tell them a story.  Except he was silent. Was he scarred from the old man? Did he feel bad that his family had to go through this? Does he regret stealing in the first place? Is he the same person with the same habits but doesn't want to talk?   As the reader, this left me thinking

Overlooking the Cults of Cell One

In "Cell One" I found it interesting that, while his family was very aware of the many questionable actions of Nnamabia, it was his younger sister who was scolded or just simply ignored. I first really realized how much the mother especially held Nnamabia on a pedestal when Adichie talks about the person in the supermarket asking why she wasted her fair skin on a boy and left the girl so dark. The rest of that paragraph goes on to explain how Nnamabia was forgiven, or never punished in the first place, for his many misdemeanors. I feel like the author is only further emphasizing the "good" connotation that goes along with white skin.

Both the parents found a way to rationalize all of Namibia's actions, like when he stole the test answers and sold them, the parents said he needed more spending money instead of showing him it was wrong to steal the answers for profit. This leaves me to believe that jail was a much needed experience because it made Nnamabia realized that people are not invincible and that includes him. After seeing the man getting beaten and taken advantage of, I think it humbled him.

There is a pattern of what I suppose is "purposeful ignorance" because the entire town seems to be aware of the thieves and the cults, and yet they simply hide in their houses and pretend like it isn't their neighbors that are killing people and breaking into their houses. They even say that they know who the thieves are, but if they know then why do they let them get away with it? Is it just because they are always the attractive, popular boys? The narrator even admits having a crush on the boy who broke into her house. The mothers passive attitude and the narrators invisibility only acts to strengthen the male dominated attitude of "Cell One."

Government One

In "Cell One" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a young man is put in jail and jokingly makes a remark that the country should be run the same way the cell is run. Over the course of his stay, he changes as a human being. He enters the cell a confident and cocky teenager, and when the time comes, he leaves a solemn and sober young man. 

It could be interpreted that he grew up at last and that what he needed was some consequences for his actions, proving the benefits of the prison system.

I think that it's because he realized that the country is run the same way as the cell, and that the system is not as nice as he first thought it to be. 

There is a hierarchy of extremity of the cells, all leading up to Cell One, where inmates (inmates' corpses, actually) are made examples of to all the other cells. 

All of society's problems are locked up, abused, and ignored.

It all becomes apparent to Nnamabia, the young inmate, when an ill old man is thrown in jail and abused for something his son was guilty of, simply because he was available and his son was not. Nnamabia is shocked and negatively impressed over this, as he is forced to understand the horrible system that is prison, as well as government.

He tries to help the old man, and is punished further, sending him to Cell One.

He was lucky to leave Cell One alive, but he left it as a different human, more aware of the horrors of the world.

Mass Incarceration and Cell One

Cell One is a very well written story and overall I very much enjoyed it. The way Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes makes you feel like you are actually in the narrators shoes. She just makes you feel sorry the for what happens the family.

But, she also sheds light on some very important problems in not only our country but in many others around the world too: the problem of mass incarceration and violence within prisons. With her story, she helps shed light on a problem that is not often thought about in everyday life.

No White Hats

Can something be bad and good at the same time? Can we give justification to horrible actions? What does it take to change a person? Cell One by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie raises all of these questions yet leaves it to the reader to come up with an answer.

The story takes place in Nigeria, a country known for its high rates of crime.  Although he is the son of a well-to-do and educated family, Nnamabia is not a model citizen of Nigeria. He is a thief, a liar, a cult (gang) member, and maybe even a murderer. Nothing his family does seems to make him change his ways. So what does it take?

After a shooting occurs on a university campus, Nnamabia is imprisoned for possible involvement. But the police are no better than the gangs. They humiliate, beat, and even kill prisoners.

However, it is exactly this injustice that eventually has an impact on Nnamabia and changes him in a way that his parents never could.

After witnessing an innocent elderly father get beaten and humiliated by the prison guards for a crime committed by his son, Nnamabia speaks up. Annoyed at his audacity, the guards cease Nnamabia and take him to the notorious "Cell One" -- where many prisoners emerged only as corpses. When Nnamabia is finally released, he is bruised, beaten, and mentally changed.

So was this injustice justifiable? In the end one could argue that it was. After all Nnamabia was finally changed.

If the Pirates and Buccaneers All Got Along, They'd Probably Gun Me Down by the End of this Blog

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie crafts a dynamic story that speaks to many characteristics important to discuss in our contemporary society today. Adichie crafts the story of a boy named Nnambia in a University town in Nigeria. The story is told through the perspective of Nnambia's sister who serves as an interesting narrator recounting the change she sees in her brother as he enters and leaves prison. "Cell One" is littered with topics such as corruption, youth, familial relationships, and redemption. Yet the topic that captivating me was the pervasive nature of Western culture.

In this day and age, communication between people is limitless. Through radio, TV, and media, continents and cultures feel closer than ever. Yet with this, media has a greater impact around the world than I believe most people realize. This is explored in "Cell One". In the story, the narrator introduces the presence of the West felt by Nigeria through showing that the materials stolen from their house in the initial robbery were the "Purple Rain" and "Thriller" videotapes that Nnambia's father had brought from America. Additionally, the narrator states the effect American rap videos had on the university students causing "swagger" to course through their veins and commencing the season of gang like "cults". The violence that occurs in the town are horrific. "It was so abnormal that it quickly became normal" (p.34). The violence that occurs escalates to almost mirror the same violence the students see in their rap videos. And its ridiculous. Adichie does a great job showing this large presence Western culture holds to those around the world by showing the events of her Nigerian University city. 

Nnamabia: Good Person or Not?

In our discussion of Cell One, one of the big questions was whether Nnamabia was a good person at the beginning of the story or just at the end. I believe the answer is neither. At the beginning of the story we are given examples of how he robs the family, breaks a window in his classroom, sells exam answers to his father's students, and attempts to make his own key to the family car. I think that part of the problem here is that his mother refuses to punish him, but I believe his constant rule-breaking shows he isn't a good person at the beginning of the story. At the end, one major argument for his becoming a good person is referencing his helping the old man and refusal to dramatize his experiences in jail. The former is harder to argue against, but I believe even the worst people can have moments of humanity. As for the latter, I would say he is broken by his experiences in jail and doesn't wish to relive them.

Nnamabia and The Reality of Death

Situation 1: A school campus, struggling to function under the terrorism of the numerous cults it provides a home too. Nnamabia is, in a word, indifferent. He scoffs at the police's efforts to contain the violence, even seeing humor in the situation. Skipping forward in time, we as the reader are told about an incident in which four cult members stole a teachers car at gun point, killed three students, and drove off. Nnamabia's response is to go out drinking.

Situation 2: Nnamabia is now in prison, where he witnesses an old man - jailed for a crime his son committed - mercilessly bullied by the guards and forced to parade naked in the hall in exchange for water to clean himself. When Nnamabia's family comes to visit, they find their son in an emotional state that was completely unfamiliar to him. He's virtually silent, and refuses to eat the meal they have prepared for him, insisting  that some of it is saved for the old man. His entire persona has flipped, or perhaps it's just been shattered.

So question that we have to ask is why? Why does the oppression of the innocent suddenly affects him at such a deep emotional level? Why is only now sinking in? Personally, I attribute this shift to the power of the aftermath. In the first situation, Nnamabia's exposure to the cult violence was primarily through second hand stories and quick glimpses of bodies before they're taken away. But in prison, he is subjected to the entire process. That is the process of breaking a person, both physically and mentally. When he sees the old man reduced to nothing more than twisted entertainment for the guards, all in the hopes of getting something as simple as soap, the reality of the situation finally is finally realized. It shakes the very foundation of his world view, so much so that he is barely recognizable to those who only knew his former self. For better or worse, prison changed him.

Adichie's Dark Side

I thought that "Cell One" was an incredible story. The plot was very interesting and intriguing, and I kept wanting to read. Adichie's use of words is always so great; she knows how to put words together in a way different from anything else I have ever read. As much as I loved "Cell One", I thought it was such a dark, dark story. The story was so morose and sad, I was almost surprised that it was written by Adichie.

I read Adichie's book Americanah for summer reading this past summer. Though that book had some sad parts, it was nothing close to how dark and sad "Cell One" was. Americanah was sad in different ways: the main character not being able to get a job in America or her relationships with guys. It was nothing about abuse or the Nigerian prison system. Of course, these are too different stories, but a lot of the time author's books are similar in a lot of ways, whereas with these two, there were similarities, but at the same time, they were so, so different from each other. Everything else I've read or heard from Adichie normally has an uplifting part to it, whereas there was not a lot of that in "Cell One". I just found it strange, but also interesting that the two stories by the same author could be so different from each other.