Cell One

“Cell One” (2007) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a short story that addresses issues of police corruption and class politics in Adichie’s home country of Nigeria. Utilizing themes of The Dangers of the Bandwagon Effect, The Harms of Privilege-Fueled Apathy, and The Normalization of Violence Under Oppressive Systems, Adichie paints a portrait of these societal issues through the lens of one erudite family’s crisis when their son is arrested and imprisoned. This social critique is in-keeping with Adichie’s body of work, which focuses largely on confronting oppressive power structures enforced in Nigerian and American societies, such as sexism and racism.

This guide refers to the freely available version of the text originally published in The New Yorker in 2007. “Cell One” was later published as the first story in Adichie’s 2009 collection, The Thing Around Your Neck.

Content Warning: “Cell One” contains instances of police violence, gang violence, sexual assault, and colorism.

“Cell One” is told from the perspective of the family’s unnamed youngest daughter, who watches the other members of her family with some degree of cynicism. In the opening episode of the story, the

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