A Postcolonial analysis of Chinua Achebe's A man of the People (original) (raw)

Post-Colonial Literature in Africa A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe

2015

The present study seeks for investigating the manifestations of colonialism and post-colonialism movements in the African societies, and how literary works dealt with these movements either by defending and rationalizing, or by criticizing and refuting them. The first part starts with colonialism movement, and it briefly discusses the different reasons of the emergence of this movement in Europe, and how it moved to the African continent, whereas the next section addresses the legitimacy of colonialism in literary works about Africa, and mainly about Morocco and Algeria. The following part deals with the negative impacts of the colonial countries in the colonized territories, and how some writers censured this movement, and resisted against its notions. Finally, this entry draws more attention to the Africans’ reaction against colonialism, and their disillusionment after gaining the independence. The second part focuses on post-colonialism and the literary works that appeared at that time, and it starts with a brief introduction about this movement, and then, examines some post-colonial literary works that had negative perspectives towards this movement. Also, this entry addresses the post-colonial African books that view colonialism in the same negative way. The final section deals with a post-colonial novel which is A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe, and it includes a brief summary about the novel as well as it reviews the significance of its title, and finally it discusses the theme of corruption in the same book.

THEMES, ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN THE NOVELS OF CHINUA ACHEBE: RESPONSE TO COLONIALISM

isara solutions, 2021

Achebe's fame as an outstanding African novelist rests specially on his four novels-Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer At Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964) and A Man of the People (1966) the first three of them having been published together as The African Trilogy (1988). The village novels Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God depict conflicts in Ibo society partly generated by the impact of European colonialism and partly by tensions within the society itself. These two novels form a class by themselves in the sense that they unfold the complexities of tribal life beneath its surface simplicity and calm and the tribal societies symbolize the conflict of cultures. The other two novels No Longer At Ease and A Man of the People are satirical in intent and hold up a mirror against the New Rulers of the of the postcolonial era in Africa. Taken together, all the four novels deal with the theme of colonial encounter and human condition, and yield wonderful response to colonialism. At the root of these themes, runs a parallel and basic theme of these novels, that is, the theme of sustenance of African culture and traditions. Explicitly so, because traditions and the culture of a country provide an identity and self-respect to the people of that country. A society of certain identity then gets established and re-established even after untold losses.

Social and Political Unrest in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People: A Study

Roots International Journal of Multidisciplinary Researches, Impact Factor 0.811 , 2015

by V.Jeya Santhi & Dr.R.Selvam Chinua Achebe was a distinguished Igbo (Ibo) novelist, renowned for his unsentimental depiction of the social and psychological renovation associated with the imposition of western customs, education and values upon traditional African society. His particular concern is with evolving Africa at the moment of crisis. Similar to the diasporic experience, the modernity is contested and out of this conflict, new identities with a firm moral order out of changing values are constructed. Achebe’s fourth novel A Man of the People (1966) exemplifies his goal of social realism; and it is an attempt to restore the lost dignity of his people by allowing his readers to examine their past and to resolve what he terms a ‘crisis in the soul’. To achieve a realistic effect, Achebe created the protagonist Odili Samalu, a representative of the new intellectual generation in opposition to the Chief Nanga, Odili’s former teacher, a representative of the old bush politicians. The realization of Odili that the country could be made much better if he went up against “a man of the people” who in reality was “a man against the people” and the subsequent events foreshadow the Nigerian Revolution of 1966. The paper examines how the political, social and economic unrest relate to the transition in the context of a post-colonial African country as depicted in A Man of the People.

ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL A MAN OF THE PEOPLE Written by CHINUA ACHEBE

This paper presents analysis both form and content analysis of the novel A Man of the People which is a novel by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Written as a satirical piece, "A Man of the People" follows the story told by Odili, a young and educated narrator, about his conflict with Chief Nanga, his former teacher who enters a career in politics in an unnamed fictional 20th-century African country. Odili represents the changing younger generation, while Nanga represents the traditional West African customs inspired by Achebe's native Nigeria. The paper starts by giving a plot summary of the book, then it shows Characters and Characterization of the novel, content analysis of the novel and lastly other elements of form including plot, setting, language use and stlye of the book.

A Political Analysis of A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe

2017

This present research paper is concerned with one of the most successful and political novelists in the twentieth century Africa named,Chinua Achebe, who could really depict the real situation of his country, Nigeria, in terms of political instability and corruption. Especially, in his fourth produced novel entitled, A Man of the People in which he portrays his birthplace as one of the most corrupted countries around the world during post-independence era. Achebe is a Nigerian author who writes about different aspects of his country during his lifetime and the reflection of his society could be noticed very clearly in his literary works; especially, in his selected novel. Achebe based his most prominent characters in his novel like M.A. Nanga and Odille on some political figures of his time who have a major role in the corruption in Nigeria. In this sense, his chosen literary text can be seen and read as political source for his country. Keywords: Chinua Achebe, Corruption, Poli...

Chinua Achebe's No Longer at Ease as a Post Colonial Novel

2014

This paper studies Chinua Achebe's No Longer at Ease as a Postcolonial Novel. It situates the novel within the postcolonial discourse by looking theories of post-colonialism. It shows how colonialist discourse created a negative image of Africa, which the post-colonial writers attempt to correct in their creative works. It situates Chinua Achebe within the anti-imperialistic discourse and shows how through this novel, Achebe has tried to give a true perspective of his society. He has not shown an idyllic Africa, but takes a sympathetic but honest view of a society with its own set of causalities. The problem of corruption, which is a common phenomenon in post-colonial societies, is the main focus in the novel. The British colonized the world not just with the help of military might and economic strength but also by propagating the idea of their superiority among the colonized cultures which were deemed as inferior. Edward Said's critique of the Orientalist discourse has show...

POST-COLONIAL GRATIFICATION AND CORRUPTION: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF ACHEBE'S 'A MAN OF THE PEOPLE'

IASET, 2020

Post-colonialism is borne at the very first moment of colonial contact. It is the speech of resistance which colonialism brings into being. The post-colonial literature shows the upshot of colonialism. It reveals the nostalgic self of the colonized. A colonized is bound to put up with the different disconcerting situations. He has to have high resistance and fortitude against lots of uncalled-for and inevitable conflicts. The postcolonial writers bring into light the suppression of a vast wealth of indigenous cultures beneath the weight of imperial control. As Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin pertinently assert, "All post-colonial societies are still subject in one way or another to overt or subtle forms of neo-colonial domination, and independence has not solved his problem". The primary concern of Chinua Achebe was his society, more precisely, the destiny of his people. Achebe, perhaps the most authentic literary voice from Africa, wrote not only to record the African, especially Nigerian, life but to analyze the reality experienced by the native people in different times and situations. In his view, the writer must be accountable to his society. To him it was absurd to think of art as a pure and autonomous entity coming into existence by itself in an aesthetic void. Accordingly, his aim was to make his fiction an instrument of awareness seeking to eliminate hydra-headed criminality and injustice. In this regard, the study is an attempt to show Achebe's endeavour to expose the rampant corruption and criminality in Nigeria to exert a decisive and positive influence on his people. For Achebe, the intrigues and contestation over power, especially within the civil service, assume a metaphoric significance in unraveling social contradictions in society. Achebe thus evaluates the various dimensions of power and how it is used to subjugate or tyrannize people. He evokes a consciousness, concerned with Manichaeism, alienation and characters that can adjust to the uncertainties of a postcolonial society with all the indices of underdevelopment, greed, corruption, bureaucratic, self-aggrandizement, tardiness, indiscipline, political instability etc. The study adopts the content assessment approach in order to unravel the constructive semantics and understanding of the post-colonial works.

Aspects of Realism in Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People

2008

Achebe has proven his worth among english-speaking African novelists by representing the African social and political environment in a thoroughly realistic way. his novels depict life within a particular historical background, and convey a sense of growing disgust and unrest within nigerian society, a society that has started to emerge from the 'colonial complex' caused by years of denigration and self-abasement. A Man of the People (967) is Achebe's fourth novel. it describes nigeria in its post-independence phase, during which time the country became a 'cesspool of corruption and misrule' in the context of colonial-style social and economic development, a situation that resulted in conflict between the emergent, elitist middle class and the general population. Achebe's reputation as a novelist rests on his impartial understanding of, and ability to represent, the nigerian environment. his realistic characterization, and diagnosis, of his country's malaise has the power to inspire a revolution informed by African ideologies.

Struggle and Strategies of Containment in Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People

Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People introduces Chief M.A. Nanga in the opening paragraph as the Man of the People; and this had to be made clear from the outset; otherwise the story that Odili the narrator was going to tell would 'make no sense'. So there is a double focus on the man and on the story. This introduction seems to prepare the reader for a story presenting an action of a public nature. The story that dominates this narrative is accordingly of a public nature. But it also contains the story of a personal antagonism whereby Odili becomes drawn into the public actions of the man and is therefore able to give this account from the inside, as it were. The story of the public action is in its turn contained in another larger story, with mythical associations. The personal conflict, as a consequence, is more than merely an incident. Its meaning is partly captured in the public story, which is in turn partially captured in the mythic pattern. This paper explores this endless pattern of deferring of meaning.

Postcolonialism in Africa Based on Colonialism Analysis in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Diglossia: Jurnal Kajian Ilmiah Kebahasaan dan Kesusastraan, 2017

Adi YusufUniversitas Pesantren Tinggi Darul Ulum Jombangadiyusuf@fbs.unipdu.ac.id One of the interesting things in the study of literary works is to explore the representation of a literary work itself to the culture of real life. More specifically, when it is related to the history – in this case, the condition of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial times. This article discusses postcolonialism analysis on Things fall Apart by Achebe. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. It is found that the novel represents “precolonial tribal” life in Africa: earning a living by farming land and keeping the cattle, diverse cultural backgrounds including belief of traditional religion. Then, the things lost as a result of colonial contact are “religious practice and government”. Then, Colonizers’ strategies in indoctrinating the native population to their way of thinking include building a school, convincing the society of the importance of education for the future genera...