Samuel Kọ́láwọlé and I recently had a conversation about his novel The Road to the Salt Sea. So, I didn’t imagine we’d be having another chat soon. Well, until I read his short story “Adjustment of Status,” shortlisted for the 2024 edition of the Caine Prize. How could I not think of Folahan as Able God’s kin, after all they had been through? In The Road to the Salt Sea, Able God and his team of Europe-bound immigrants ended up as a trafficked refugees and slaves in Libya. And in “Adjustment of Status,” Folahan leaves his job as a manger in a cement factory in Nigeria to become a mortuary attendant in the US. Folahan’s life as an undocumented immigrant is only less horrifying than Able God’s because he has the choice to return home. Despite their differences, these characters are shockingly similar, as their lives are shaped by the journeys they make.

Kọ́láwọlé was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria. His work has appeared in AGNI, New England Review, Georgia Review, The Hopkins Review, Gulf Coast, Washington Square Review, Havard Review, Image Journal and elsewhere. His fiction has been supported with fellowships, residences, and scholarships from the Norman Mailer Center, International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, Columbus State University’s Carson Workshop, Wellstone Center in the Redwoods, California, and Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska. He has taught creative writing in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Sweden, and the US. He teaches fiction writing at Pennsylvania State University, where is an assistant professor of English and African Studies.

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Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

In the throes of anti-immigration protests in the UK and hostile immigration policies in the US and Canada, I’m concerned about the role race plays in deciding what kind of immigrants are worthy of human dignity. The targeting of non-white population in these locations makes me wonder about the real agenda behind the protests and policies. They don’t seem to me to be about the protection of national borders—which is a just and necessary cause—but they appear to be motivated by the desire to erase the “other” from the face and memory of the White world. If Folahan was an undocumented White immigrant, would he have been so easily targeted and disgraced out of the US? I do not know. But I remember that the rescue team that moved immigrants out of Ukraine in the earlier days of the war between Russia and Ukraine prioritized White people. Can’t someone be an undocumented non-white immigrant and still be fully human?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

You must have heard the saying there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant because no human being is illegal. Except for asylum seekers, who may legitimately seek sanctuary in another country, the immigration rules of most countries ban foreigners from overstaying their visas or entering without the necessary travel documents. Nations have borders for a reason, even though we debate over the politics of borders and whether they should exist. What is important is that people should be treated with dignity and respect. Immigrants are often scapegoats for domestic problems in many countries because they are easy targets. Some people believe that the foreigner is always the problem, and some politicians deliberately foster this viewpoint. Of course, there’s a racial component to this—black and brown immigrants are perceived differently from white immigrants. Political leaders are hypocritical when it comes to addressing immigration. While some of them openly oppose it to appease their constituents, they are fine with the influx of undocumented immigrants into their country since it provides cheap labour for their industries and those of their wealthy allies. Immigration is a complex situation, but storytelling makes it less so. Storytelling bridges the gap between the personal and the political, highlighting the humanity of the problem rather than just the politics.

Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

I’m glad you paid attention to Folahan’s sexual life. There’s a sense in which an immigrant becomes nothing more than a figure bereft of humanity or sexuality. It’s surprising how so much has been said about the economic, cultural, social and mental implications of migration, yet we rarely talk about the emotional element. How did you create this fully sexual undocumented immigrant?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

Longing and desire are part of the human condition, and I’m interested in how they manifest themselves under different situations. Folahan is driven by a sense of duty; he wants to provide his family with a better life. He’s willing to pay the price for that; he gives up a good job in Nigeria in search of something better. What he isn’t prepared for is the emotional toll that being apart from his family will take. As the story unfolds, we see him battling with loneliness and the need to have his sexual needs met, which become worsened as the pressures of work and the immigrant life increase. I’m interested in what happens to people when they leave their home or relocate from a familiar environment to an unfamiliar one. What happens when we travel? What do we gain? What do we lose? What do we discover?

Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

These are interesting questions. And sexuality is so strongly rendered in the story that it trumps the dominant reasons for which people are often deported. There’s an implacable shame that comes with being deported for attempting to satisfy one’s sexual urge. Seeing that Folahan feels this shame deeply, to the point of hiding from his family weeks after returning home, what do we do? Isn’t it time to reclaim the sexual from the domain of the impure and the shameful where it has been ridiculously banished?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

I’m not sure we need to reclaim anything. Social expectations and ideals exist, and some people break away from them, while others don’t. My purpose is not to be didactic. As the great Chinua Achebe stated in Anthills of the Savannah, “Writers do not issue prescriptions. They cause headaches!” Folahan’s shame, as you mentioned, is undoubtedly exacerbated by the situation surrounding his expulsion. We also question if the guilt he feels stems from being deported and viewed as a failure, or from breaking his wedding vows. I think the story asks several questions How do men define masculinity? What does men’s perception of masculinity tell us about how they deal with shame? What role does silence play in our ideas of masculinity?

Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

Indeed, Folahan’s sense of shame is deeper than the sexual connection that led to his deportation. He is a member of a society unwilling to forgive a poor abroad returnee for being a failure. But I’m thrilled by Folahan’s wife’s response when the event of their son’s accident led her to discover that her husband had been repatriated and was hiding from his family. She said, “Please come home.” Folahan replied, “I am on my way, dear. I am on my way.” What do you think this response meant to Folahan? And can it mean something to people in a similar situation?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

We get a sense that family is important to Folahan; that is why he decides to go home, despite his flaws, when he hears the news that his child might probably be in danger. The phrase “please come home” also implies the prospect of forgiveness and redemption. Folahan’s wife is still not entirely sure of what is going on. There will be a lot of questions, and he will be held accountable. His wife’s response emphasizes the idea that no matter how bad things get you can always come home. It’s about extending grace to those who have made mistakes.

Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

The irony of the character of Bill, Folahan’s White American employer, is striking. He receives Folahan and gives him a job because he is an undocumented immigrant whom he can take advantage of. It’s not surprising that he denied any knowledge of Folahan’s illegal status once Folahan was caught. Isn’t it ironical that the West benefits from the exploitation of undocumented immigrants?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

As I said earlier, governments and employers of labour are a large part of the problem. Take politics in the US, for example, the right-wing political elite know that it is profitable to exploit undocumented immigrants, but they openly criticize and incite panic to appease domestic agitators and, to be honest, bigots among their supporters. There has been much rhetoric on the left about creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants, but it has never happened. That’s because plutocrats on the left gain from the same exploitation.

Darlington Chibueze Anuonye

Memory is such a powerful force of life, and it moves the narrative of “Adjustment of Status” forward. How do we recuperate memories without finally surrendering to the tragedies we’ve suffered? Was that why Folahan took to alcohol?

Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

Folahan drinks to forget his feelings of guilt and failure. He is, however, at some point, struck with an image that elicits a recollection of something he wishes to forget. A lot of the time, our thoughts and memories are associative. For instance, you might be in a record shop and hear a song that takes you back to a time in the past and makes you think about your ex. Thus, recollections can occasionally set off an unpredictable chain reaction. Memory has an intractable quality. Memory follows us around even when we try to banish it.

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