That's so dangerous .

The spoken words of Adichie relate to the articles that we have read in class in that they both talk about the single sided, bias of a story or history, etc. The way stories are told manage to lead our minds to believe that that is the absolute truth, and we are forced to look at the subject that certain way. Every story has a side to it, whether it’s from the narrator’s point of view or another character’s. Once roles have been switched, we are told a different side of the story. For the articles on the history textbooks in Texas, those books are becoming biased in that they are going to tell one point of view for each historic event. Truth be told that history is recorded by the winners in a situation. If we are only allowed to view the winner’s point and not explore any of the cold hard facts that surrounded the situation as a whole, then we are forced to miss any details that may have led to the event.

For stereotypical matters, the danger of knowing only one side to a story leads you to perceive that the stereotypes are true. If you only know one thing all your life or you believe that enough evidence backs up the “truth,” then it is going to be difficult to understand the actual reality of things. In Adichie’s case, the incident with her room mate and the single story was dangerous in the sense that she already formed an idea because of stories told to her beforehand. Her room mate then makes the mistake of perceiving Adichie in a way she is not in reality. Minority’s voices are just as important as the majority.  They need to have a say in order to be able to get their point across and delete the existence of stereotypical ideas. In the end, everyone is a person with their own opinions, experiences, and life.

The danger of knowing a single story is that we are missing out on the bigger picture. Details of the little things are left out while the focus is the main point. Adichie went through many experiences pertaining to a single story. The danger of it was that she or the others around her formed ideas in their heads that made them believe that that was the only way it was. It was due to what someone read, heard, or believed they saw. The way words, stories, history, etc is recorded is somewhat of a great importance. In order to be non-biased, facts, and nothing but facts, should be recorded. Even then, it may contain bias because the writer has his/her own opinions. I believe there is really never going to be an un-biased story or history book because each person has opinions and a mind. Robots and an all seeing eye would probably be the only ways to guarantee no bias. Adichie repeats the terms “what if they knew..” If people were to know more than their one general point of view towards something, then there would not be a danger of a single story anymore.

The articles  and Adichie’s words draw a parallel to 1984 in that they all seems to refer to single stories of things. 1984’s government takes control of history and the making of it in that they are able to re-write it in the way they prefer correct. They show their biased views in creating events that most likely never happened to make them see great and winners. The danger of these single sided stories in 1984 and the articles is that they are not able to know the whole truth. The manipulation of reality is able to occur with the manipulation of past events. We then take those manipulated "facts" and turn it into the truth, not knowing that there was ever another side to the story. Overall, the danger is not knowing the absolute truth and creating a biased view point for a certain matter.