To better understand the short story, “A Private Experience,” by Chimamanda Adichie, I’ve created a mind-map that highlights important elements that lead to an ultimate understanding. What I mean by this is that the four elements, general plot, in media res, conflict, and the point of view of Chika, lead to a better understanding of more important elements: theme, symbolism, characterization, and literary criticism. In this format, I will give my interpretation of these elements and their meaning. In addition to a developed understanding of the short story, I’ve included carefully picked visuals that represent the element. The ongoing religious war in Nigeria between Christians and Muslims from 1950 was selected as the piece of the plot because it shows the major areas in the world where religious conflict and civil unrest are at their highest. With religious conflict as the backbone of the plot, creating a scenario where two opposite religious civilians seek shelter from the riots, will lead to the theme of the story that the author is trying to portray. My selected image is the 2009- 2013 Nigerian religious conflicts. This literal visual to the plot has no special symbolic representation, but instead shows the magnitude of the religious conflicts in Nigeria that continue today. In media res in the story was significant because it represents without religious division, we all as one can put aside differences for our survival. This is proven as Chika doesn’t second guess the Hausa Woman’s faith when she runs with her to the store for refuge. My selected quote is significant to this because it represents the two-woman teaming for survival, instead of seeing each other as enemies. The visual that I chose, of two people holding hands, symbolizes human unification and how we can put aside differences (symbolized by the white and black hand) to complete a goal. The conflict of the story leads us to understand that the Muslim religious led conflict in Kona Nigeria, shows the reason why Muslims are pictured as bad people and have biases and prejudiced opinions about them. The image that I selected is significant to better understand the story because it symbolizes division within society. The two men in the picture frame are alike, except for their beliefs. One finger pointing at the picture shows disagreement that because of their differences in belief, they cannot integrate or live together. Another finger pointing at the picture agrees that it doesn’t matter that they have different beliefs, they/we are the same and there is no need for division. This entire visual of agreeing and disagreeing is meant to symbolize how conflicts begin. The point of view also impacts strongly with a particular targeted audience. Narrating the perspective of a privileged Christian that goes to university, the story can be meant for westerners and how they usually perceive Muslims from regions such as Nigeria. My quote is significant here because it shows how “people like her” shouldn’t be involved in such conflicts. For the image to symbolize a point of view, I selected a Christian nun as the story was told from the perspective of an Igbo Christian. A nun in particular, because it shows the extremist side of Christianity who are prone to think and share prejudiced opinions of other religions. The theme’s significance ties around the prejudiced opinions that are in many societies. That, instead of scorning and thinking less of the people of a certain religion, like how Chika assumes that the neckless of the Muslim woman was “probably plastic beads threaded on a piece of string,” understand that their religion doesn’t define who they are as a person (Adichie, 43 – 44). The visual I chose to represent this literary element is the image of two different religious people holding hands. Understanding that religion doesn’t define what type of person they are, the image symbolizes that these two opposite religious people enjoy each other for who they are as a person, not their faith. The major symbol in the short story must be the scarf the Muslim woman lets Chika keep. The reason for this is because the scarf must have changed the way Chika thought about the Muslim woman; that Chika had judged in her thoughts throughout the story by questioning her intellect and quality of life. The scarf represents the true expression of the Muslim woman, her kindness, which has nothing to do with religion. My character sketch in my mind map helps me understand what kind of person Chika is and how it relates to the general theme of the story. By implementing a judgemental person in the story, and having a person that helpers her, the very person Chika has judged silently, shows that it’s wrong to misjudge people based on religion. The visual I chose is the drama two faces; a side of the personality that acts normal around people, but the inner personality that is judgemental. Thus, this visual connect with the fact that as readers, knowing that Chika silently judges the Muslim woman in her thoughts. As a final touch to my mind map, I’ve included a biographical criticism around the author of the story, Chimamanda Adichie, and how her uprising affected the characterization of Chika. From these elements that I have interpreted in my mind map, I hoped to present a refined understanding of the four common types of elements: plot, in media res, conflict, and point of view; and how it leads to a better understanding of the four, more important elements: theme, symbolism, characterization, and a literary criticism. Though this is not a short story summary, it is in fact what you should take away from the story.

Image Sources:

“The Nun of Monza.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Feb. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nun_of_Monza.