“I have not been to the cinema in years, but given that, I don’t think it qualifies as an alternative world. I know all about the cinema. Believe me.”
“You speak too much English for a high-school dropout,” the King said. (Abani,132)
Elvis consistently speaks differently from the others in his surrounding community, both grammatically, phonetically, and in word choice. Whereas most characters use a “D” to replace the “Th” in words (i.e. Dat, dis instead of That, this), Elvis speaks in a dialect that appears much closer to “Standard English,” which sets him apart from many of the other characters thus far. The differences are subtle, but they stimulate the disconnection Elvis feels with Lagos. When Redemption tells Elvis he’s moving to Maroko:
Elvis: “This Maroko?”
Redemption: “Dis Maroko?”
The difference is slim, and neither of the characters acknowledge the difference, but it effectively draws a line between Redemption—a sort of representation of Lagos life—and Elvis.
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