A Private Experience Short Story

In a life or death situation, people help each other in order to get through the situation as demonstrated in A Private Experience, a short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Chika, the main character, was out shopping with her sister in a local Nigerian market when a riot unexpectedly breaks out. Through this she meets, a Hausa woman who helps her to safety.Throughout the story, the characters help and support each other during this very emotional time. Through dialogue and description, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie demonstrates that a dangerous situation can cause people to overcome their differences and work together towards mutual survival.
The author uses dialogue and description to illustrate the differences between the two main character. When Chika and the Hausa woman have entered a small abandoned store, Chika begins to describe the Hausa woman: “Even without the woman's strong Hausa accent, Chika can tell she is a

At the beginning of the text, when the riot breaks out in a marketplace, Chika is caught in the mayhem. “She wants to thank the woman, for stopping her as she dashed past, for saying ‘No run that way!’ and for leading her, instead, to this empty store where they could hide.” Here the Hausa woman saved Chika’s life by leading her to safety, although she had no previous affiliation with her. The woman could have ignored Chika and tried to save herself, but she did not, which shows that the influence of the crisis caused her to do so. While sheltering in the abandoned store, Chika offers to help the Hausa woman after the situation calms down. “‘Then I will come back with my auntie's driver and take you home,’ Chika says.”Chika was not required to come back for the Hausa woman, she could have easily left the Hausa woman to find her way home, but it shows that the situation created a bond between these two