28 pages • 56 minutes read
Checking Out
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Symbols & Motifs
Food and Drink
The motif of food recurs throughout “Checking Out,” representing the complexities of social connection and cultural differences. As a child, Obinze’s longing to move to America was embodied in a drink. From his viewpoint, America was a land of plenty, “where bottles of Fanta could be had without permission” (Paragraph 40). However, his eagerness to experience Western culinary standards shifts once he enters the United Kingdom. The “bottles of beer” and “small plate of fried chin-chin” Iloba provides make Obinze homesick (Paragraph 60). In this way, Obinze’s connection to fellow Africans and his cultural heritage is framed by meals as a ritual for connection and community. Food becomes a symbol of home, family, and a sense of belonging.
Obinze experiences a British version of hospitality when his coworkers surprise him with Coke and muffins, believing it is his birthday. Although the gesture does not possess the same evocations of home, Obinze is moved, recognizing their hospitality as an expression of acceptance. The recurrence of this motif in the story underlines the role food and drink play in constructing and negotiating cultural identity.
Africa
Many works of African literature engage with historical and political themes, shedding light on the legacies of colonization, independence struggles, postcolonial challenges, and social change, and “Checking Out” is no exception.
Obinze mirrors the bleak impact that colonization and immigration have on family structures, individual agency, and a sense of belonging. He struggles with all these components of his life, only to feel like a “thing” instead of a person. He gave up his family life and financial success to immigrate to a different country, and in this process, he has had to deny his true identity as an African man. He is plagued by this broken identity.
Obinze maintains a connection to Africa through his relationship with Cleotilde, as shown when he describes “her Africanness” in spite of the fact that she has never visited Africa. Yet she is ripped away from him, symbolizing the brutish command of political authority.
Clothing
The symbol of clothing represents Obinze’s need to disguise himself to be accepted in British society. On first arriving in London, he wears his cousin’s wool coat, in which his hands are “swallowed up by the sleeves” (Paragraph 1). Similarly, on his wedding day, Obinze wears a suit belonging to Nicholas. In both cases, the borrowed clothes are too large, emphasizing that to remain in the UK, the protagonist must pose as someone else. Significantly, when Obinze’s identity is exposed and he is arrested, Nicholas’s trousers slip down once his belt is confiscated. The image highlights how Obinze has been stripped of his protective disguise and dignity by the deportation process. The narrative extends this idea when Obinze resigns himself to returning to Nigeria, stating, “The last shred of his dignity was like a wrapper slipping off his waist that he was desperate to retie” (Paragraph 135).
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By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
