American embassy essays

Summary. " The American Embassy". An unnamed woman is in line at the American Embassy in Lagos. A man behind her asks if she has change for his larger bills, but she is unable to focus on his request. Instead, she keeps experiencing violent flashbacks of the events that have recently transpired.

The narrator is faced with the prospect of performing her grief for an audience that controls her future. This suggests that the American dream is built on the difficult and destroyed dreams of people in other countries (and even in America itself), dreams that the American dream is supposed to replace.

In “The American Embassy,” the reader learns of the violence perpetrated by the government at this moment in Nigerian history. Additionally, the story comments on Nigerian society’s emphasis on gender differences. The narrator’s husband, a writer that opposes the government, is sought after by the military and the police.

Though the narrator is at the American embassy to apply for asylum, this mention of the embassy's corruption suggests that despite the power of the American dream and the safety it promises, America itself has issues as well. Corruption is inescapable, and this reinforces that the American dream is ultimately not so rosy as it’s made out to be.