The Thing Around Your Neck After Class Discussions

Now that we have had some class discussions regarding The Thing Around Your Neck, I have a slightly different view on the book.  I didn't like it much before, but I like it better now.  I think that this happens with most books that we discuss in school as discussion and insights that classmates give, enhance our understanding of the book and subsequently our enjoyment of the book.  Our discussion on the short story The Thing Around Your Neck was especially informative as we brought up several ideas that I didn't initially think of.  The main thing was the examination of how much of Adichie seemed to care about this story.  She truly seemed to care the most about this story as she seemed to express how she feels about the challenges African immigrants face when they come to America.  Her passion came through in a critical tone and this story was the only one I recall that had such a critical tone.  If had to rate the book on a five point scale, initially I would have given it a 2 out of 5.  After our class discussions I would rate the book 3.5-4 out of 5 as the things we discussed that Adichie wrote about added more depth to her stories.