The role of skin in "The Thing Around Your Neck"

In The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, skin plays a prominent role. In the first short story, “Cell One”, Nnamabia is praised for his beautiful light complexion by perfect strangers who would ask his mother “why would you waste your fair skin on a boy and leave the girl so dark?” Here, the desire for a lighter skin color shows the influence of western culture on African beauty standards. In the chapter “Ghosts” the texture and moisture of peoples’ skin demonstrates the differences in social classes. The beggars’ skin was ashy, as they could not afford moisturizer for their faces and arms during the harmattan. Meanwhile, Prof’s skin was perfectly moisturized, and he has fond memories about his late wife applying lotion to his body after he would bathe. Like Nnamabia, Prof was praised for his complexion, and he was convinced that his skin was what had persuaded his wife Ebere to marry him in the line of suitors. Skin color also plays a role in the story “The Thing Around Your Neck” as Akunna, an immigrant from Nigeria, has an interracial relationship with a white man. The couple was either met with opposition from others or would receive overly-enthusiastic reactions from people, “as if to prove their own open-mindedness to themselves” (123).