Oppression in Jumping Monkey Hill

“Jumping Monkey Hill”, a short story included in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, explores the complex interactions between oppressed and privileged social groups. Ujunwa, the main character of the story, is a black woman from Nigeria. She is attending a writing workshop led by a white, wealthy male who lives in London, England. The ignorance of Edward and his wife Isabel is obvious throughout the short story. During one of the first conversations that Ujunwa has with Isabel, Isabel remarks, “…surely with that exquisite bone structure, Ujunwa had to come from Nigerian royal stock,” (pg. 99). Ujunwa immediately wonders to herself, “…[Had] Isabel ever needed royal blood to explain the good looks of friends back in England,” (pg. 99). Isabel then goes on to speak about how she hoped that Ujunwa would support her cause to help the apes being slaughtered and quickly dismisses the idea of natives eating bushmeat, such as monkeys, for actual sustenance. She claims that natives only use specific parts of the animal for charms and disregard the meat. Isabel exemplifies the common misconceptions believed and preached by Westerners not versed in the various cultures throughout Africa. While colonization and the unwarranted “help” of Westerners in Africa seems like only a chapter in a history textbook to today’s generation, it is still a very real issue. The problem simply manifests itself in a different form. Bushmeat provides the needed protein to many people who live in the African bush, and not only does it serve for nutritional purposes, but it is also steeped in cultural value. Africans have been eating bushmeat for centuries and it has come to be part of the tradition of many villages where domesticated proteins are expensive or simply unavailable. Western conservationists who do not understand these traditions because they did not grow up with African culture believed it was there right to intervene and save the monkeys. While I believe that protecting endangered animals is an important cause, one must also consider that the endangerment of many of these animals are caused by foreigners exploiting the animals and their land for economic gain, not the native peoples who have lived on the land for centuries. There is also something incredibly unsettling about Isabel preaching about the slaughtering of apes used for the survival of villagers, while back in Ujunwa’s home of Nigeria, innocent people are brutally killed by a corrupt government.

 Isabel’s husband, Edward, also shows great ignorance towards Ujunwa. During the workshop, Ujunwa writes a story about a young woman who is sexually harassed while working for a bank. After sharing her story with the group, Edward remarks that the story simply is not plausible because women are not treated that way in society today. He called it “agenda writing,” (pg. 114). The story in fact is based on Ujunwa’s own experience. While Edward finds the sexism that Ujunwa to be impossible, the entire workshop he has been inappropriately sexualizing her. At one point he comments to Ujunwa, “I’d rather like you to lie down for me,” (pg. 106) when she offers to stand up for Edward and give him her seat. She laughs at the comment because many women have been socialized into believing this harassment is warranted and to be expected. She even feels jealous when Edward acts inappropriately towards another female author at the workshop. This story touches on very real issues in today’s society: aversive racism and sexism as well as internalized sexism. Many people believe that they are free from biases, yet as part of the privileged group of white westerners (and in Edward’s case also male) Isabel and Edward have been socialized to hold implicit biases towards the members of the workshop. By refusing to believe that sexism and racism exist, they are only perpetuating the problem. Ujunwa has also internalized the sexism she has faced and her self-respect has suffered because of it. She craves the special attention Edward gives to her while hating the fact that, "...what he felt for Ujunwa was a fancy without respect," (pg. 109). He simply sees Ujunwa as a sexual object and dismisses her work as an author all while claiming women in Nigeria could not possibly face sexism seeing as they have a female cabinet member in their government... Edward encompasses what is wrong with a majority of society today - ignorance.