Reversal of dichotomy: Levels of feminist perspectives in Adichie's fiction

The fictional world of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is coloured by the nationalist ideas for Biafra and substantial strands of feminist perspectives, and these have established her as a coming of age feminist writer among the contemporary Nigerian writers. Feminist movements across the globe have brought about great historical changes pertaining to the position of women vis-à-vis men. Adichie aggressively portrays women characters (i.e. black women struggling for gender equality in their native societies, and precursors of equality of race and colour), and makes them black precursors of social change. Being a Nigerian, Adichie witnessed dual colonization in Igbo societies and therefrom portrayed the doubly colonized women in her native land as well as migrants to America in the quest for better future prospects. Adichie depicts the contemporary scenario where, women despite being educated and among the elites face tortures at the hands of their partners or husbands. They become the aterite or the other and men remain the “self”. Such marginalization of women takes place through violence, aggression, and mental subjugation by men in patriarchal societies, and Adichie’s protagonists scuttle their way out from violence and battering, adultery and deception. Thus, there is a reversal of dichotomies and the subjugated ones emerge powerful and resilient. This paper, therefore, adopts the post-colonial feminist theory as a theory as a framework for the critical evaluation of Adichie’s texts from the post-colonial perspective through her protagonists (heroines) of the post- colonial feminist society.