The Masks in "Imitation"

     After reading all the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck, I kept going back and thinking about the symbolism and meaning in the story “Imitation.”  The chapter starts off with Nkem learning that her husband may be cheating on her, but it is important to note that she is staring at the Benin mask the whole time.  There are many masks around the house that Obiora, her husband, collected.  I think these masks symbolize Nkem’s life for many reasons.  The first is that Nkem says she wonders what life is behind those empty masks, and by the end of the chapter, she can’t remember where her life had gone.  She too became an empty mask that was lifeless behind it.  The second reason the masks relate to Nkem’s situation is that she said she wondered if the people behind those masks that had to kill people for the king wished they didn’t have to kill and that maybe they could have a say.  Those people represent Nkem because she too wishes she had a say in the relationship because if she did she would have Obiora home with his children and not just visiting on vacations and his time off from work.  The last reason is that those masks cover up the true face behind them.  Nkem eventually covers up her true self by cutting her hair so that it was just like Obiora’s mistress.  She just wants to please her husband and she is willing to physically change herself to accomplish that.  At the end of the story, Nkem finds the courage to tell Obiora that she and the kids will be moving to Lagos with him, but once again he just blows it off and says they will talk about it later.  Nkem does not continue on, but rather she stops talking because she knows she will always be the person behind the mask that has to obey the king.