We Need New Names Summary

In the book “We Need New Names” by NoViolet Bulawayo we see through Zimbabwean immigrant Darling’s eyes what it is like to move to the United States and how Americans treat them. They hold Darling on a pinnacle of African suffering and exoticism; not really like a human being from another country. It brings light to how Americans see the countries of Africa, along with their political climates. They expect Darling to know all the little things going on there as if Africa is one country. The book also showed me the social norms forced upon me as I grew up and how I viewed Africa and its countries. I have realized that I see them, “as though they were interchangeable parts of one big mess,” as stated by the New York Times, and not really like a diverse place with varying political and social climates.

As we were reading “We Need New Names” we see how people in the United States of America see the countries of Africa through how they interact with Darling. They see her and Africa as this one tragedy case and not as 54 different countries with different politics and social climates. During Dumi’s wedding, a lady asks Darling, “isn’t it terrible what’s happening in the Congo?” (p.177) and Darling responds with her thinking, “…trying to remember what exactly is happening in the Congo because I think I am confusing

We see exactly how treat the countries of Africa as a solid picture instead of puzzle pieces. Viewpoints like these affects the problems of the countries in an adverse way and often waters down major issues. Their individual problems become one mass problem and the “worst” of them is the only one that gets focused upon. This has made me realize that I myself need to readjust how I view Africa. We all need to collectively change our views of Africa because all we are doing is turning the other cheek to bigger