Characters

The most important characters in the story “Tomorrow Is Too Far” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are the female characters: the narrator, the grandmother, and the mother.

The characters prese…

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The narrator

The narrator is the main character in the short story. However, she is not a narrator in the usual sense, using the first person. Instead, the story is told using the second person and the narrator is addressed as “you”, allowing the reader to feel a close connection to her. The plot revolves around the way she perceives the events surrounding her brother’s death, her relationship with her family, and the fact that she caused her brother’s death.

The narrator’s outer characterization informs us that at the time of the events she was 10 years old, and she is 28 years old at the time of the narration. Ethnically, she is Nigerian-American. She describes herself when she was 10 years old as having a “voice pure like water and legs like elastic bands” (p. 29, l. 36), and as a better tree-climber than her brother. At the time of the narration, she works in an office and lives in New York.

Inner characterization

The narrator’s inner characterization is conveyed through her attitude and her actions, both as a child and as an adult.

When she was a child, the narrator was deeply frustrated by the fact that her older brother was favored by her parents and her grandmother, not because of his qualities, but because he was a boy:

“Grandmama let only your brother Nonso climb the trees to shake a loaded branch, although you were a better climber than he was.” (p. 24, ll. 10-12);

“When she went into Nonso’s room to say goodnight, she always came out laughing that laugh. (...) She never left your room with that laugh.” (p. 26, ll. 19-23);

“Heavy from all the food Grandmama made him eat. Eat a little more, she would say. Who do you think I made it for? As though you were not there.” (p. 29, ll. 17-18)

This makes the narrator resent both her grandmother and brother, and she craves her mothe…

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The mother

The mother is a secondary character in the story, but she is important for the way the narrator relates to her and for the way her attitude conveys parental favoritism. She is only presented using the narrator’s perspective.

Outer characterization

According to her outer characterization, she is an African-American woman who married the narrator’s Nigerian father and with whom she had two children—the narrator and Nonso.

At the time of Nonso’s death, she was still married to the narrator’s father, but after Nonso’s death they divorced and she moved from town to town with the narrator. At the time of the narration she is living in a commune: “…your mother lived in California now; you did not mention that it was in a commune among people with shaved heads and pierced breasts…” (p. 27, ll. 2-4)

Inner characterization

Her inner characterization is conveyed at the time of the key event in the story, her son’s death. When her son died she was in the US, where she lived a bohemian life, as suggested by references to her husband attending a Black Arts festival in the woods and the fact that she lives in a Californian commune at the end of the story.

Her att…

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The grandmother

The grandmother is a secondary character in the short story, but she is important for the narrative conflict and the attitude she has towards her grandchildren and her family.

Her outer characterization informs us that she is a Nigerian woman, the mother of the narrator’s father and aunt, and she has three grandchildren (the narrator, Nonso, and Dozie). At the time of the narration, she has recently passed away and her body is buried in her yard.

Inner characterization

Her inner characterization is conveyed at the time of the main events, 18 years before the time of the narration. Her actions and attitude are presented only from the na…