mythical aspects in Chinua Achebe's novels

MYTHICAL ASPECTS IN THE NOVELS OF CHINUA ACHEBE

     The outstanding Igbo novelist was Chinua Achebe. All his novels present the conflict of

emergent Africa, in

Things Fall Apart (1958) he showed the impact of British rule on Igbo

village life; in

No Longer at Ease (1960) he analyzed the conflict in the mind of an African civil

servant in Lagos who is torn between the social pressures of upper-class urban life and the

demands of his village union: in

Arrow of God (1964) he explored the breakup of traditional

values and the struggle for political power in an Igbo village.

A Man of the People (1966) is a

bitter, disillusioned story of political corruption and intimidation in independent Nigeria. The

same themes emerge in

Anthills of the Savannah (1987).

     In the course of a writing life that has included five novels, Achebe has consistently

argued for the right of Africans to tell their own story in their own way. African creations of

stories are as varied and imaginative as elsewhere in the world.

In a myth told by the Igbo people of Nigeria, men once decided to send a messenger to

ask Chuku, the supreme God, if the dead could be permitted to come back to life. As their

messenger, they chose a dog. But the dog delayed and a toad which had been eavesdropping,

reached Chuku first. Wanting to punish man, the toad reversed the requested, and told Chuku

that after death men did not want to return to the world. The God said that he would so as they

wished, and when the dog arrived with true message he refused to change his mind. Thus, men

may be born again but only in a different form.

     The Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe recounts this myth, which exists in hundreds of

versions throughout Africa. The myth holds another lesson as well. One that has been

fundamental to the career of Achebe, who has been called ‘the patriarch of the African novel’.

With his masterpiece, ‘Things Fall Apart’ one of the first works of African perspective, Achebe

began the literary reclamation of his country’s history from generations of colonial writers.

      The issue of power in the novel

Anthills of the Savannah is presented through the

perspectives of four major characters: His Excellency, Sam, Christopher Orika, Ikem Osodi and

the Beatrice Okoh. However the centrality of power in the novel is graphically shown through

the author’s reflection on a myth which one of the communities in the fictitious nation of Kangan

has fashioned to explain their reality. The author presents the myth thus:

In the beginning Power rampaged through our world naked. So the Almighty, looking at

his creation through the round undying eye of the sun, saw and pondered and finally decided to

send his daughter, Idemili, to bear witness to the moral nature of authority by wrapping around

power’s rude waist a loin cloth of peace and modesty.(p.102)

     Although this mythology is used by the author to explain the invaluable role of Beatrice,

it is the succinct commentary on the limits of personified power. This image of power rampaging

‘naked’ also illustrates the necessity for a conscious control of power and its refinement with

moral values. It is this mixture of power with moral values that informs the subsequent

exploration of power in Anthills of the Savannah.

Chinua Achebe weaves folk tales into the fabric of his stories illuminating community

values in both the content and the form of the storytelling. The tale about the Earth and the Sky

in

Things Fall Apart for example emphasizes the interdependency of the masculine and

feminine.

     There has been lot of work done on Chinua Achebe’s novels. However, there is scarcity

as far as mythical aspects are concerned. Joseph Asanbe published book “The Place of the

Individual in the novels of Chinua Achebe”. The book ‘The pitfalls of Cultural Consciousness

‘published by Chielozonz Eze. John Clement Ball published book ‘Satire of the Post Colonial

Nove: Chinua Achebe.’ There is also Social linguistic Study off Chinua Achebe’s novels.

Nwando published book ‘Balancing Male and Female Principles: Teaching about Gender in

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The work on Chinua Achebe finds expression through the

article ‘The Question of Leadership: A Critical Analysis of the Novels of Chinua Achebe by

Kishor Kumar Das. As well as Prof. Lindfores at US Africa, says, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart:

Time for Nobles Prize for Literature has come …announced in a conference recently.

     One of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior and that myths

may also provide a religious experience. By telling or reenacting myths, members of traditional

societies detach themselves closer to the divine. In some cases, a society will reenact a myth in

an attempt to reproduce the conditions of the mythical age. For example, it will reenact the

healing performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present. The

modern culture explores religious experience. Because it is not the job of science to define

human morality, a religious experience is an attempt to connect with a perceived moral past,

which is in contrast with the technological present. So it can help to experience the awe of the

universe, to explain the shape of the universe, support and validate a certain social order and how

to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.

References

1. Writings by Achebe, Chinua

Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann, 1958.No Longer at Ease. London: Heinemann,

1960.Arrow of God. London: Heinemann, 1964; Garden City: New YorkA Man of the People.

London: Heinemann, and New York: John Day, 1966.Anthills of the Savannah. Kenya:

Heinemann, 1987.

2. Ashcroft, Bill. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Postcolonial Literature.

London New York: Pent ledge .1989.

3. Bier, Ulli. Ed. Introduction to African Literature. London : Longman, 1967.

4. Cook , David. African Literature :A Critical View. London :Longman , 1980.

5. Dorsey, David. “Chinua Achebe’s Morning yet on Creation Day and Whole Soyinka ‘s

Myth , Literature and the African world”. WLWE XXII . 2 [Nov 78 ] : 453-461.

6. Drabble . ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford University Press ,

1995.

7. Duerden, Dennis & Cosmo Pieterse. African Writers Talking : A Collection of interview .

London : Heinemann ,1978.

8. Holger. Critical Approaches to Anthills of the Savannah