Perspective

Before whenever we read "A Private Experience" by Chimamanda Adichie, we contemplated whether she contradicted herself from the her speech about the danger of one story. In that story, she only went in depth about the Igbo Christian perspective, which is her own religion. What I found interesting in "Say You're One of Them" Uwem Akpan is actually a Jesuit priest, and not a Hausa Muslim at all. However, one must ask if Akpan's own religion influenced his depiction of Jubril.

It is general knowledge that Muslims are conservative and Jubril makes many conservative statements such as his comments on the Christians tight jeans and short skirts, and his disbelief of Monica standing up to the male policemen. However, not all Muslims practice such a constricted, cut-off lifestyle as Jubril does. Additionally, even though Jubril does not exhibit violent behavior, his Muslim friends do. Again, my knowledge of religions in Nigeria or limited, but I just find it interesting that Akpan would depict Muslims in a violent nature, even though not all of them are. But Christians are not so innocent themselves. On the bus the Christians want to see their fellow Christians destroy the Muslims in the north.

Overall, it is difficult to say whether or not Uwem Akpan's religion skewed the image of Muslims he embodied in Jubril. However, I feel as if Akpan did a much better job than Adichie in trying to tell the story of others.

http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/Author-Uwem-Akpans-Biography